Pesticides above legal limits in Tesco's Chinese supermarkets
Jan
4
Written by:
04/01/2012 15:03
From the Archive: Campaigners ask for a ban on dangerous chemicals
According to an article dated 15th November 2011 on the Greenpeace UK website, after three years of independent testing, produce sold at Tesco supermarkets in China continued to show levels of pesticides far above the legal limit.
Greenpeace personally presented a letter to Tesco's China headquarters in Beijing requesting the supermarket chain ensure its agricultural suppliers stop using harmful and, in some cases, illegal pesticides, and to make its produce supply chains are transparent.
This latest round of tests came in response to claims by Tesco in September refuting Greenpeace's previous findings. It is the fourth test run by Greenpeace since early 2009.
Greenpeace filed a public interest law suit against the supermarket giant in early September 2011 because of its continuing violations of Chinese food regulations. Greenpeace are calling on Tesco to take responsibility and ensure its produce doesn't harm people and the environment. Tesco should at the least raise its produce standards in China to the quality used at other Tesco stores around the world.
As of November 2011 Greenpeace had tested 21 fruits and vegetables at different Tesco stores throughout China. In early October 2011, Greenpeace campaigners sampled five vegetables randomly from a Tesco store in Tianjin. Results from an independent laboratory found residue of at least three types of chemicals – carbendazim, dimethomorph and chlorpyrifos – on spinach and leeks. The leeks had levels of chlorpyrifos residue that were two times higher than China's regulations allow.
Greenpeace was (and still is) calling on Tesco to immediately ban the use of most hazardous pesticides from its produce, as urged by both the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. They were also asking Tesco to control its supply chain and ensure that it is not selling any food with highly hazardous pesticides or that has been genetically modified.
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