Croatian inspectors have found high levels of heavy metals in fruit from Moldova, the European Food Safety System (ESAFF) announced on Thursday.

As they say, cadmium has been detected in apricots from Moldova. Fortunately, everything happened during the analysis of the sample at the border, so the destruction of the entire shipment was immediately ordered. In the apricot sample, 0,040 mg/kg of the heavy metal cadmium was found. Lead and cadmium are carcinogenic and extremely harmful if consumed in food, especially over a long period of time.

Cadmium can migrate into fruits and vegetables, for example, from artificial fertilizers, and is also present in shellfish and squid. Cadmium accumulates in the kidneys and eventually damages them. In Croatia, there are already cases of food being withdrawn from the market due to high levels of cadmium and lead. In recent years, tomatoes and shellfish have been withdrawn due to cadmium, Danica.hr reminds.