South Korea's food watchdog said Tuesday that it has ordered the recall of more than 20,000 tons of American grapefruit for containing pesticide residue levels that are above permissible limits.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said the grapefruit imported from Voita West, a U.S. produce company, contained 0.10 ppm of phosmet, twice the legal limit.

The order affects 20,160 kilograms of grapefruit imported by two South Korean companies on Jan. 9.

The grapefruit will be discarded, said Cho Tae-yong, an official handling the issue at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

He said an adult can reach an acceptable daily intake of phosmet if he or she eats 15 grapefruit that contains 0.10 ppm of phosmet a day. (Yonhap)