Home > Campaigns > Real Food > News > July 2002 > Pesticides banned in baby food - but still in fruit and vegetables
Home > Campaigns > Real Food > News > July 2002 > Pesticides banned in baby food - but still in fruit and vegetables
New rules set the permitted level of any pesticide in processed baby
foods at the minimum detectable level. Manufacturers now face legal
action if pesticides are discovered. But these rules don't apply to
the fresh fruit and vegetables which the Government encourages young
children to eat as part of a healthy diet.
The first solid food for one baby in every five is pureed fresh fruit
and vegetables, yet the fruit most commonly eaten by toddlers (eg, apples,
pears and bananas) have been found in recent Government tests to contain
a cocktail of risky pesticides. Some scientists advise that pregnant
women should reduce their exposure to pesticides as chemicals in the
womb may damage the child later in life.
Friends of the Earth is calling on retailers to phase-out the use of pesticides that are causing most concern and aim for residue-free food - starting with foods most popular with infants and young children. The Government must also do more to help UK farmers produce pesticide-free food. Last month the Food Standards Agency's Board agreed "that the Agency should pursue a strategy to encourage ways of improving the use of pesticides so that residues are minimised. The ultimate aim should be to ensure that they are not to be detected at the point of sale."
"This new law recognises that young children need special protection
from pesticide residues. But babies and infants will still be exposed
to pesticides when they eat fresh fruit and vegetables, which are regularly
found to contain traces of these chemicals," said Friends of the
Earth Pesticide Campaigner Sandra Bell. "The Government must acknowledge
the problem, extend this protection to fresh food, and help farmers
find safer ways of protecting their crops. Supermarkets also have a
vital role to play by eliminating pesticide residues from the food they
sell."
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