Pesticide free vegetables.

[kalbo123]

Just came across an alarming article that says that almost half of all tested vegetables and fruits in CM and Bangkok are contaminated with over the limit pesticides.

Even so called organic vegetables that are supposed to be controlled by the government are over the safety limit.

It really worries me, does anyone know where to buy safe food?

Thanks.

[masuk]

I just read the same article. It is indeed scary, as a number of the chemicals detected are banned. (but obviously not Thailand)

I wonder if there are ASEAN standards and if it is generally known that banned chemicals are used here.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

the WHO says the same thing about the German beers. Certain items are much more prone to it than others....I recall this came up in the US a long time ago, and they said buying stuff with a peel was a partial solution. Even if they don't spray; there is no guarantee on the soil or the water, here. Truly certified organic would be 7 years of clean soil.

[johnatong]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

[kalbo123]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

Thanks for the tip, but maybe you should read my post again, that's not what asked.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

also, there is a certain mix of vinegar and water you can soak your stuff i that will clean it pretty well. I think the leafy vegetables are especially prone.....a cheap salad spinner is a great thing to have...putting that on my list of stuff to bring back from the US on my next trip.

[johnatong]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

Thanks for the tip, but maybe you should read my post again, that's not what asked.

I did read your post !

This is what you asked " It really worries me, does anyone know where to buy safe food?"

What do you classify as "Safe Food" ?

If "SAFE" food cannot be found in Thailand then you should go home where , surely , SAFE' food is easily available !

[kalbo123]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

Thanks for the tip, but maybe you should read my post again, that's not what asked.

I did read your post !

This is what you asked " It really worries me, does anyone know where to buy safe food?"

What do you classify as "Safe Food" ?

If "SAFE" food cannot be found in Thailand then you should go home where , surely , SAFE' food is easily available !

My home is here in Chiang Mai.

[CMKiwi]

Yawn..... if food tastes good I eat it. Thus far I haven't glowed in the dark and none of my limbs have fallen off.

If I should eat something that tastes a bit dodgy then I remember not to buy there again.

Why are kids getting so sick these days? Too wrapped up in cotton wool.....their bodies have never had to fight infections etc.

Possibly too much pc crap going on as well. Let kids be kids then perhaps their immune system might get stronger

[amexpat]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

I wonder

in what percentage of threads is someone advised to go back to their home country? 60%? 80%?

As I recall, the old "love it or leave it" started in response to people who opposed Nixon's brilliant Viet Nam war policy.

[dcnx]

Can someone DM me the article please?

I buy organic, and hope that it's actually organic. It never looks as good as the normal veggies and is usually smaller, so I hope for the best.

[junglechef]

2 of many

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/959397/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/960053/organic-in-our-country-means-unsafe

[dcnx]

2 of many

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/959397/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/960053/organic-in-our-country-means-unsafe

Thank you.

[MrBrad]

I've always wondered why vegetables here don't have but a day or two shelf-life. Carrots left unrefrigerated get soft in no time. Put them in the refrigerator, and they wilt and start turning black in a couple days. At least that's the case with carrots from the market. Organic, New Zealand carrots from Rim Ping last much longer.

Then, too, when I slice carrots on my white cutting board, the board picks up an orange color. There's got to be some kind of color added to the carrots grown here. Imported carrots don't change the color of the board.

Who knows what we're eating? But I do know that I've become more selective in what and where I eat. Usually home is best.

Oh, and always wash your fruits and vegetables before eating. When out and about I've often seen fruit pickers washing the fruit with canal water prior to packing before going to the market. Kids swim in those canals, and certainly ingest a good deal of that dirty water, but as for me, I'd rather not.

[TheSiemReaper]

Why worry about the things you cannot change? Over use of pesticides exists because of American companies pushing commercial farming varieties of products which need a ton of pesticides.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Why are kids getting so sick these days? Too wrapped up in cotton wool.....their bodies have never had to fight infections etc.

Possibly too much pc crap going on as well. Let kids be kids then perhaps their immune system might get stronger

Somehow, I don't think ingesting higher that permitted levels of certain pesticides, or any levels of banned pesticides that are still used illegally in Thailand, is going to do much good for anyone's immune system.

But if you want to believe that, fine... Just make sure you don't fall off the end of the flat world.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 of many

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/959397/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/960053/organic-in-our-country-means-unsafe

Prokchol Ousup, a Thai-PAN coordinator, said the overall results showed that 46.6% of samples contained residues higher than the accepted safety standard level. Notably, 57.1% of fruits and vegetables granted the “Q mark” by the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards, were to be found contaminated at unsafe levels.

She said 25% of the products certified as being organic, which

were supposed to be free of chemicals, were found to contain chemical residues exceeding the accepted standards

This above pretty much reinforced what I've understood for a long time -- that the Q mark labeling and organic labeling here in Thailand is pretty much meaningless. Those products generally command higher prices, but aren't any healthier for you in general than the regular bad stuff on sale in the same stores.

Thus, I pretty much don't buy fresh vegetables here in Thailand anymore. Ditto on a lot of the frozen fruit and veggies that show up in places like Makro having been imported from China, where the pesticide (non) regulation is probably worse than here in Thailand, if that's even possible.

So instead, I buy imported Waitrose brand veggies from the UK through Central Food Hall outlets.

There is one way things will change on this issue, and that's if customers refuse to buy that kind of contaminated stuff and demand better.

[elektrified]

I just read the same article. It is indeed scary, as a number of the chemicals detected are banned. (but obviously not Thailand)

I wonder if there are ASEAN standards and if it is generally known that banned chemicals are used here.

This is old news. This was reported 2-3 years ago now. A study was done by the one of the news organizations and they purchased produce in markets all over Thailand, including Chiang Mai and had it tested at 2 independent labs. Those sold as organic contained harmful levels of chemicals. They specifically showed Muang Mai Market and not places like Rimping.The Thai government has been saying for years now that consumers need to soak their vegetables in bicarbonate of soda for 20 minutes then rinse. Many restaurants now have signs saying they adhere to this practice. We have been doing this for 6 years now.

You can stop by the Rimping laboratory unannounced and see them test and label the produce accordingly. I have not done this but they claim you can if you like.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

DOA hits back over chemical residue claims Dept stands by GAP, organic certifications

Meanwhile, the follow-up article with a response by the government agencies is noteworthy in that there isn't a single sentence or word in there challenging the validity or accuracy of the private group's food safety test results.

It's not even clear from the follow-up article that the government does any of its own actual testing of produce for pesticide residues. Rather, the article says the department requires farmers to "submit information" on their crops. Well, that's certainly going to address the issue and ensure compliance.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You can stop by the Rimping laboratory unannounced and see them test and label the produce accordingly. I have not done this but they claim you can if you like.

I don't know about Rimping. But I do recall, in one of the prior safety checks, that particularly high levels were found on veggies at Siam Paragon's gourmet market, where you would kind of expect better.

[elektrified]

You can stop by the Rimping laboratory unannounced and see them test and label the produce accordingly. I have not done this but they claim you can if you like.

I don't know about Rimping. But I do recall, in one of the prior safety checks, that particularly high levels were found on veggies at Siam Paragon's gourmet market, where you would kind of expect better.

http://www.rimping.com/product_safety_testing

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

.The Thai government has been saying for years now that consumers need to soak their vegetables in bicarbonate of soda for 20 minutes then rinse. Many restaurants now have signs saying they adhere to this practice.

I know the sodium bicarb / baking soda solution soak is a popular/common advice given by folks on ThaiVisa for dealing with produce contamination here.

It may be a very good approach, but I don't recall seeing/reading any scientific study/research that confirms the effectiveness of that kind of soaking in removing pesticide residues.

In fact, from what I could find on the subject from health authorities, most seemed to recommend washing and rinsing veggies in fresh, clean running water as a better approach than soaking. But I'm willing to be persuaded if there's some research out there that proves the validity of the method.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

http://www.rimping.com/product_safety_testing

It's good that this grocery store chain is running their own monitoring/testing program.

It's also very unfortunate that they have to, because the government's own monitoring and enforcement efforts are totally worthless and recognized by their customers as such.

The point is, companies like Rimping should not have to be doing their own food safety testing if the government was doing its job.

[chuang]

There is not such thing as safe food....

[impulse]

I've always wondered why vegetables here don't have but a day or two shelf-life. Carrots left unrefrigerated get soft in no time. Put them in the refrigerator, and they wilt and start turning black in a couple days. At least that's the case with carrots from the market. Organic, New Zealand carrots from Rim Ping last much longer.

I'm in the middle of an experiment (well, maybe toward the end- hard to tell) . I've had some Big C cheap bulk carrots in the fridge for about 6 weeks now. They just won't go bad (like every other batch of carrots I've kept over a few days).

I'm afraid to consume them, so I'm going to see just how long they do last. Out of the batch of about a dozen I bought for juicing, I've only had to cull 2 or 3 in the 6 weeks.

[Rsteeltje]

We live on an organic farm in Ban Thi close to San Kamphaeng. Wife sells organic vegs to stall in Meechok market. Friends and neighbors come directly to our farm to pick up our vegs. We are not certified but everyone is free to visit us to see what we do.

So if you want fresh chemical free vegs PM me for directions.

Cheers

R'tje

PS: Google Participatory Guarantee Systems, which makes more sense than any label/certification

[Rancid]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

My, my. Well washing doesn't remove pesticides, some other concoctions can help though.

You see, eating an occasional pesticide ridden vegetable indeed isn't going to kill you. It's the cumulative effect over years, as such the least the better.

Read an article years ago where they tested Thais for pesticides in their blood and those levels were off the charts.

The OP is correct in wanting to avoid these toxic chemicals whenever he can, there are a wide range of unpleasant and fatal diseases related to them. Another whole bunch are found in almost everything you use daily. Again, it's the cumulative effect of non stop exposure. But to each his own.

[hanuman2543]

the WHO says the same thing about the German beers. Certain items are much more prone to it than others....I recall this came up in the US a long time ago, and they said buying stuff with a peel was a partial solution. Even if they don't spray; there is no guarantee on the soil or the water, here. Truly certified organic would be 7 years of clean soil.

They found traces of Glyphosat in German beers and you can be sure that it can be found in many other products made from vegetables and fruits. I really hope that the EU doesn't sign any free trade agreement with the US and if you are informed then you know that Glyphosat maybe will be banned in the EU.

[johnatong]

Oh dear !

If you are worried then wash the fruit/veg before eating/cooking and watch out for the mercury in fish and the antibiotics in meat !

Maybe you should go home where all the food is expensive 'organic' stuff and you can be assured of 'safety'

My, my. Well washing doesn't remove pesticides, some other concoctions can help though.

You see, eating an occasional pesticide ridden vegetable indeed isn't going to kill you. It's the cumulative effect over years, as such the least the better.

Read an article years ago where they tested Thais for pesticides in their blood and those levels were off the charts.

The OP is correct in wanting to avoid these toxic chemicals whenever he can, there are a wide range of unpleasant and fatal diseases related to them. Another whole bunch are found in almost everything you use daily. Again, it's the cumulative effect of non stop exposure. But to each his own.

Name this "wide range of unpleasant and fatal diseases" which are DIRECTLY the result of consuming "contaminated" fruit/veg.

Explain why Thai people live so long, if as you claim, they are eating "toxic" food.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/thailand-life-expectancy

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/thailand

edit to add link

[streetsweeper]

Yawn..... if food tastes good I eat it. Thus far I haven't glowed in the dark and none of my limbs have fallen off.

If I should eat something that tastes a bit dodgy then I remember not to buy there again.

Why are kids getting so sick these days? Too wrapped up in cotton wool.....their bodies have never had to fight infections etc.

Possibly too much pc crap going on as well. Let kids be kids then perhaps their immune system might get stronger

Is this the best reply to the OP and question that you could muster?

How did you miss the question asked by the OP?

Or were you just in the mood to "puff one's own feathers" a bit.

Stay on the bloody topic please!