Crackdown On Bangkok Supercentres

[george]

Quality checks on fruits and vegetables

BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will closely monitor the quality of fruits and vegetables sold at supercentres in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces over the next four months to ensure that they are safe for consumption.

"Officials from the ministry's Department of Agriculture will be sent to collect samples of fruits and vegetables labelled 'Q' which are offered at the supercentres for tests of the residues every week over the next four months", the Director of the department's Crop Production Resources Research and Development, Panpimon Chunyanuwat, told TNA on Friday.

"Samples of fruits and vegetables with no 'Q' label will also be collected for the tests", she noted.

Each week, the officials will collect 100 samples, 80 for the 'Q' labelled products and the rest for the no 'Q' labelled ones, including those imported from China, she disclosed.

The tests are aimed to ensure that residues of 98 banned chemical substances are not found in the products beyond a 'safety level' imposed by the department.

The officials would immediately alert owners of any fruit and vegetable items found contaminated beyond the 'safety level', and would inspect their production sources with a stern warning for an urgent improvement of the quality of the products, Mrs. Panpimon said.

"If the residues are found from the same products for the second time, the 'Q' label will be withdrawn from the products", she cautioned.

A list of farmers and production sources authorized to use the 'Q' label will also be sent to all the local supercentres to prevent any fake 'Q' labelled products, according to the senior official.

--TNA 2005-06-17

[LPCustom69]

The tests are aimed to ensure that residues of 98 banned chemical substances are not found in the products beyond a 'safety level' imposed by the department.

The officials would immediately alert owners of any fruit and vegetable items found contaminated beyond the 'safety level', and would inspect their production sources with a stern warning for an urgent improvement of the quality of the products, Mrs. Panpimon said.

It's scary to think that the banned substances are still being used. It's even scarier to think that the department is setting a safety level! Ah, progress. It was much better when the thai farmers fertilized their land with buffalo dung.

[nhodges]

The tests are aimed to ensure that residues of 98 banned chemical substances are not found in the products beyond a 'safety level' imposed by the department.

The officials would immediately alert owners of any fruit and vegetable items found contaminated beyond the 'safety level', and would inspect their production sources with a stern warning for an urgent improvement of the quality of the products, Mrs. Panpimon said.

It's scary to think that the banned substances are still being used. It's even scarier to think that the department is setting a safety level! Ah, progress. It was much better when the thai farmers fertilized their land with buffalo dung.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Buffalo my foot!!

[stumonster]

The tests are aimed to ensure that residues of 98 banned chemical substances are not found in the products beyond a 'safety level' imposed by the department.

maybe they should also care about on the fruits also , as it worrys me the amount of residue left on the skin of the fruits. Maybe also a campaign about the benefits of washing produce carefully before preparing/consuming would also be helpful.

[BlackJack]

cynical me thinks

just another avenue for pay offs

[toss]

The officials would immediately alert OWNERS of any fruit and vegetable items found contaminated beyond the 'safety level', and would inspect their production sources with a stern warning for an urgent improvement of the quality of the products, Mrs. Panpimon said.

Fuuuuuuu Cccccc Kkkkkkkk the owners...

How about alerting us sillly &lt;deleted&gt;'rs about what shit not to buy!!!!!!!!!!

[bob bobbit]

A subject dear to my heart. Regrettably when we pass over responsibility for what we ingest to those persons with only mercenary motives what else can we expect! I grew organic vegetables at my home in France for 4 years and was never healthier. I am now searching for a piece of land near Chiang Mai on which to start an organic farm. Motives - to provide the bulk of my own food, and to sell the rest to like minded persons in the area. If we are to obtain true health we need to take more responsibility for ourselves. Growing our own food and keeping our bodies healthy instead of swallowing the poison that commerce fosters upon us and then allowing the medical profession to poison us further. Sadly not as simple as it sounds in today's world!

[toss]

Nice to hear your words B.B.!!!

I do buy Organic gear from Tesco/Lotus but often wonder how Organic they really are especially in the Land of 'Pay Whoever To Get Whatever' - PW2GW...

Toss.

[RickFarang]

"BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will closely monitor the quality of fruits and vegetables sold at supercentres in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces over the next four months to ensure that they are safe for consumption."

This is kind of picky, this problem shows up a lot in newspaper accounts of programs from government agencies.

Monitoring does not ensure the food is safe. It only provides information. Makeing the food safe starts way upstream from this point of sale montoring.

[francois]

A subject dear to my heart. Regrettably when we pass over responsibility for what we ingest to those persons with only mercenary motives what else can we expect! I grew organic vegetables at my home in France for 4 years and was never healthier. I am now searching for a piece of land near Chiang Mai on which to start an organic farm. Motives - to provide the bulk of my own food, and to sell the rest to like minded persons in the area. If we are to obtain true health we need to take more responsibility for ourselves. Growing our own food and keeping our bodies healthy instead of swallowing the poison that commerce fosters upon us and then allowing the medical profession to poison us further. Sadly not as simple as it sounds in today's world!

hi'

I agree with you 1000%

may be they should check "governement rural houses" meaning the "office" which provide seeds, fertilizers and chemicals to fight all these bugs, going down to the vendors's place is a few steps too far ...

they should change fertilizing policies. I heard that quite a few spots were working with organics and hydroponics and it was working pretty well, less plantfood and quite no residue, and a good level of water control ... where are these projects?

are they going on ... spreading a bit?

what can a vendor do, when he/she has no choice over the quality of the products for

sale on the gross market?

once more the people in charge "put the buffalo in front of the chariot" ...

francois

[Foggy Bottom]

It's scary to think that the banned substances are still being used. It's even scarier to think that the department is setting a safety level! Ah, progress. It was much better when the thai farmers fertilized their land with buffalo dung.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They still do - but now instead of using water buffaloes, they are using Toyota buffaloes

[ausiekid]

Is it fruits or is it fruit?

[Totster]

Is it fruits or is it fruit?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

either is ok

totster

[plachon]

Nice to hear your words B.B.!!!

I do buy Organic gear from Tesco/Lotus but often wonder how Organic they really are especially in the Land of 'Pay Whoever To Get Whatever' - PW2GW...

Toss.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Shit!!!!!!!!!! Tesco-lotus are now selling organic gear. I must get round there quick before the DEA whip it off the shelves and alert the owners "to be more careful in the future". And there was I thinking it was a family supermarket.

[sureerat9]

the organic fruit in thailand is grown on buffalo shit aparantly

or so my thai wife says and she would not go near it

[DaveYo]

A simple solution to all this, eliminate all these food stalls parked on the sidewalks, and include all those set up shops too that are parked blocking the sidewalks and put the food and the other stuff being sold where it belongs in the supermarkets or in the legit stores period.

That food outside gets spoiled within a few hours and if you people can think for a moment of how much vomit those flies put on the foods that are outside, you would not even want to eat it. Don't believe me, check it out yourself.

Not only that, perhaps then we can have some room to walk around.

Its getting so bad that us people have to be forced to walk out in the streets and have to negotiate cars and buses and whatever flies in our direction there.

Daveyo

[plachon]

A simple solution to all this, eliminate all these food stalls parked on the sidewalks, and include all those set up shops too that are parked blocking the sidewalks and put the food and the other stuff being sold where it belongs in the supermarkets or in the legit stores period.

That food outside gets spoiled within a few hours and if you people can think for a moment of how much vomit those flies put on the foods that are outside, you would not even want to eat it.  Don't believe me, check it out yourself.

Not only that, perhaps then we can have some room to walk around.

Its getting so bad that us people have to be forced to walk out in the streets and have to negotiate cars and buses and whatever flies in our direction there.

Daveyo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dave, you're sounding more like Thaksin every day, what with all this wanting to "eliminate" people's livelihoods and hanging, drawing and quartering criminals outside the legal system. You didn't vote Bush by any chance did you?

So, if I could just pose a few questions for consideration:

1. What would you do with all those street vendors whose jobs and incomes you'd just eliminated?

2. Why is a supermarket any more "legit" in your opinion, than a street stall that's paid it's licence to the "tessaban" (municipal) cops and no doubt, heaps of hidden taxes to Sia this and Sia that?

3. Do you honestly think that supermarket food is any safer and less covered in fly vomit, that the much fresher stuff you can find on the streets? 55555555555!

4. Do you think that Thailand would be a better place, if there were no street stalls and everyone had to buy (literally forced) to buy their food from Sam Walton / CP type superstores and that revolting American invention, "The mall" ?

Personally, I'd rather take my chances walking round street vendors, buying cheap, fresh food from their stalls, than live in your fantasy, sanitised, corparatised, Americanised world of McDonald's, malls and mogadons. And you guys think you have "choice".

[mnoorsapl]

Quality checks on fruits and vegetables 

The tests are aimed to ensure that residues of 98 banned chemical substances are not found in the products beyond a 'safety level' imposed by the department.

--TNA 2005-06-17

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any site to check on the listing of the banned chemical substances and the saftety level.?

[bggg]

The King has organic projects around the country. You can buy organic produce labelled "Doi Khom"

I agree that the government is barking up the wrong tree again. Surveys show that the average Thai person still goes to the fresh market 18 times a month. So even with a crack down on superstores you still have a huge quantity of produce being sold that has been grown with dangerous chemicals.

One of the first things I learnt here about shopping at fresh markets was not to buy bean sprouts that look too beautiful. If they are too white and have no flies around it means they have been soaked in Fermaldahide!!!