Frequent EFSA regulation violation for wheat flours suggests stronger control and regulatory harmonization of production, milling and distribution

Wheat safety is a major concern for consumers worldwide. We assessed pesticides, mycotoxins and trace metals in 96 wheat flours marketed in France according to conventional/organic farming systems, supply chains and particle size. Pesticides were detected in 26% of samples, including permethrin EFSA violation in three conventional flours. We detected at least one mycotoxin in 76% of flours, and ochratoxin A MRL violation in three samples from organic farming. Pesticides were more frequent in conventional farming and short supply chain products, whereas mycotoxins were at higher concentration in organic than conventional flours. Trace metals were at higher concentrations in organic farming and less refined flours, with one non-compliance for cadmium. Multivariate analysis identified farming type as main driver of variability. More than 7.5% of samples failed to comply with at least one EFSA threshold, pointing out issues for pesticide use, storage time, land pollution, and regulation controls and harmonization worldwide.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Science of Food
Published
2026-09-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-01126-6
Primary Topic
Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Frequent EFSA regulation violation for wheat flours suggests stronger control and regulatory harmonization of production, milling and distribution

Nathalie Grova, Baninia Habchi, Justine Pincemaille, Matteo Creta et al.
npj Science of Food
Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food
article

Frequent EFSA regulation violation for wheat flours suggests stronger control and regulatory harmonization of production, milling and distribution

Nathalie Grova, Baninia Habchi, Justine Pincemaille, Matteo Creta, Jean‐Louis Guéant, Douglas N. Rutledge, Saurabh Mehta, A. Noël, Flavien Denis, Manuella Burgart, Radu Corneliu Duca, Benjamin Arias Carnero
article en

Abstract

Wheat safety is a major concern for consumers worldwide. We assessed pesticides, mycotoxins and trace metals in 96 wheat flours marketed in France according to conventional/organic farming systems, supply chains and particle size. Pesticides were detected in 26% of samples, including permethrin EFSA violation in three conventional flours. We detected at least one mycotoxin in 76% of flours, and ochratoxin A MRL violation in three samples from organic farming. Pesticides were more frequent in conventional farming and short supply chain products, whereas mycotoxins were at higher concentration in organic than conventional flours. Trace metals were at higher concentrations in organic farming and less refined flours, with one non-compliance for cadmium. Multivariate analysis identified farming type as main driver of variability. More than 7.5% of samples failed to comply with at least one EFSA threshold, pointing out issues for pesticide use, storage time, land pollution, and regulation controls and harmonization worldwide.

npj Science of Food
Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (BR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Charles Sturt University (AU), Inserm (FR), Cornell University (US), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Institut Pasteur de Lille (FR), Luxembourg Institute of Health (LU), Centre d’Investigation Clinique Innovation Technologique de Nancy (FR), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (FR), Laboratoire National de Santé (LU), European Genomic Institute for Diabetes (FR), (Epi)génomique fonctionnelle métabolique et des dysfonctions dans le diabète de type 2 et des maladies associées (FR), Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (FR), Université de Lorraine (FR)
Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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