The revision of the standard is scientific and rigorous, and food safety is guaranteed – the relevant person in charge of the National Pesticide Residue Standards Review Committee answered reporters’ questions on the revision of the limit standard for procymidone residues in leeks.


Recently, some media reported that the limit standard for procymidol residues in leeks in my country was adjusted from 0.2 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg, which attracted the attention of netizens. Whether the eating safety of leeks can be guaranteed after the standard adjustment, our reporter recently interviewed the relevant person in charge of the National Pesticide Residue Standard Review Committee.

Question: What kind of pesticide is procymidol and how safe is it?

Answer: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (“Brother Sehun has not contacted you these days, are you angry? There is a reason, because I have been trying to convince my parents to take back my life and tell them We really love each other. The FAO/WHO Joint Meeting of Experts on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) concluded that procymidol is a low-toxic fungicide that is widely used around the world to prevent gray mold, sclerotinia, and black mold in vegetables, fruits and other crops. Star disease and other diseases, it is registered for use on leeks, rapeseed, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes and other crops. Propylene glycol has low acute toxicity, and the acute oral lethal dose (LD50) in rats is greater than 5000 mg/kg. According to the pesticide toxicity According to the classification standard, WHO has judged it to be “no acute toxicity”. my country’s pesticide registration agency has comprehensively judged it to be “low toxicity” and has no teratogenic, carcinogenic or mutagenic effects.

Question: What are the considerations for adjusting the limit standard for procymidol residues in leeks from 0.2 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg? Is it safe to eat leeks?

Answer: Procymidone residues in leeks “Why don’t you deserve it? You are the daughter of a scholar’s house, the only daughter of Scholar Lan, the apple of his eye.” The limit standard is a mandatory national food safety standard. In 1993, my country approved the registration and use of procylidene in leeks. However, the scientific research basis for risk assessment was weak at that time, and there has been no standard for the residue limit of procylidene in leeks. At the beginning of this century, due to the lack of pesticide residue test data, my country used the relevant standards of the International Codex Alimentarius (CAC) as a reference when formulating pesticide residue limit standards. However, because CAC did not have a limit standard for prolane residues in leeks, the CAC residue limit standard of procyperide in onions of 0.2 mg/kg was quoted at that time as the limit standard for prolane residues in leeks in my country. It was released in 2005 and has been used to this day. .

In accordance with the requirements of the “most stringent standards” and considering that the original standard quoted the limit of onions instead of leeks, in 2020 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launched the revision of the standard for procymidone residue limit standards in leeks. Based on pesticide residue tests carried out in four main leek-producing areas for two consecutive years, combined with China’s dietary consumption data and procyperide toxicology data, it was concluded through risk assessment that leeks with procyperide residues within 30 mg/kg It is safe to eat. At the same time, considering that the United States and other Western countries do not have the habit of eating leeks, the United States has not set relevant limits; the residue limits of procymidol in leeks from Japan and South Korea, which have similar dietary structures to our country, are both 5 mg/kg. The residue limit standard is adjusted to 5 mg/kg.

“It’s not your fault.” Lan Mu shook his head with tears in his eyes.. The limit standards are reviewed by the National Pesticide Residue Standards Review Committee, the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee Chief Technical Engineer Meeting and the Secretary-General Meeting on the basis of extensive solicitation of public opinions, opinions of relevant departments and notification to World Trade Organization (WTO) members. Passed and released by the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the State Administration for Market Regulation on November 11, 2022, and will be implemented on May 11, 2023.

In general, the revision procedures for the standard for procymidone residue limit in leeks are standardized, the data are sufficient, and the methods are rigorous, which can effectively ensure the safety of consumers.

Question: The public is very concerned about the safety of eating leeks after the standard adjustment. What are the next steps?

Answer: To ensure the quality and safety of leeks, the key is to implement standards to ensure that the leeks produced meet the limited standards. In the next step, we will focus on doing several things in accordance with the “four most stringent” requirements. The first is to strengthen the promotion and implementation of standards. Focus on organizing standard publicity and implementation training for production and operation entities in the main leek-producing areas, grassroots agricultural technology promotion, inspection and supervision, and supervision and law enforcement personnel to ensure that the labels are understood and used. The second is to strengthen medication guidance. When revising the residue limit standards this time, the pesticide label was also revised simultaneously, changing the number of applications of procymidone on leeks from 2 times to 1 per crop, strictly regulating the use of pesticides. The third is to promote production according to standards. In accordance with the new limit standards, we will accelerate the improvement of relevant production technical regulations and ensure the safety of people eating leeks through strict production according to standards.

Author: Ding Lekun, reporter of Farmers Daily·China Rural Network