Brazilian supermarkets will be fined by the government if pesticide levels in fruit and vegetables are discovered to be too high, website Revistagloborural.globo.com reported.

The government's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) is currently drafting a protocol detailing action and plans to put the new monitoring regime in place by 2013.

A report by ANVISA reveals 27.9% of supermarket food samples showed irregularities for the third consecutive year with chillies responsible for the greatest number of contamination incidents (92%), followed by strawberries (63%) and cucumbers (57%).

ANVISA toxicology general manager Luiz Claudio Meirelles, said the results were worrying.

"The consumption of contaminated food increases the risk of diseases such as cancer, neurological and endocrine problems. These products pose risks, hence the importance that production falls within certain technical parameters," he was quoted as saying.

This is ANVISA's tenth analysis, when the first assessment was made in 2002 only 22% of samples showed irregularities.

The new program will aim to improve traceability of products and identify producers who are using pesticides incorrectly.

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