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M&S and Somerfield Have Worst Records on Pesticide Residues

16 Aug 2001

The latest quarterly report of pesticide data from the Pesticides Safety Directorate will be published by DEFRA on Thursday 16th August on the following website: www.pesticides.gov.uk

Nearly half of the fruit and vegetables sold in supermarkets over the last three years contained pesticide residues, Friends of the Earth revealed today. FOE analysed data from January 1998 until June 2000(table of results below). M&S and Somerfield were the worse offenders. 63% of M&S fruit and veg and 59% of Somerfield fruit and veg contained residues. Waitrose had the lowest incidence of residues(29%).

The results will come as a surprise to many supermarket customers as supermarkets have recently been busy making claims that they minimise pesticide use.

• Somerfield has stated that “pesticides should be avoided wherever possible” [1] but doesn't appear to be following this in practice.
• Sainsbury's devotes a series of web pages to convincing its customers that it is reducing pesticide use and the company has claimed that “pesticides are only used as a last resort” [2]but 49% of its fruit and veg were found to contain pesticides.
• Tesco claims that pesticides are “only permitted where no other non-chemical control measures are available” [3] but as 45% of its fruit and veg contained residues, pesticides must still be widely used.
•  M&S says that it is now aiming to use less pesticides and “in the longer term for all Marks &Spencer foods to be residue free” [4]. - a welcome aim although it clearly has a long way to go.
• The Co-op has gone for an honest approach by posting its own residue testing data on its website [5], as well as banning or restricting the use of 50 pesticides. Friends of the Earth found 44 % contained residues.

Residues vary according to the type of food. For example there were no residues in garlic, chinese cabbage , sweetcorn or swedes in any of the supermarkets. In contrast some of the highest incidence of residues occurred in celery, grapes, oranges, strawberries, pears, lettuce and apples.

Most of the residues are found within legal limits but the high incidence of residues means that we are regularly exposed to a cocktail of pesticides in our food. The regulatory system assesses the safety of pesticides on an individual basis and does not take into account the possible effects of being exposed to a mixture of pesticides Some pesticides which turn up regularly in our fruit and veg such as carbendazim, iprodione, and vinclozolin are known or suspected hormone disrupters which can work on the hormone system at very low levels. There is increasing concern that these chemicals may be linked to serious health effects including testicular and breast cancers.

Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner of Friends of the Earth said:

    “Many consumers will be shocked to find out that about half the fresh fruit and veg they put in their shopping trolleys comes laced with dodgy chemicals. It's past time that all the supermarkets backed their claims about getting pesticides out of their food with some action. Fruit and vegetables are crucial to a healthy diet - they should not come with toxic residues”.

Pesticides in Supermarket Food 1998 - 2000

[1] statement in response to Friends of the Earth's supermarket league table, October 2000
[2] from an email to a Sainsbury customer, forwarded to FOE, July 2001
[3] from an email to a Tesco customer, forwarded to FOE, July 2001
[4] www.marksandspencer.co.uk
[5] www.co-op.co.uk - click on “Information” then “Green and Pleasant Land”

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