Pesticide residue testing adequate, say trade experts
Pesticide residue testing adequate, say trade experts
FOOD safety experts and farmers have rebuffed allegations that pesticide residue testing in the UK is inadequate.
The claim is made in a report by environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth. The report, Do We Really Know What Pesticides Are In Our Food, uses data from 1998 – the latest year from which comparison with EU countries can be drawn – to back claims that the UK lagged behind most of Europe in food testing.
During 1998, the UK tested 732 samples, the report says. Only four EU countries tested fewer. "Taking such a small number of samples means the vast majority of food consumed in the UK is not checked for pesticides," the report says.
A spokesman for the independent testing body, the Pesticide Residues Committee, admitted the UK analysed fewer samples than some countries in the EU. "But we look for a wider range of pesticides and often undertake more individual tests."
He added: "Government testing is additional to that already carried out by the food industry [and we] have boosted the number of samples collected for analysis from 2300 in 2000 to 4000 in 2001. Only two samples were of potential consumer concern last year." *