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 [below] 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 [1]. 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”. 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, didn't 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 fairly-traded 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.”

Jill Day, of UNISON said
“Lindane is linked with serious health problems including breast cancer. It is hazardous to those who are exposed to it in their food and those who work with it. We recommend that shoppers buy organic or fairly traded chocolate this Easter but all chocolate should be pesticide- free.”

Helen Lynn, of Women's Health Co-ordinator of Women's Environmental Network said
"Cocoa workers are exposed to Lindane used on the cocoa crops to fuel our chocolate habits. Consumers do not have access to information about what pesticide are used on cocoa in order to make an informed choice. We welcome any moves to make the best choice available to everyone. With Easter around the corner we call on retailers to make a commitment to work with their suppliers and the chocolate manufacturers to ensure chocolate is both a luxury to work with as well as to eat."

Barbara Dinham, of the Pesticides Action Network said:
“Retailers and consumers have a responsibility to support cleaner and safer ways of producing chocolate. Cocoa farmers are interested in growing organic cocoa but need government, industry and consumer support to do so. Ghanaian environmentalists are extremeley concerned that cocoa pesticides, including lindane are also being used on local crops, with serious risks to human health.”

NOTES

[1] The ban Lindane Campaign comprises Friends of the Earth, Green Network, Pesticides Action Network UK, UNISON, Women's Environmental Network and the Soil Association.

[2] Supermarkets claim that levels of lindane in chocolate are going down, but they do not publish results of their testing, making it impossible for shoppers to know whether lindane is still turning up in their favourite chocolate. The last time that chocolate was tested by Government three quarters of the samples contained residues of lindane, and 20 out of 20 of food industry samples contained lindane [Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticides Residues 1998]

[3] Lindane is also hazardous to the farmers who use it. Even before the EU ban was agreed some uses of lindane had been withdrawn in the UK to protect farm workers exposed to it. Yet in cocoa producing countries like Ghana, sprayers are rarely given any safety training or supplied with the sort of protective clothing required in Europe. Chemicals drip onto the skin, are breathed in, and accidentally swallowed.