products. The policy aims to minimise the use of chemicals, and the residues which remain on crops, whilst providing safe food but without notably increasing the cost of products. In 2014 39% of tested products from The Co-operative fresh, frozen and canned produce range were pesticide residue free (2011: 35%) whilst 1.4% of tested products had pesticide residues above the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) set for each product (4.4% is the UK average). Their pesticide policy was launched with a report titled "Green and Pleasant Land" (2000) which formally banned over 20 pesticides which were still in use at the time on human health and environmental concerns and called upon the EU to legislate for a ban, a move which was endorsed by consumer and environmental groups. This move resulted from research that the business, then the CWS, conducted which demonstrated that two-thirds of those asked were either concerned or very concerned about the health and environmental effects of pesticides and their residues on foods. The Co-op was the first supermarket to publicise all monitoring pesticide results on the business's website so that members could access the data. The Co-op publish the results of their monthly pesticide monitoring on their website and this indicates that between 2009 and 2015 on average approximately 40% of tested foods had no traces of any of the 449 monitored pesticides and that since 2012 none of the banned pesticides have been observed. When determining which pesticides should be banned the toxicology of each substance, its potential for bioaccumulation and its persistency within the environment are all considered. Those chemicals which are restricted can only be used by growers and suppliers with specific written permission from The Co-operative Group which will only be granted if the grower or supplier has provided supporting evidence that no other alternative is available. In 2013 restricted pesticides were allowed in 123 cases. Research was conducted by The Co-op's farmcare business investigated biological and cultural controls which could be used to reduce the influence of pests and also investigated more benign chemical alternatives to those which were restricted – The Co-op could then suggest viable alternatives to restricted pesticides. For example, trials conducted on their UK farms investigated alternative methods of farm management which could reduce reliance on fungicides and pesticides by 40–50%. Following this, a series of Product Advisory Sheets were created to provide growers and suppliers with solutions