China's Ministry of Health said Wednesday that fruit sold in supermarkets in Beijing had been tested and found to meet national standards, in response to a Greenpeace report in July on pesticide residues on fruit sold in the national capital.

The Greenpeace report on fruit and vegetable safety, published on its website, said 17 pesticides had been detected in melons, apples, peaches, nectarines and cherries bought in four supermarket chains, including Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Lotus and Vanguard, in Beijing.

However, a notice issued Wednesday by the ministry on its official website said all the 17 pesticides found were normal and permitted and the amounts of residue were within national standards limits.

It said the tests were jointly conducted by the health and agriculture ministries, the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine, and Beijing municipal government.

No banned and highly-toxic pesticides had been detected in the tested fruit, the notice said.

The notice also said the report provided by the Greenpeace-authorized inspection body was non-standard because it lacked criteria on testing samples.

All the fruit involved in the Greenpeace report had "no safety issues", the notice said.

Nobody was available to comment on the ministry's notice when a Xinhua reporter called the Greenpeace Beijing office.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2009)