Archived press release

Foe welcomes new pesticide regulations for baby food

15 June 2000

FOE wants the Government to apply the same strict rules to all fresh fruit and vegetables.A third of all fruit and vegetables are contaminated with pesticide residues. But many parents want to feed their babies pureed fresh food, not processed baby food. Government medical advice is that fruit and veg should be peeled before eating, to avoid pesticide residues, but most parents are unaware of this advice.

FOE also wants the baby food industry to comply with the regulations before July 2002, the date from which the new law will actually be enforced. The Infant and Dietetic Foods Association, representing infant and follow-on formula manufacturers, claims that their products already “contain only low or undetectable levels of pesticide residues”. But FOE analysis of the last official Government survey shows that baby food contained residues of several dangerous pesticides, including hormone disruptors. Other European countries are well ahead of the UK in cutting residues: for example, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria are already enforcing the limit.

Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said:
“Europe has quite rightly forced Britain to clean up its act. Babies and toddlers are particularly at risk from pesticide residues in their food. Parents want to know that their infants' food is safe. Of course, it's right that baby food should be pesticide-free. But our Government must also act to make sure that fresh fruit and vegetables are also free of residues. And the baby food manufacturers must make sure their food is safe to eat now - not in two years time.”

Notes: [1] The EU regulation sets a level of 0.01 mg/kg for all pesticides. The regulations apply to England, but similar regulations will also be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Full details of REAL FOOD WEEK are available from FOE. Check out our website: www.realfoodweek.com

We will have local actions by over 80 groups in the following counties:

Avon, Beds, Berks, Bucks, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, County Durham,Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Gloucs, Hants, Herts, Kent, Lancs, Leics, Lincs,London, Merseyside, Notts, Newcastle, Norfolk, Oxon, Salops, S. Gloucs. S. Glamorgan Surrey, Warks, W. Midlands, Wilts, Worcs, Yorkshire.

[NB: 5 groups have already done actions but are available for stories, pictures and comment:Chinnor and Thame, Aylesbury Vale, Hackney, North Lancashire and Nuneaton]

Groups will ask customers to challenge their supermarket to provide them with real food(Supermarket challenge action). Many groups will also help shoppers find where they can buy local, fair-trade or organic food in the town and surrounding area (we call this an “our town is a supermarket” action).

We have an ISDN LINE for interviews: 0207 253 1028
We have offices and experts in every English Region, in Wales and in Northern Ireland

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust