Archived press release

No improvement in pesticides results

16 August 2001

Friends of the Earth is calling on the big five supermarkets to take action on pesticides in fruit and veg, following the publication today of the Government's latest official residue results which show that supermarket fruit and veg continue to be regularly contaminated with pesticides. Today's report [1] shows:

• 81% of pears were found to contain pesticides.
• Almost three quarters (74%) of apples contained pesticide residues, and 35%contained more than one pesticide. Somerfield had the highest incidence of apples with multiple pesticide residues (see table), followed by Sainsbury with 57%.
• Carbendazim ,a pesticide which is strongly suspected of effecting the hormone system was found widely including in apples, fruit-based infant food (including Heinz baby food) and yams.
• A quarter of yams (26%) were found to contain residues, including some over legal limits
• More than a quarter of cucumbers contained residues (28%)
• 44% of bread samples contained residues, and 9 samples of butter contained residues of DDT
• Almost a quarter (23%) of processed potato products (e.g.potato wedges and instant mash) contained residues

The majority of broccoli and meat/fish/egg based infant food samples were free of residues and no residues were found in bottled water. Organic samples of cucumbers, fruit juice and cabbage were free of any residues. As the pesticides found are not allowed in organic farming a thorough investigation into why they were found in the baby food must be carried out.

Today Friends of the Earth also released an assessment of the major supermarkets performance since 1998, (based on official data released up to today). Marks and Spencer had the highest incidence of residues in fruit and veg (63%) closely followed by Somerfield(59%), in contrast less than a third (29%) of Waitrose fruit and veg contained residues (full table available from FOE press office).

Marks and Spencer today issued a statement in response to Friends of the Earth's report saying that the retailer is now committed to removing pesticide residues from its food. It will prohibit the use of 79 pesticides and set targets to reduce residues in fruit, vegetables, and salad. It will also join the Co-op as the second retailer to publish its own testing data on its website so consumers will be able to check on its progress. In July the Co-op announced that it would ban or restrict the use of 50 pesticides and work with suppliers to reduce all residues. Waitrose also has a policy of banning some of the most risky pesticides and reducing pesticide use. Friends of the Earth welcomes these commitments and wants to see similar action from the biggest five supermarkets.

Commenting on the latest results Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner at FOE said
“The latest figures show that many popular fruits and vegetables like apples, pears and cucumbers, are still being contaminated with toxic residues. Some of the pesticides which are found regularly in our fruit and veg are hormone disrupters -they should not be in our food”.

Commenting on the supermarkets' performance, she continued:
“We welcome Marks and Spencer's new commitment to ban over 70 pesticides and work towards zero residues - a tough challenge as currently over half its fruit and veg contains residues. We want to see similar commitments from the biggest five supermarkets - but the latest residue results show that all retailers still have a long way to go to offer their customers residue free food ”

Pesticide Residues in Supermarket Apples

Notes:
[1] Pesticide Residues Committee - Pesticides Monitoring Reports Oct-Dec 2000, Jan-March 2001

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust