Conventional carrots pesticide free
1 September 2000
Conventional carrots ‘pesticide free’
By FWi staff
CONVENTIONALLY grown carrots have been found to be free of pesticides in independent tests carried out for the BBC.
Scientists at the Eclipse Scientific Group laboratory in Cambridgeshire extensively tested carrots bought anonymously from British supermarkets.
Three types — an organic British carrot, an organic carrot from abroad and a conventionally grown carrot —were examined for pesticide and chemical residues.
The tests were negative for all three.
“I think the public will be very surprised,
Nigel Gillis of the Eclipse Scientific Group told the PA news agency.
“Their perception of organic carrots is that they have no pesticides in and conventional carrots are riddled with them.
Weve shown with this test that thats not the case.”
This research appears at a time when respective merits of organic and conventionally grown crops have come under scrutiny.
Last week the governments Food Standards Agency said there was no evidence that organic food was healthier or safer than conventionally grown produce
This was reiterated by FSA chairman Sir John Krebs who told the BBC Countryfile programme that the organic industry relies on image.
But researchers from Switzerland have reported that organic produce is better for consumers.
The Organic Research Institute in Switzerland found that organic apples contained high levels of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants.