Government told to cut dioxins in food - FOE calls for pollution cuts and no new incinerators 16 November 2001
The Government's Committee on Toxicity has today agreed to back European Commission calls for tough safety limits on the level of dioxins in food. The new limits will be five times lower than current ones in the UK. Food Standards Agency data reveals that school children and toddlers regularly consume food above the new safety limit, as will a large proportion of adults.
Friends of the Earth today called on the Government to: produce a national strategy to reduce dioxin levels; introduce a moratorium on new sources such as incineration; and ban other chemicals which, like dioxins, build-up in people's bodies. Dioxins have been linked to cancers, hormone disruption and skin diseases.
Dioxins are widespread in food and the environment due to releases from factories and bonfires. People's bodies are also contaminated with dioxins, as well as scores of other persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals. Although dioxin intakes in the UK have fallen by 80 per cent over the last 20 years, the European Commission is warning that levels are beginning to rise again in some areas.
The vast bulk of exposure to dioxins comes from food contamination. Friends of the Earth supports the advice from the Food Standards Agency for people to continue to eat a balanced diet, but is demanding Government takes action to reduce dioxin contamination. There should be:
- a national strategy to reduce dioxin levels in food and the environment (including action to reduce dioxin releases from existing sources);
- a moratorium on new sources of dioxins, such as incinerators, until levels in food are well below the level suggested by the Government experts;
- a ban on other chemicals which build up in people's bodies and the environment.
Friends of the Earth Executive Director Charles Secrett, said: "The Government needs a dioxin reduction strategy and needs it quickly. Whilst the Food Standards Agency is rightly recommending that people eat a balanced diet, it also should be demanding the Government take action to reduce dioxin levels. Providing consumers with advice on its own is not enough. "
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