A recent report from the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), a research and advocacy organisation, has uncovered extensive pesticide contamination in popular food items sold in South African supermarkets.
The briefing, titled "What’s really in our food?", released on June 11, 2026 raises concerns about food safety, regulatory oversight, and potential health risks, particularly for children.
The findings are based on an independent laboratory testing conducted by a South African National Accreditation System (SANAS)-accredited laboratory.
ACB stated that the study was initiated because South Africa does not regularly release accessible data on pesticide residues in locally sold food. Without this information, independent testing was deemed crucial to determine the level of pesticide exposure in everyday diets.
The study analysed 43 food products purchased between November 2025 and January 2026. Results showed that 37 of the 43 products tested, or 86 per cent, contained at least one detectable pesticide residue. Researchers identified 37 different pesticide active ingredients across the sample set, with many products containing multiple residues.
The products tested included staple foods such as maize meal, wheat flour, bread and soya mince, as well as breakfast cereals, fruits, vegetables, tea, peanut butter and infant foods.
Among the baby and toddler products were Nestle Cerelac Wheat, Nestle Nido Baby Milk Powder, Purity Cream of Maize, Apples, Chicken & Butternut, Vegetables & Beef, Sweet Potato, WooliesBabes Chicken bolognese with Pasta and Mixed Berries.
The report revealed that All Gold Tomato Sauce had the greatest number of pesticide residues found in a single product, with 14 distinct residues detected. Several pesticides of concern were detected, including malathion, glyphosate, dichlorvos, imidacloprid, carbendazim, tebuconazole, propargite and novaluron.
Food products in which EU-restricted pesticides were detected in South Africa. These included dichlorvos in wheat flour, imidacloprid in tomato products and infant formula, propargite in tomato sauce, novaluron in apples, and dimethomorph in grapes.
The tests also identified 13 highly hazardous pesticides on 26 occasions across various food products, including foods commonly consumed by children.
The study highlighted significant concerns regarding infant and toddler foods. Seven of the nine baby food products tested contained at least one pesticide residue, including substances classified internationally as highly hazardous pesticides (HHP). The briefing notes that this raises questions about the chemical exposures faced by young children through foods marketed as safe and nutritious.
The briefing highlights that 13 product-pesticide combinations exceeded at least one applicable regulatory benchmark, including South African limits, international Codex standards, European Union limits, or precautionary safety thresholds.
The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) argues that these findings expose weaknesses in South Africa’s pesticide regulatory system, including limited monitoring, inadequate transparency, outdated legislation, and fragmented oversight.
The organisation is calling for stronger protections for children, greater public access to monitoring data, the gradual phase-out of highly hazardous pesticides, and the inclusion of cumulative risk assessments in pesticide regulation.