Abstract

The concern of consumers about the presencein food of pesticides and agents which are considered harmful to health and the demand for quality, have let agroindustry to use innovative ideas and new forms of responsible production management, by giving to the market a high quality product which ensure its safety. Determining a pesticide residues profile is a way to ensure and inform consumers that products are safe to consume and they do not present any health risks. In this study, throughout sampling different types of fruit such as blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and berry mix; and vegetables such as peas, beans, corn and frozen green beans, offered by four different supermarkets in the city of Talca, was developed a characterization and quantification of a group of pesticides (Abamectin, Chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, Ipridiona, Spinosad A and D) by ultra high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC - MS) in samples collected in three periods, between the months of April to September 2014. 68.4% of the samples had residues of pesticides and four species exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) according to Chilean Resolution 33 EXEMPT. The species that exceeded the MRLs were peas, detected in two periods (2nd and 3rd monitoring), corn and broad bean, detected in all the periods, and finally green beans which presented MRLs only in the 3rdperiod.For the species mentioned, the predominant pesticide was IPRODIONE with averages residues values that exceeded a 1,005%; 33,400%; 27,000%, and 193% respectively. According to CODEX Alimentarius regulations, green beans exceeded only MRLs by 193% on the 3rdsampling period. The pesticide with the highest detection and that exceeded MRLs was Ipridiona, fungicide widely used against diseases such as Gray Mold (Botrytis cinerea) in strawberry (Fragariaananassa), Pestalotia rot (Pestalotiavaccinii) in blueberry (Vacciniummyrtillus), among others. Exceeding MRLs in some species, has consequences in both human health andthe economic sector, since affects the marketing of these products. This study shows that currently there is failure to comply the standard regulations in these kinds of products, which also raises a number of doubts regarding to production practices and product supervision, thus representing a potential threat for people’s health.