Morocco’s National Office for Food Safety (ONSSA) has denied social media rumors linking the consumption of watermelons to food poisoning, assuring the public that watermelon production in the country is subject to rigorous safety controls and pesticide regulations.
In an official statement shared with Hespress, ONSSA emphasized that the sector operates under a strict monitoring system covering all stages of pesticide use, from licensing and application to post-market surveillance and laboratory analysis. The agency underscored that consumer health is a top priority.
According to ONSSA, only authorized companies are permitted to request approval for pesticide products, and each request undergoes a comprehensive scientific assessment, including toxicological, environmental, and chemical evaluations to ensure both safety and effectiveness.
Approved products come with strict usage guidelines, including dosage limits, pre-harvest intervals, and number of applications, all designed to ensure compliance with maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides on crops like watermelon.
The agency also noted that testing is conducted in a network of four ONSSA laboratories and five accredited private labs, all certified under NM ISO/IEC 17025 standards. Advanced techniques such as LC-MS/MS, HPLC, and GC-MSare used to ensure accuracy and reliability.
ONSSA maintains a post-approval monitoring system that tracks international scientific updates and allows for the withdrawal of active ingredients no longer meeting safety standards. Since 2018, 63 substances have been removed, resulting in the cancellation of 411 commercial products, with an additional 13 restricted.
Annual inspections of licensed pesticide distributors are also conducted. Offenders face penalties including warnings, delisting, or license suspensions.
ONSSA’s monitoring program spans the entire production and distribution chain. Samples are taken from farms, markets, and packaging stations, with immediate withdrawal and destruction of non-compliant products, supported by local authorities.
Since the beginning of 2025, the agency has issued 106 violation reports and destroyed over 3,300 kilograms of fruits and vegetables. The number of pesticide residue tests has increased significantly from 710 in 2018 to more than 5,700 in 2024, with a target of over 6,000 in 2025.
Inspections extend to imported produce as well. Since January 2025, Morocco has rejected 414 tons of imported agricultural products that failed to meet safety standards.
ONSSA also pointed to the strong reputation of Moroccan watermelon exports, which are subject to the same strict controls. Since early 2025, no alerts have been issued regarding Moroccan-exported watermelon.
Out of 503 notifications recorded by the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), only six concerned Moroccan products, accounting for less than 1%, a figure the agency says reflects the high level of compliance of Moroccan produce with international food safety standards.
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