EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

stogot

Companies that poison the people like this should be sanctioned, along with their owners. Greed and profiteering

burnt-resistor

There are all kinds of toxic residues and contaminants in the US food supply because there's a lack of testing, lack of regulation, lack of enforcement, and a lack of the precautionary principle. Meanwhile, farmers will continue spraying RoundUp on oats just before harvest, rice grown in the US will contain arsenic from naturally-occurring contaminated soils, and almost all bread contains toxic crap banned in the rest of the world.

ofrzeta

For spices and tea it really makes sense to buy organic (not that there are no fraudsters but still).

andrewstuart

I carefully check the label and try to only buy Australian made 100% food. I never buy any food ever from China.

moi2388

Oh you import food from third world countries and it’s terrible? Who would have guessed. Better keep pushing the farmers in the EU away for more of these great “trade deals”

nozzlegear

The report itself[†] blames the pesticide residue on a "boomerang effect" from EU countries: EU countries export these banned pesticides to third countries, those countries use the banned pesticides on the food they grow, and then the EU countries import that food. In effect, EU companies are still profiting off of the sale and use of banned pesticides on food that Europeans will eat. [†] https://www.foodwatch.org/fileadmin/-INT/pesticides/banned_p...

kryptoncalm

More relevant is that 14 out of 64 samples had levels above the legally allowed limit (MRL), of which 12 pesticides that are not approved in the EU (page 12 of report). This is more severe than products 'containing' pesticides, which could as well be advancements in measurement. Problematic products are: Peppers, dried (6x), Cumin (3x), Rice grain (2x), Tea leaves and stalks (1x), Non-fermented tea leaves (1x), Mix of spices (1x).

amelius

We're reaching the point where people need to install GC/MS systems in their homes in order to be safe from food hazards.

colechristensen

Just a note that the majority of these detections report the lowest amount chemistry can reliably quantify. Not the danger level, the known biological effect level, the smallest amount where chemistry can say they're statically confident the substance is present in a known amount. Modern gas chromatography is ridiculously sensitive.

nullbio

Why? I thought pesticides were safe? That's what the Monsanto bot told me, anyway.

interludead

The obvious question is: if these pesticides are considered too unsafe to use in the EU, why are EU companies still allowed to export them?