04/09/2026
You pay less for the non-organic punnet. The spray comes free.
Testing commissioned through Southern Cross University screened 16 berry punnets from supermarkets and farms on the NSW mid-north coast — 11 blueberry, 5 raspberry — for 157 pesticides. Every single sample came back with residue. Between four and eleven different chemicals in each one.
Two names came up worth knowing.
Dimethoate is sprayed for fruit fly. The EU banned it in 2019. The US EPA lists it as a possible human carcinogen. It’s still legal here, though the APVMA opened a review of its use on berries in August 2025.
Thiometon has been illegal to use in Australia since 2001. It was found at low levels in 6 of the 11 blueberry samples and in all 5 raspberry samples. Agronomists point to spray drift as the likely route.
Then there’s how the limits are set. Australia’s residue limits were calculated against 1995 berry consumption. A 2024 survey found we now eat between 285% and 962% more. Those figures only reached the regulator in February 2025.
For balance: Berries Australia ran its own testing on 14 supermarket samples and found no thiometon and nothing above the legal limit.
Certified organic means no synthetic pesticides applied to the crop. Australian organic berries in both stores, in season.
Sources: ABC News and Background Briefing, September 2025; APVMA dimethoage review, August 2025; FSANZ consumption survey.
