Thailand boosts food safety, bans harmful agrochemicals

[webfact]

Thailand’s food safety protocols are on the rise following successful efforts to ban harmful herbicides and pesticides such as paraquat and chlorpyrifos, alongside triumphant attempts to limit glyphosate use, as discussed at a recent seminar.

 

A recent seminar titled A Decade for Driving to Food Safety highlighted that fewer individuals are now receiving treatment for symptoms related to the use and misuse of these chemicals.

 

The coordinator of the Thai Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-Pan), Prokchon Usap noted that significant progress was made when the government intervened, resulting in a reduction of agrochemical imports from 128 million kilogrammes in 2017 to 113 million kilogrammes in 2022.

 

The number of patients with conditions linked to agrochemical use also dropped, from 22.75 cases per 100,000 people in 2017 to 8.72 per 100,000 people in 2023.

In 2019, the Department of Medical Sciences reported that 26.6% of research samples were contaminated with hazardous chemicals, said Prokchon.

 

“However, zero contamination was detected in samples after the ban.”

 

Thai-Pan expects public health expenditure related to agrichemical-induced diseases to decrease by over 48 billion baht (US$1.3 billion) in the forthcoming years.

 

Prokchon added that Thai-Pan monitored the usage of four types of agrochemicals, carbonate, organophosphate, organochlorine, and pyrethroids in exported fruits and vegetables from 2012 to 2022.

 

Their findings showed that contamination levels had decreased from 50% to 20%. Thai-Pan and its partners plan to work towards a total ban of these four agrichemicals. Prokchon further commends the increased lab capacity which now allows for testing on a larger scale, with facilities to test for around 500 chemicals.

 

“We are happy with the country’s effort to elevate food safety standards, as less chemical contamination is being found in samples of fruit and vegetables. While 60% were tainted in 2016, that number had dropped to 51% in 2022.

 

“It proves we are now on the right track to dealing with the chemical at its source.”

 

Thai-Pan and its partners agreed that cooperation from all stakeholders is key to creating a nationwide movement towards achieving food safety, with the prospect of even less agrochemical use by farmers in the future, reported Bangkok Post.

 

by Ryan Turner

Image courtesy of prostooleh on Freepik

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-06-10

 

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[ourmanflint]

Strange, according to worldometer, Thailands pesticide use is 1/3rd that being reported here at 35,000 tonnes. 113,000 tonnes would put it in 4th place in the world which for a  country size of Thailand is outrageous really, 25% more than Canada

[hotchilli]

Of course we trust Thailands FDA who test all manner of produce in Thailand, from fruit to vegetables to the meat trade... 

As an example:

A family fun abattoir near me regularly takes in deliveries of live pigs from local farms, they are off-loaded into pens, stunned by an iron bar being struck on the head, throat slit to catch the blood in a concrete trough. They are then scolded in boiling water, hung up and beheaded, with stomach contents removed, then cut length ways in half. The halves are weighed and put in the back of a pick-up and transported to a nearby meat market where they are jointed and sold direct to the public or whole sale.

No pig has any identification, where it came from or what is was fed on or injected with.

No inspection is made of the quality of the meat or processing.

 

 

 

Edited June 10 by hotchilli

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Of course we trust Thailands FDA who test all manner of produce in Thailand, from fruit to vegetables to the meat trade... 

As an example:

A family fun abattoir near me regularly takes in deliveries of live pigs from local farms, they are off-loaded into pens, stunned by an iron bar being struck on the head, throat slit to catch the blood in a concrete trough. They are then scolded in boiling water, hung up and beheaded, with stomach contents removed, then cut length ways in half. The halves are weighed and put in the back of a pick-up and transported to a nearby meat market where they are jointed and sold direct to the public or whole sale.

No pig has any identification, where it came from or what is was fed on or injected with.

No inspection is made of the quality of the meat or processing.

 

 

 

No, that´s horrible, as this is all the things you will find in the western world. The one many of med a choice to leave. I am not in anyway saying that they handle it correct here. What I am saying, is that we have to accept the way they are dealing with things in the country we chose to move and live in. That´s the way they are doing here. The western world has both advantages and disadvantages. So does Thailand. The choice is ours to make.

[john donson]

when even produce in villa market tests for pesticides...

 

spray spray, then burn, so everybody get's it for sure...

[cowellandrew]

So no herbicides!

What are we ment grow? Weeds!

😂