37% claimed that pesticides were detected in "organic" vegetable samples

Eating more vegetables is good for your body, but if vegetables contain excessive amounts of pesticides and heavy metals, greentest eco 6 it can be harmful to your body. The Consumer Council conducted its first large-scale vegetable inspection, collecting 127 vegetable samples, including "organic" products, and testing for more than 300 pesticide residues and seven heavy metals.

Of the 127 samples, radioactive detection 75 claimed to be organic and 28 (37%) were found to contain pesticide residues.

The results showed that "organic" products also pose food safety risks: the "organic" purple sweet potatoes and carrots tested this time contained excessive levels of pesticides or near the upper limit of the heavy metal cadmium.

The Consumer Council has submitted the list of test samples to the Centre for Food and Safety for reference to follow up cases suspected of non-compliance with the relevant legal requirements.

The pesticide chlorpyrifos found in jade beans and sweet potatoes exceeded the legal limit

Another sample of organic mini purple sweet potatoes from the mainland with the word "organic" printed on the package was also found to contain chlorpyrifos at 0.07 mg u002F kg, higher than the maximum residue limit of 0.05 mg u002F kg for sweet potatoes.

Beans: Five other pesticides were also detected in the same sample, radiation detectors for sale of which the content of imidamine was 4.74 mg per kg. An adult weighing 60kg who eats 80g of pulses twice a day will exceed the daily acceptable intake limit and may be at risk of long-term adverse health effects.

Cabbage heart: Pesticide was detected in 18 out of 21 cabbage heart samples (86%). Among them, 8 species (38%) were detected with phenoxyconazole content ranging from 0.02mg to 0.14mgu002Fkg, but not exceeding the standard (35mgu002Fkg).

Tomato: Pesticides were detected in 11 (73%) of the 15 tomato samples, with a wide range of 21 species. The most common pesticide detected in the tomato samples studied was dimethomorph, with a total of 4 (27%) with concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 mg/kg. The national maximum residue limit (1 mg/kg) was not exceeded.

It should be noted that when growing or storing crops, pesticides can be used to eliminate pests or fungi, etc. However, different pesticides have different toxicity. Accidental ingestion of large quantities of pesticides over a short period of time, such as accidental eating or leakage, may result in acute poisoning symptoms. However, in the case of normal vegetable consumption, it is generally not possible to ingest enough pesticides to cause the above symptoms.

The cadmium content of cabbage and organic carrots is near the upper limit.

The cadmium content of six types of cabbage, five types of potatoes, two types of carrots and carrots, three types of Chinese cabbage and one type of cauliflower ranged from 0.02 mg/kg to 0.10 mg/kg. Although the heavy metal content in local food did not exceed the upper limit of 0.1 mg/kg, the cadmium content of one of the samples of cabbage from the Mainland did not exceed the upper limit; Another organic carrot sample from the United States contained 0.09 mg of cadmium per kilogram. Long-term ingestion of foods high in cadmium may damage the kidneys.

Organic milk cabbage: Lead was detected in one sample of organic milk cabbage at 0.06 mg/kg, within the legal limit in Hong Kong.

Fewer pesticides were detected in 13 types of broccoli and 14 types of carrots and carrots, and the amounts were mild.

Organic fruits and vegetables also contain pesticides and heavy metals

In this test, some organic products such as sweet potato and carrot were detected with pesticides or heavy metals respectively, which attracted the attention of consumers. The use of organic farming does not guarantee that the crop will be completely pesticide free. The organic farming legislation in the United States states that if the level of pesticide residues detected in the produce is less than 5% of the limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the produce can still be labeled as organic if it is caused by environmental contamination with pesticide residues rather than pesticides applied on the farm.

Many prepackaged organic vegetables will be labeled "organic" or "organic" with information such as the certification body's logo or number. However, stores that sell a large number of "organic" vegetables may only display the certification of their farm at one location within the store, but the relationship between the vegetables chosen by the consumer and the certification is not as clear as the relationship between prepackaged products.

The Consumer Council reminds consumers to pay more attention when purchasing non-pre-packaged organic vegetables and ask carefully, asking shops to indicate that the purchase is organic vegetables before paying.

The Consumer Council also urges shops to clearly state on the receipts that the vegetables sold are organic, so as to enhance consumers' confidence in purchasing. It is also convenient to investigate if there is a problem.