Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices

foodwatch.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 315 posts

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

#291

Post by t-3 »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #163
jimnotgym wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The way I understand it, at least here in France, the complaint isn't exactly that some other random EU country has lax enforcement of the EU laws. Rather, it's about the various trade agreements with non-EU countries not known for their strict rules. The latest one being with Mercosur, and the main gripe being with Brazil (presumably because of their huge output, not sure if they're considered worse than the others…

It's likely that centralized logistics makes even price-competetive local produce unattractive for large retailers. Much easier to deal with one large supplier halfway around the world than hundreds or thousands.

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

#292

Post by squidsoup »

NicuCalcea wrote: post #245
squidsoup wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

To me, sounds like it's a great thing that we waste less agricultural output and have goods available at different price points.

Yes, there’s a huge market in the UK, Australia and New Zealand for low quality tea.

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

#293

Post by rsynnott »

daedrdev wrote: post #277
rsynnott wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone always complains about chlorinated chicken, not realizing that So, the issue with chlorinated chicken washing is not that the chlorine is unsafe, as such. There are two concerns. The first is cross-contamination. The second is that there is some evidence that it is essentially a cheat; it defeats common tests for salmonella but does not actually reliably destroy the salmonella. So, if you allow chlorine wa…

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/15/nx... “The vast majority of chicken processed in the United States is not chilled in chlorine and hasn't been for quite a few years. … Less than 5% of poultry processing facilities still use chlorine in rinses and sprays, according to the National Chicken Council, an industry group that surveyed its members. (Those that still do use a highly diluted solution a…

Ah, I see.

> primarily peracetic, or peroxyacetic acid, which is essentially a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide

The NPR should possibly hire a science editor. Peracetic acid is not a _mixture_ of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, any more than water is a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. It can be, though in practice is not, made by _combining_ them.

Anyway, same concern as chlorine from the EC’s point of view; it’s an attempt to clean up the problem after it is created, of dubious efficacy, whereas EC policy is to attempt to avoid creating it in the first place.

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

#294

Post by card_zero »

squidsoup wrote: post #212
childintime wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

India, China and Japan are the largest markets for quality whole leaf tea. Tea bags contain fannings and dust, the lowest quality byproducts of tea production. Try a single estate TGFOP and you’ll never want to drink tea from a bag again. Chinese tea is again a whole different world from Indian tea, and has a much broader spectrum of complexity. You could spend a lifetime learning about Chinese tea.

I've heard the exact opposite about India, which is that they export all their best quality tea.

But you're evidently talking about green tea, and maybe not black tea. That might explain the contradiction.

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

#295

Post by saeedesmaili »

CalRobert wrote: post #148
rendall wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Family next door had 17 kids (yes, from one mother), 5 dangerous dogs, and absolutely despised us (somehow we thought having a few acres of land would make worrying about neighbours less necessary). There was an ongoing decades-old land feud with the farmer behind both of our homes. The aforementioned dangerous dogs killed several of the farmer's sheep, so the farmer finally shot and killed one of the dogs during an…

How has the experience in the Netherlands been? Did you move to a rural area in the Netherlands?

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

#296

Post by pstuart »

CalRobert wrote: post #151
Tade0 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I jokingly refer to this as the Catholic principle: "sin first - confess and repent later" as it's a common theme in countries that are/were traditionally Catholic, including my own. It's really just places culturally untouched by Calvinism, Puritanism and the like, all of which put emphasis on order. The last thing to attempt bringing order to them were various forms of authoritarianism and they didn't last. I think…

Maybe I'm a Calvinist. I'm definitely happier in the Netherlands. My general experience was that Irish laws existed mostly for show and if you followed them you were a chump. Unless you wanted to smoke a joint now and then, of course. Ireland supposedly cares about nature too, but you can still buy truckloads of turf off the side of the road in Offaly. Good luck getting those rules enforced. When we still lived in Du…

> authoritarianism is called for

Maybe it's a language thing, but authoritarianism is never called for.

Rule of law that is just and enforced fairly is what is called for.

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

#297

Post by NopIdoN »

thesmtsolver2 wrote: post #106
NopIdoN wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not stricter, it's just different names.

It is stricter. https://www.daymarksafety.com/news/some-fundamental-differen... EU labels are not required to list as much information about nutrients in a product as compared to US food labels. Plus, they often omit such items as saturated fat, fiber, and sugar.

What's more full of shit? FDA approved food or this guy?

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

#298

Post by LoveMortuus »

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…

>Funny story: he requested a permit to build a well, and ofc it takes forever so he just waited. After 4-5 years waiting, having even forgotten about it, someone called him: "we're here to inspect the well". What well? You haven't given me permission yet. "yes, we know, but people build them anyway before getting permission so we thought you'd do the same".

What happened next? Please continue the story~

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

#299

Post by _heimdall »

CalRobert wrote: post #271
_heimdall wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think when you're threatening your neighbours and letting dangerous dogs loose on other people's land where there's kids or sheep then authoritarianism is called for. It doesn't have to require authoritarianism to keep the peace. It also doesn't seem like it could only be solved by an authority. If there's a dangerous dog on your property, shoot it if you can't get it to leave and fear for the safety of your kids…

That's great until the retaliation.

Sure, every action has reactions. I'm not saying the first response should be to shoot the dog in such a scenario, it should be the last resort least of all because it wasn't the dog creating the situation.

It and to be handled though. Yes, there may be retaliation for shooting the dog but there may be retaliation for calling the cops as well. All you can do is deal with the situation at hand, there is no magic bullet authority or otherwise.

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

#300

Post by Hnrobert42 »

cultofmetatron wrote: post #266
jamespo wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that wasn’t criticising the government either.

you don't think criticizing asymmetry in policing isn't criticizing government?

If it doesn't support GP's position, it doesn't count.
Post reply on HN