Home > Campaigns > Real Food > News > Lindane lurking in Easter treats: pesticide set to be banned in Europe but still in your chocolate
Home > Campaigns > Real Food > News > Lindane lurking in Easter treats: pesticide set to be banned in Europe but still in your chocolate
The Ban Lindane Campaign wants major retailers and chocolate manufacturers to make a commitment this Easter to stop a dangerous pesticide being sprayed on cocoa crops.
Lindane is due to be phased out in Europe following an EU decision last year to ban it. Despite concerns about the health effects of eating lindane-contaminated chocolate and the risks to farmers using it, lindane will still be used in cocoa-producing countries. Lindane is a hormone disrupter, linked to breast cancer.
In a recent survey, the Ban Lindane Campaign found that - although there have been welcome moves by some retailers to phase out the use of lindane - residues are still being found in UK-purchased chocolate. Some supermarkets are still offering bland reassurances that levels of lindane found in chocolate are safe, even though an Austrian report in 1998 concluded that it isn't possible to set a safe exposure level for lindane.
Most supermarket own-brand chocolate is supplied by the big chocolate companies. The supermarket's responses reveal an alarming lack of control over the chocolate supply chain, which some retailers are using as an excuse for not taking action.
Safeway said: "The complex infrastructure makes it impossible
to ensure that lindane is not used.". Sainsbury's quoted a trade
association for chocolate suppliers which says "it is not practicable
for purchasers to stipulate that they will buy only beans from cocoa
trees not treated with lindane".
By contrast, the Co-op, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose say that they
are seeking lindane-free chocolate from their suppliers, and Somerfield
says its suppliers don't use lindane "at the present time".
The Co-op found that its Fair Trade chocolate, which can be traced directly
back to the cocoa grower in Ghana, is free of lindane residues. However,
it could not give the same assurance for the rest of its own-brand chocolate
which is supplied by a major chocolate manufacturer.
If all major retailers joined together to demand lindane-free chocolate, suppliers would be forced to act. The Co-op has made a commitment to withdraw from sale any chocolate which is found to contain lindane - at whatever level. Tesco, the largest supermarket, did not reply.
The Ban Lindane Campaign is calling on all retailers and chocolate manufacturers to phase out the use of lindane. Consumers can choose organic and fair-trade chocolate, but next Easter the campaign wants all chocolate to be lindane-free.
Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner for Friends of the Earth said "People should be able to enjoy Easter eggs without worrying about hidden pesticides. It is alarming that some supermarkets don't even know if lindane has been used on the cocoa in their chocolate. The big chocolate companies and retailers must ensure that all the cocoa they use is safely farmed, and isn't sprayed with dangerous chemicals like lindane."
The Ban Lindane Campaign comprises Friends of the Earth, Green Network, Pesticides Action Network UK, UNISON, Women's Environmental Network and the Soil Association.
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