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Glossary

Poison cocktail

Poison cocktail is a term used in the media for the appearance of residues of several plant protection products in a sample. Mostly overrated in terms of toxicity, in the past reports on foods with so-called «multiple residues» were a first-class argument against sales. Pesticides have distinct chemical and biological properties and are therefore strictly regulated. Food legislation in Switzerland and Europe explicitly states that pesticide residues must not have any harmful effects on humans - including cumulative and synergistic effects.

The food safety authorities are responsible for consumer safety and the assessment of the potential health risk posed by pesticides in food. They take into account both the toxicity of the individual substance (hazard) and the maximum pesticide levels to be expected for individual foods and different dietary habits of the population (exposure). Consumers may be exposed to very low levels of multiple pesticide residues through consumption of food and drinking water.

The current consensus is that synergistic effects do not usually occur in the diet. According to the available scientific data, dietary mixtures of pesticide residues are unlikely to pose an unacceptable health risk to humans, provided that the individual components of these mixtures are adequately regulated based on established risk assessment approaches.

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