So what can you do?

Choose local

While EU fruit and vegetables tend to be low in residues, this is not always true of vegetables that come from further afield.

Take green beans, almost always imported from Africa or India. Of 96 samples of green beans in Britain, 16 showed levels above the MRL, all of them imports, with Indian beans showing particularly badly. So every time you chomp on those welltravelled beans, there’s a one in six chance that they are contaminated with pesticides above recommended safe levels.

Eat seasonally

Storing and transporting fruit and veg means it is more vulnerable, particularly to mould, so fungicide is often used liberally. This can be true of indoor or polytunnelgrown produce too. Stick to local seasonal produce, outdoor-grown when you have a choice.

Opt for smaller fish

PFAS, like mercury and other chemicals polluting our seas and waterways, accumulates up the food chain, so when a bigger fish eats a smaller fish it absorbs and stores all its contaminants. Choosing small pelagic (shoaling) fish like sardines, near the bottom of the food chain, minimises this – and it’s more sustainable too.

Skip packaged and processed food

Food packaging for ready meals, pizza boxes, even some greaseproof paper, often contains PFAS, which can leach into food. Even if it is in untainted packaging, processed food may have been made using equipment containing PFAS, which some experts find concerning.