Germany's second-largest food retailer says it has 'significantly reduced' pesticide contamination levels in conventionally grown fruit and vegetables, lifting what it describes as a 'chronic health burden' from consumers.
According to the company, the level of pesticide residues in fresh produce has almost halved since 2007, with the risk to consumers now estimated to be just 12 per cent of what it was four years ago,
Following criticism of Germany's entire food retail sector by environmental NGOs including Greenpeace some years ago, Rewe undertook a major evaluation of its product ranges in concert with Austria-based organisation Global 2000.
The investigation apparently looked at a total of 7,200 samples of more than 100 individual fruit and vegetable products from 60 countries of origin.
