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

301–310 of 315 posts

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

#301

Post by CalRobert »

saeedesmaili wrote: post #295
CalRobert wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

No, we moved to Houten (about 5km from central Utrecht). It's been great! Friendly neighbours, good school that my kids walk to (they can walk and bike all over the place actually), pretty efficient bureaucracy, great public transit.. Though you know, even some places in the Netherlands (Hilversum comes to mind) won't stop people parking on pavements for some reason, which is annoying. Overall I really like it though.

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

#302

Post by Pay08 »

beAbU wrote: post #254
Pay08 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In common parlance, that's called corruption.

Interesting that you think this is corruption or favours are being offered up. I wonder how you'll react when confronted by some real corruption.

Corruption like Orbán stealing my taxes to fund a palace for himself? This is the most smug, privileged thing I've read in a while. If you're fine with corruption, say it loud and proud.

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

#303

Post by mariusor »

childintime wrote: post #140
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.

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.

In central Europe I have at least one shop that sells loose leaf tea in walking distance, and multiple ones in ordering range but still local(ish). Prices per 100 grams are about twice as gourmet coffee, but you use less quantity so it lasts longer. So check your neighbourhood internet. :)

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

#304

Post by mariusor »

Theodores wrote: post #36
ofrzeta wrote: post #6

For spices and tea it really makes sense to buy organic (not that there are no fraudsters but still).

Yes and no! In the UK, tea means tea bags and that normally means tea bags made of a plastic/paper mix. If I remember, the bag material is made and then they heat it up to get the plastic out, revealing the holes, needed for the bag. Of late there has been criticism of microplastics in tea bags, and the posh organic bags have fared quite badly. Fancy sachets are not necessarily it. As for chemicals, not one farmer sp…

Even the UK has online shops that sell loose leaf tea that can be prepared in any way you consider safer than tea-bags. :)

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

#305

Post by account42 »

daedrdev wrote: post #282
account42 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, US tap water is absolutely drenched in chlorine. Awful stuff.

This is exactly what I’m talking about. The US and the European Union both allow chlorine in drinking water as in both areas it’s used kill bacteria. The US allows slightly more but both of them set it to safe levels and the chlorine and chloramane used do not make people sick

I'm talking mainly about taste not making people sick. No idea about the rest of the EU but in Germany tap water never tastes like chlorine while in the US it does everywhere I have been.

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

#306

Post by deaux »

beAbU wrote: post #159
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?

2 months ago there was a story about a huge family mansion in Meath being demolished after a court found they did not have the proper planning permissions, and the council was unwilling to grant the permissions after the fact. Also just last week a judge ordered the demolition/removal of 26 mobile homes from a site in Dublin set up without permissions. Friends of mine recently got planning permission for a house they…

> I find that there is a lot less "sorry can't help you, computer says no" here.

Unless of course you need assistance with a privacy issue concerning US big tech. Then suddenly you'll be met with nothing but silence in Ireland, as the stream of incoming billions from being a compliance haven for criminal US companies must continue flowing.

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

#307

Post by trick-or-treat »

account42 wrote: post #183
trick-or-treat wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The problem with lead (and presumably other heavy metals) is that exposure is cumulative as it gets accumulated in your body so there really isn't a safe amount.

While that's true (we should generally avoid ingesting lead).. Lead also gets excreted reasonably quickly.

In other words it's not a reason to avoid a few occasional pinches of cumin.

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

#308

Post by franciscop »

LoveMortuus wrote: post #298
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…

>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~

No well was built since there was no permit. That's it, end of the story.

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

#309

Post by consumer451 »

_ink_ wrote: post #230
dbdr wrote: post #205

If a pesticide is banned to use inside the EU, it should also be banned to import into the EU products that were grown using that pesticide.

If it is not allowed to be used in the EU, it shouldn't be allowed to export it. > Although these chemicals are not allowed on the EU market, they can still be exported from European Member States to third countries. From there, they can return to Europe as residues in imported food — a “toxic pesticides boomerang” that puts consumers at risk.

The term "blowback" has a lot of applications. For example in WW I, when chemical weapons were used and the wind changed, and you gassed your own troops.

This seems like a new economic-chemical place for the term to be used.

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

#310

Post by thesmtsolver2 »

NopIdoN wrote: post #297
thesmtsolver2 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Thanks for citation and logical discussion. Always good to engage in such discussions.

I think some folks are full of shit so that nutritional content of the food itself, like mentioned, in a parallel comment doesn't matter much for them, but for rest of us with normal biology it does matter unfortunately.

Post reply on HN