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EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

foodwatch.org

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Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#131

Post by jimnotgym »

franciscop wrote: post #102
nozzlegear wrote: post #16

The report itself[†] blames the pesticide residue on a "boomerang effect" from EU countries: EU countries export these banned pesticides to third countries, those countries use the banned pesticides on the food they grow, and then the EU countries import that food. In effect, EU companies are still profiting off of the sale and use of banned pesticides on food that Europeans will eat. [†] https://www.foodwatch.org/fi…

I know someone close who grows oranges in Spain. He has to go through hell, had to rework multiple times the fields so that they pass the strict Spanish regulation for organic produce. They get evaluated not only on the final product being pesticide free, but also on the full process being compliant, with heavy fines for non compliance. This is fine-ish, except that the imported oranges get checked only seldomly (if…

This is a common complaint in the EU, since enforcement is by ones own government, everyone believes that they are the only ones being held to account. It may or may not be true in general, but it sure gives that impression

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#132

Post by psychoslave »

thesmtsolver2 wrote: post #88
nozzlegear wrote: post #16

The report itself[†] blames the pesticide residue on a "boomerang effect" from EU countries: EU countries export these banned pesticides to third countries, those countries use the banned pesticides on the food they grow, and then the EU countries import that food. In effect, EU companies are still profiting off of the sale and use of banned pesticides on food that Europeans will eat. [†] https://www.foodwatch.org/fi…

> EU countries export these banned pesticides to third countries Shouldn't EU ban ideally exports of good that it bans internally?

Ideally we would all be exemplar citizen of the world direct-democratic federation, careful of avoiding any compromission and bribery in our wonderful system. Ideally we would all always optimize for sustainability, careful to keep our action in contemporary reciprocal mutual benefits, in the extend that we confidently believe also able to bring prosperity and peace to future human generations.

Concretely, my friend, I'm afraid this is not quite the world the power imbalances lead us to.

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#133

Post by trick-or-treat »

CalRobert wrote: post #122
franciscop wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know someone close who grows oranges in Spain. He has to go through hell, had to rework multiple times the fields so that they pass the strict Spanish regulation for organic produce. They get evaluated not only on the final product being pesticide free, but also on the full process being compliant, with heavy fines for non compliance. This is fine-ish, except that the imported oranges get checked only seldomly (if…

I was surprised after moving to Ireland to discover that you can break the law and nothing will happen. I went through hell with planners (idiots who don’t believe in climate change and hate eaves) while people around me put three mobile homes on their land as well as building two permanent homes with no permission (and ripping out ancient hedgerows) and successfully got retention. Why even bother?

Sure, but you have to move to Ireland. That's a deal-breaker for most folks.

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#134

Post by psychoslave »

rplnt wrote: post #125
thesmtsolver2 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> EU countries export these banned pesticides to third countries Shouldn't EU ban ideally exports of good that it bans internally?

Couldn't it also be case where the pesticides are fine to use on potatoes but not on tomatoes, for example?

No, pesticide are volatile and can poison water deep in earth no matter which thing was the initial target.

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#135

Post by CalRobert »

trick-or-treat wrote: post #133
CalRobert wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised after moving to Ireland to discover that you can break the law and nothing will happen. I went through hell with planners (idiots who don’t believe in climate change and hate eaves) while people around me put three mobile homes on their land as well as building two permanent homes with no permission (and ripping out ancient hedgerows) and successfully got retention. Why even bother?

Sure, but you have to move to Ireland. That's a deal-breaker for most folks.

Yeah, we ended up leaving in part because of how lawless our area was (the midlands)

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#136

Post by trick-or-treat »

Etheryte wrote: post #56
kryptoncalm wrote: post #21

More relevant is that 14 out of 64 samples had levels above the legally allowed limit (MRL), of which 12 pesticides that are not approved in the EU (page 12 of report). This is more severe than products 'containing' pesticides, which could as well be advancements in measurement. Problematic products are: Peppers, dried (6x), Cumin (3x), Rice grain (2x), Tea leaves and stalks (1x), Non-fermented tea leaves (1x), Mix o…

Cumin always shows up on these lists, whether it's with heavy metals or something else. It's to the point where I've more or less just stopped cooking with it because I don't trust it to be safe.

How much heavy meals can be hiding in a pinch of cumin realistically? Maybe you should invest in a metal detector.

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#137

Post by Saline9515 »

Hikikomori wrote: post #130
Saline9515 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's up to the EU to stop imports from China. It's not possible for individual countries to do it: - Lab testing is complex, requires to identify the DNA of pollens in honey and few countries can do it at the moment. - Honeys are mixed, so it's trivial to receive fake honey in a country that allows it, mix it, and reexport to another one that forbids it. Same happens with olive oils, no one cares. - Many brands j…

Does the EU have a centralized food testing agency?

It does have a food safety agency, but this is a classic international trade problem that is solved at the border since the EU is a trade union.

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#138

Post by rendall »

CalRobert wrote: post #135
trick-or-treat wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but you have to move to Ireland. That's a deal-breaker for most folks.

Yeah, we ended up leaving in part because of how lawless our area was (the midlands)

I'd love to hear more about this if you have the time. What specific things happened?

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#139

Post by Saline9515 »

fasterik wrote: post #87
Saline9515 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, scientific research established that DDT was perfectly safe, too! Scientists even used to eat it to "prove" that it was safe. In reality it depends, being biology, "safe level" is also very relative since you don't know every effect the substance has on the body. That's why pesticides and other chemicals such as bisphenols are regularly phased out, since effects can appear long after "scientific research" es…

We update our beliefs as we get new data. There's not much else we can do. There's a common thought pattern among conspiracy theorists. "Some conspiracies turn out to be real" so that justifies their belief in their very specific conspiracy theory. The same pattern occurs when we talk about chemicals in our diet or the environment. "Some chemicals turn out to be dangerous" but that doesn't prove that a specific conce…

Precaution principle exists, and in the case of food safety, "getting new data" make take years or be very costly.

For instance, bisphenols in plastics baby bottles were proved problematic after decades of use. Precaution principle would have recommended to avoid them (especially since they weren't necessary).

It's not trivial, and many businesses would rather see their consumers die than cut their margins. I remember buying some custom furniture; when it arrived it reeked of varnish smell. I called the factory, told them they didn't cure it correctly. Manager said "yeah we know, we know it's dangerous but people get cancers years later and you can't identify the source anyway" (true story).

Re: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

#140

Post by childintime »

squidsoup wrote: post #85
brikym wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still use tea bags even though they're a top source of microplastics.

People still use tea bags even though what they contain is a byproduct of tea production and barely counts as tea.

Then where does the real stuff go? The arabs, indians?? Tea bags are the mass market in Europe for example. Hardly anyone uses tea leaves (are they different?).

I know an Iranian in the Netherlands who says the tea there is mostly coloring.

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