Norway bans Thai herbs

BANGKOK: -- Norway has temporarily banned eight Thai fresh herbs after some were found to be contaminated with harmful microbes, an official said yesterday.

The Thai imports were temporarily prohibited after the herbs, sold at Norway’s local markets, were found to be contaminated with E coli and salmonella some 12 times in the last month, said Wicha Thitiprasert, director of the Agriculture Department’s office of research and development technology.

The contaminated herbs were lemon grass, cha-om, parsley, coriander, sweet Thai basil, marsh mint, rice paddy herb and Vietnamese coriander.

The Office of Agricultural Affairs in Europe also reported that Iceland had found E coli, salmonella and enterobacteria in 10 kinds of fresh vegetables from Thailand, while Finnish authorities returned a whole lot of two kinds of vegetables contaminated with salmonella, he said.

The Agriculture Department traced the herbs back to exporters, where packing facilities were inspected for microbial contamination. Samples sent to the Medical Science Department for analysis detected E coli in fresh marsh mint, said Wicha. Over the next two months, his department would beef up quality-control procedures for vegetables exported to Europe and monitor exporters’ facilities.

Europe buys almost Bt20 billion worth of fresh vegetables from Thailand annually, Wicha said. He urged farmers to use clean water and organic fertilisers, and advised exporters to strictly check every lot of produce before exporting it.

--The Nation 2005-08-06

If they get the ball rolling, perhaps some quality measures can be introduced for locally sold herbs as well.

Swedish authorities have found insecticides and various types of germs in imported Thai herbs every year since the imports took off in the mid nineties.

If they get the ball rolling, perhaps some quality measures can be introduced for locally sold herbs as well.

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The scary part is people in foreign countries get to consume the best quality Thai foods. The reason is their import standards are higher than Thailand's own and thus only the best Thai quality foods can be exported, and that leaves the low grade stuff no one else will take to be consumed by Thai's locally.

The other scary thing is a tomato grown in Norway is more expensive than one grown in Spain.

...talking about tomatoes for local consumption. As far as that goes, what ain't more expensive in Norway?

Edited August 6, 200520 yr by Boon Mee

The other scary thing is a tomato grown in Norway is more expensive than one grown in Spain. 

...talking about tomatoes for local consumption.  As far as that goes, what ain't more expensive in Norway?

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Not suprising at all.It can't be easy to grow tomatoes in Norway due to the short growing season there,and out of season would require heat and artificial light.

Spain has these for free much of the year.

Norway has chosen to no be in the EU and has one of the strongest economies in the world due to their huge reserves of oil and gas.Maybe its not so expensive for the locals.

Its interesting to see the high levels of fresh thai produce that arrive in Scandinavia.I suspect a lot of veg around the world would have microbes comes with growing natural produce.

The other scary thing is a tomato grown in Norway is more expensive than one grown in Spain. 

...talking about tomatoes for local consumption.  As far as that goes, what ain't more expensive in Norway?

Apart from the climatic reasons stated by chaiyapoon, the pricing of locally grown food in Norway is also dictated by higher wages, social fees and taxes.

But I dont quite see what the price level has to do with this article. The important issue here is a lack of control measures to limit the use of harmful pesticides and insecticides as well as improving food hygiene.

Norway bans Thai herbs

BANGKOK: -- Norway has temporarily banned eight Thai fresh herbs after some were found to be contaminated with harmful microbes, an official said yesterday.

The Thai imports were temporarily prohibited after the herbs, sold at Norway’s local markets, were found to be contaminated with E coli and salmonella some 12 times in the last month, said Wicha Thitiprasert, director of the Agriculture Department’s office of research and development technology.

The contaminated herbs were lemon grass, cha-om, parsley, coriander, sweet Thai basil, marsh mint, rice paddy herb and Vietnamese coriander.

The Office of Agricultural Affairs in Europe also reported that Iceland had found E coli, salmonella and enterobacteria in 10 kinds of fresh vegetables from Thailand, while Finnish authorities returned a whole lot of two kinds of vegetables contaminated with salmonella, he said.

--The Nation 2005-08-06

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maybe its the buffalo shit they use as fertilizer ?