Food News

Important information: Please note the minimum sample quantities for fruit and vegetables

Vegetables

Certain minimum sample quantities are required for the proper analysis of fruit and vegetables for pesticide residues.

 

Our laboratory team would like to point out that, time and again, insufficient quantities of fruit and vegetables are sent to laboratories for analysis of pesticide residues.The required sample quantities should be based on the quantities for official sampling set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/765, which will come into force on 1 January 2027. This requirement ensures that there is always a sufficient sample quantity available in the laboratory to produce representative laboratory samples, duplicate samples and retention samples. The new Regulation merely introduces an additional category for ‘very large fruits’ – e.g. melons and pumpkins – in addition to the existing rules.

 

Laboratory procedures are optimised for processing these sample quantities. Deviations below (or above) these quantities place a strain on routine procedures. To ensure the shortest possible analysis time and reliable results, we therefore ask you to review your test plans accordingly and adjust them if necessary. Naturally, your samplers will also require this information. For this reason, we are presenting the current table of minimum sample quantities here once again:

 

 

Primary foodstuffs of plant origin Sample quantity for laboratory samples
1 Fruit, fresh or frozen – Category 0100000;;
Vegetables, fresh or frozen – Category 0200000, including mushrooms – Category 0280000		 Examples:   from 1 Jan..2027 until 31 Dec..2026
1.1 Small product units, <25g berries, peas, olives Whole units, or packages, or units
taken with a sampling device		 1 kg 
1.2 Medium-sized products, units: 25 -250 g apples, oranges whole units 1 kg , min. 10 units
1.3 Large fresh produce, units: 250 - 1,000 g cucumbers, grapes (bunches, clusters) whole units 2 kg , min. 5 units
1.4 Very large fresh produce, units: >1,000 g pumpkins, melons whole units 2 kg , min.3 units  
1.5 Tree nuts (0120000) excluding coconuts Packages or units that can be removed using a sampling device 1 kg  
coconuts whole units 5 units  
1.6 Herbs (0256000) parsley, sage whole units 0,2 kg  
For further information, see the original sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/765 Regulation (EC) 2002/63
seeTable 5 see Table 4

 

YOUR PLUS: Correct sampling has a significant impact on the validity of the subsequent laboratory analysis. If you want to play it safe, have your samples taken by certified samplers. We’d be happy to offer you some advice on this.

 

Author: Annika Luderer, state-certified food chemist/counter-sample expert at AGROLAB LUFA