Pesticide tests on Thai fruit show red grapes, dates high in chemical contamination

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Pesticide tests on Thai fruit show red grapes, dates high in chemical contamination

By The Nation

 

 

The Department of Agriculture has ordered an investigation after tests by the Thai Pesticide Alert Network (ThaiPAN) found worrying levels of chemical contamination in fruits and vegetables on sale in markets and malls.

 

All 30 random samples of red grapes and dates exceeded the maximum residue level (MRL) permitted, while pomelo was the only product found to be safe from chemical contamination.

 

ThaiPAN tested 509 samples of fruit and vegetables – 201 from six malls and 308 from 10 markets. Among them were locally produced products as well as imports, both certified and non-certified.

 

In response to the test results, Department of Agriculture director-general Pichet Wiriyapaha has ordered officials to conduct inspections on supermarket fruit and vegetables labelled Organic Thailand, Q GAP, Thai GAP, PGS, or with foreign organic standards. If any are found to exceed maximum residue levels, the relevant certification authority will be told to alert the farmers, he said.

 

If banned chemicals are found, officials will revoke certification, Pichet added.

 

He said the department was currently developing biological substances and plant extracts to replace agrochemicals.

 

“At present, 17 types of biofilms are recommended for farmers to use as part of Good Agricultural Practices [GAP] to kill pests in organic farming systems.”

 

Registration guidelines for the use of biological and plant extracts to eliminate weeds will be offered soon, he said.

 

Meanwhile the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Public Health Ministry will collaborate on their own inspections of chemical contamination in fruits and vegetables.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30399309

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-09

 

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[sammieuk1]

Nothing is safe here to much effort wasted on control of the people and to little controlling safety ????

[ezzra]

The bottom line is wash your fruits and veg and was thoroughly before using, this is something i have been doing since arriving to this country...

[DuiDui48]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

The bottom line is wash your fruits and veg and was thoroughly before using, this is something i have been doing since arriving to this country...

I wash my Vegs and fruit in a mix of RO wather + Peroxcide 3%.

 

"Hydrogen peroxide is one of the best choices and especially good for germs or disease pathogens. Use a 50/50 mixture of water and the 3 percent product right out of the bottle from the grocery store. Spray or soak the produce in the mix, rinse, dry and enjoy."

[mtls2005]

Semi-annual pesiticide article.

 

 

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

The bottom line is wash your fruits and veg and was thoroughly before using, this is something i have been doing since arriving to this country...

 

I am not certain but believe residue level does not refer to surface residue, but to pesticide residues remaining in the entire fruit after production as a result of uptake. I mean seven of the nine items shown in the infographic are peeled before eating.

 

Washing your fruit and veg is admirable, assuming your water supply is safe. Unless you're performing some sort of elaborate chemical extraction you may be fooling yourself a bit?

 

Introducing peroxide seems just totally loopy, but we know it takes all kinds.

[Paul Henry]

Most agchems are systemic or translaminar so washing or peeling has no effect on removing chemical residue. MRLs are taken from fruit/veg that is pulped and then put through a spectagraph or spectrometer to identify the type and levels of chemicals present. Washing and adding additional chemicals (especially ones NOT registered for use on fruit/veg is playing Russian roulette.) 

[quake]

Disgraceful farmers of Thailand.

People just don't care about anything here.

 

 

[cooked]

3 minutes ago, quake said:

Disgraceful farmers of Thailand.

People just don't care about anything in Thailand.

On the contrary they do care about seeing an entire crop being ruined in a short time after much work. Until other affordable solutions are found this isn't going to go away. 

I might have said "disgraceful Farang knows nothing about life as a farmer". But I won't.

[quake]

Just now, cooked said:

On the contrary they do care about seeing an entire crop being ruined in a short time after much work. Until other affordable solutions are found this isn't going to go away. 

I might have said "disgraceful Farang knows nothing about life as a farmer". But I won't.

ok.

other countries can do it , but they cant here. Why

[cooked]

1 minute ago, quake said:

ok.

other countries can do it , but they cant here. Why

Other countries can afford expensive "organic" vegetables. Even in Switzerland, where you would think things were tightly controlled, I have seen so called organic farmers out spraying something at 2am. 

This place isn't "other countries" by which you probably mean temperate zones. There is no harsh winter to kill pests, insufficient or over abundance of rain... I gave up trying to grow several crops when I realised that I would need to spray to keep the crop. 

"Why"... indicates that you aren't a farmer and think everything should be black or white.

[Venom]

Great, so now we got poison fruit to add to the horrendous 2.5PM air pollution we are forced to breath 24/7. ????

[cooked]

10 minutes ago, Venom said:

Great, so now we got poison fruit to add to the horrendous 2.5PM air pollution we are forced to breath 24/7. ????

Yes, almost as bad as many places in other countries which I won't mention. Something IS being done about that in Thailand, maybe you should do some reading.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

The bottom line is wash your fruits and veg and was thoroughly before using, this is something i have been doing since arriving to this country...

I always wash my meat & veg before use... 

[tomazbodner]

Yet when Thailand bans the use of pesticides, many TVF members stand with farmers who defy the ban...

[Ireland32]

39 minutes ago, Venom said:

Great, so now we got poison fruit to add to the horrendous 2.5PM air pollution we are forced to breath 24/7. ????

Always been here on fruit and Formalin another thing to look for on fresh fruits and dried squid 

[xylophone]

This shouldn't be such a surprise to readers of Thai Visa, because the subject has been covered a few times previously, and as this recent survey suggests, heavy use of pesticides et cetera is commonplace in Thailand, even on the fruit and vegetables labelled "organic". In fact some "organic" produce contained more pesticides than non-organic produce – – go figure!

 

The Chinese are just as bad, and I won't touch any fruit or vegetables which are imported from China, or at least I don't knowingly buy them.

 

I knew a guy who owned a pineapple "plantation" up near Chiang Rai and when I visited him a couple of occasions he was busy out spraying his pineapples with hormones, which she said helped the pineapples to grow bigger and faster.

 

I suggested that it might even make people's boobs grow bigger (men's included) and he just smiled.

 

There have to be better ways of managing pests and diseases, and I believe there are some out there, but for those on TV who suggest that buying in local markets is the way to go, then they would be wrong because the tests done before, which I mentioned previously, showed that local markets were just as bad, if not worse for pesticide/chemical residue.

[Venom]

40 minutes ago, cooked said:

Yes, almost as bad as many places in other countries which I won't mention. Something IS being done about that in Thailand, maybe you should do some reading.

 

Read and commented on the OP anything else you'd like to recommend? My two year old will have to do without the grapes in the meantime. 

[quake]

5 hours ago, cooked said:

Other countries can afford expensive "organic" vegetables. Even in Switzerland, where you would think things were tightly controlled, I have seen so called organic farmers out spraying something at 2am. 

This place isn't "other countries" by which you probably mean temperate zones. There is no harsh winter to kill pests, insufficient or over abundance of rain... I gave up trying to grow several crops when I realised that I would need to spray to keep the crop. 

"Why"... indicates that you aren't a farmer and think everything should be black or white.

 

Can other hot countries produce crops with out poisoning the population.

i think that's a yes.

Do the farmers care how much poison they use ?   reckon no is the answer.

Children and old people should come before, somchai and his bank balance.

 

I commend you for not spraying, well done. keep it up.

 

Maybe the farmers need to change what they grow and the way they do it.

or just stick to farming pigs, chickens, and rice. and just import the rest.

 

your correct i'm not a farmer, and any Falang that comes to Thailand to be a farmer,

must be nuts.

But growing it just for yourself,  i get that, if thats what you do,  if it can be done.

 

As for Switzerland. think they need to lay off the wacky  Backy.

 

 

[Scot123]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

The bottom line is wash your fruits and veg and was thoroughly before using, this is something i have been doing since arriving to this country...

Washing doesn't remove the chemicals/poisons. The best/easiest way is to use backing soda. 

[DuiDui48]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Semi-annual pesiticide article.

 

 

 

I am not certain but believe residue level does not refer to surface residue, but to pesticide residues remaining in the entire fruit after production as a result of uptake. I mean seven of the nine items shown in the infographic are peeled before eating.

 

Washing your fruit and veg is admirable, assuming your water supply is safe. Unless you're performing some sort of elaborate chemical extraction you may be fooling yourself a bit?

 

Introducing peroxide seems just totally loopy, but we know it takes all kinds.

Before you use the word "loopy",try to get some knowledge..if you don't like how i do my cleaning whith Peroxcide,feel free to try EM,Vinegar or Bakingsoda to name a few.

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[garzhe]

5 hours ago, cooked said:

Yes, almost as bad as many places in other countries which I won't mention. Something IS being done about that in Thailand, maybe you should do some reading.

I have but will reserve judgment on what's been done for a while until we get in to the burning season.

[toast1]

I worked for chemical supply companies, the problem is small farmers who don't have the training and control, so use too much. Commercial farmers, those big evil mega-corporations, are much better at using less chemicals and less water. 
 

[off road pat]

One of my friends has a coffee plantation, next to him is a vegetable plantation mainly cabbages. The cabbage man had to bring his vegetables to the market the next day, so he sprayed them with chemicals a last time the day before bringing them to the market !!!, just saying,...it's education they need !!!

[mikebell]

22 hours ago, quake said:

ok.

other countries can do it , but they cant here. Why

Other countries grow their produce in soil.  Thailand has sand because they do nothing to enrich the soil except plough in chemicals.  The farmers here don't return nutrients to the soil - it's easier to burn & pollute.

[ChipButty]

The best thing you can buy for cleaning veggies is a small Ozone machine 250 mg can clean meat also

[berrec]

[Lacessit]

On 12/9/2020 at 2:14 PM, Scot123 said:

Washing doesn't remove the chemicals/poisons. The best/easiest way is to use backing soda. 

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, it only raises the pH of water to 8.3. Its cleaning effect is negligible.

To clean with an alkaline solution, either ammonia or sodium carbonate would be necessary.

[Lacessit]

On 12/9/2020 at 7:42 AM, DuiDui48 said:

I wash my Vegs and fruit in a mix of RO wather + Peroxcide 3%.

 

"Hydrogen peroxide is one of the best choices and especially good for germs or disease pathogens. Use a 50/50 mixture of water and the 3 percent product right out of the bottle from the grocery store. Spray or soak the produce in the mix, rinse, dry and enjoy."

While hydrogen peroxide would be effective in destroying pathogens, the same may not be true in terms of oxidizing pesticides and herbicides.

In point of fact, peroxide may well oxidize these compounds into something more toxic than the original chemical. Unless you have test results that establish otherwise, you're flying blind.

[Meat Pie 47]

On 12/9/2020 at 11:39 AM, hotchilli said:

I always wash my meat & veg before use... 

Whats the point of washing an orange one does not eat the peel

so washing is useless.