United Kingdom results from the monitoring of pesticide residues in food

This dataset contains the analytical results of pesticide residues measured in the food products analysed by the national competent authorities. Pesticide residues resulting from the use of plant protection products on crops that are used for food or feed production may pose a risk factor for public health. For this reason, a comprehensive legislative framework has been established in the European Union (EU), which defines rules for the approval of active substances used in plant protection products, the use of plant protection products and for pesticide residues in food. In order to ensure a high level of consumer protection, legal limits, so called “maximum residue levels” or briefly “MRLs”, are established in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. EU-harmonised MRLs are set for all pesticides covering all types of food products. A default MRL of 0.01 mg/kg is applicable for pesticides not explicitly mentioned in the MRL legislation. Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 imposes on Member States the obligation to carry out controls to ensure that food placed on the market is compliant with the legal limits. A sample is considered <strong>free of quantifiable residues</strong> if the analytes were not present in concentrations at or above the limit of quantification (LOQ). The LOQ is the smallest concentration of an analyte that can be quantified with the analytical method used to analyse the sample. It is commonly defined as the minimum concentration of the analyte in the test sample that can be determined with acceptable precision and accuracy. If a sample is <strong>contains quantifiable residues</strong> but within the legally permitted limit (maximum residue level, MRL), it is described as a sample with quantified residue levels within the legal limits (below or at the MRL) A sample is considered <strong>non-compliant</strong> with the legal limit (MRL), if the measured residue concentrations clearly exceed the legal limits, taking into account the measurement uncertainty. It is current practice that the uncertainty of the analytical measurement is taken into account before legal or administrative sanctions are imposed on food business operators for infringement of the MRL legislation.本数据集收录了国家主管部门对食品开展检测后得到的农药残留分析结果。用于食品或饲料生产的作物在施用植物保护产品（Plant Protection Products）后产生的农药残留，可能对公众健康构成风险因素。为此，欧洲联盟（EU）已建立一套完备的立法框架，对植物保护产品中活性物质的审批、植物保护产品的使用规范，以及食品中农药残留的监管要求作出明确规定。为保障高水平的消费者保护，《(EC)第396/2005号法规》确立了法定限值，即所谓的**最大残留限量（Maximum Residue Levels，简称MRLs）**。欧盟统一的MRLs适用于覆盖所有食品类别的各类农药。对于未在MRL法规中明确提及的农药，默认适用0.01 mg/kg的MRL。《(EC)第396/2005号法规》要求各成员国承担检测义务，以确保投放市场的食品符合法定限值要求。若检测样本中的分析物浓度未达到或超过定量限（Limit of Quantification，简称LOQ），则该样本被视为**无定量残留**。LOQ是指通过用于样本分析的检测方法可实现定量检测的分析物最低浓度，通常定义为待测样本中分析物的最低浓度，且该浓度可在可接受的精密度与准确度下被精准测定。若样本**含有定量残留**且其浓度处于法定允许限值（即最大残留限量MRL）范围内，则将其描述为残留量符合法定限值（低于或等于MRL）的样本。若考虑测量不确定度后，测得的残留浓度显著超过法定限值（MRL），则该样本被视为**不符合**法定要求。当前通行实践为，在对食品经营者因违反MRL法规采取法律或行政制裁前，需将分析测量的不确定度纳入考量范畴。