Archived press release

Cadbury's admit: yes, there is lindane in our choc

17 June 2000

A major manufacturer admitted for the first time today that their chocolate could containresidues of the dangerous pesticide Lindane. Friends of the Earth released a letter fromCadbury's today admitting that Lindane residues are found in chocolate but claiming that theseresidues pose no threat to health. FOE released the letter as part of its "Real Food Week",demanding that major food manufacturers and retailers remove pesticide residues from theirproducts.

The letter, dated 3rd February 2000, says that "Lindane is used to prevent cocoa trees frombeing attacked by the capsid bug, and small traces of this chemical may be detected asresidues in the bean. Such residues are reduced during the processing of the bean andminute traces of Lindane have been found in finished chocolate products ... Cadbury's istotally confident that the minute traces of Lindane found in chocolate pose absolutely no riskto health." [Full copy of the letter available from FOE Press Office]

But Lindane has already been banned or severely restricted in many other countries [1]because of its persistence in the environment and its suspected health effects. In December1998 an Austrian report to the EU recommended that lindane be suspended across Europe[2]. The report said there was no safe limit and listed several health effects linked to lindaneincluding breast cancer, birth defects and damage to the nervous system. [3].

Last month leading DIY stores [4] said that they will stop selling lindane-based products.Supermarkets are also taking action ahead of any Government ban. Last month the Co-op,
the UK's biggest farmer, announced that it has banned lindane spraying on its own farms.Waitrose has told its fruit and vegetable suppliers not to use the pesticide and is investigatingits use on other crops with a view to banning it completely.

Commenting, FOE Real Food Campaigner Sandra Bell said:

"Chocolate lovers want Real Chocolate - free of dangerous pesticides.

[1] Countries that have banned lindane include Denmark, Germany, Holland and Sweden.

[2] Report for the EU by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, December 1998. The reportfound that it was not possible to set a safe level of exposure for lindane and recommend a total ban. Faced with this information the UK Government decided to ban the use of lindane for seed treatmentbut did not ban its use on crops in the UK or in domestic products.

[3] Pesticide Usage Survey Reports between 1994 and 1997 show that an average of 41 tonnes oflindane is applied to UK crops in a year. The latest figures to be published show that in 1998 16.8tonnes of lindane were used on arable crops alone, not including seed treatments.

[4] Robert Dyas, Homebase, Wilkinson, B&Q and Boots all told the Campaign to Ban Lindane that theywill stop selling lindane-based products.

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 challengeaction). Many groups will also help shoppers find where they can buy local, fair-trade or organic food in the townand surrounding area (we call this an "our town is a supermarket" action).

We have an ISDN LINE for interviews.

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