Toxic grapes in european supermarket
A 12-kilogramme child eating just ten of these heavily contaminated grapes can already suffer damage to health
09.02.2007 |Sascha Gabizon
After analysing pesticides residues in fruits and vegetables, Greenpeace Germany has found several samples to be highly contaminated with acutely toxic pesticides. Two per cent (12 samples) of the 576 fruit and vegetable samples on sale at the leading German and Austrian supermarkets exceed the Acute Reference Dose (ARfD) for children. Children's health is at risk if eating this produce just once. Nine per cent (seven out of 80 samples) of grapes grown by conventional farming methods are also over this warning figure. Lettuce is also affected. Greenpeace reported to the boards of the supermarket chains concerned and to the authorities as having committed an offence by repeatedly marketing food dangerous to health.
"A 12-kilogramme child eating just ten of these heavily contaminated grapes can already suffer damage to health”, says Manfred Krautter from Greenpeace. Greenpeace is calling on companies and state authorities to make effective controls and take immediate steps to protect consumers and stop the sale of dangerous food. The pesticide contamination of this conventionally-grown produce, which comes from Spain, Italy and Turkey, exceeds the ARfD up to twofold. The produce has been sold at several large supermarket chains in Germany and Austria.
The World Health Organisation and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) lay down the ARfD figure. According to a statement by the BfR in November 2005, "exceedance of the ARfD is tangible evidence of possible impairment to human health ... an exceedance of the ARfD [is] from the point of view of protection of consumers' health not acceptable”.
For more information, please contact: Manfred Krautter, tel. + 49 (0) 40 30618 358, at Greenpeace.
