Dangerous pesticides in Thai food
This week the Dutch broadcast of BVN showed a report on how the food chain was affected. Some insects were almost eradicated. One of the causes was the use of pesticides to control the food against pests. However, the smallest worms and beetles form the food for the larger animals.
Insects are also needed to fertilize fruit. Due to measures taken in agriculture under pressure from the government and nature organisations, a number of pesticides have been banned and replaced by more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Thailand is not that far yet. The Thailand Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-PAN) warns that many products still contain far too high concentrations of toxic substances. In Bangkok and surrounding provinces, this concerned both fruit and vegetables, in particular Chinese cabbage and Tiger grass. The permitted values were well above the “Codex Maximum Residue Limit for Pesticide”. Fruit was mainly grapes, pineapple and papaya; not only with locally grown products, but also with imported fruits! Disturbing was the composition of the pesticides, Paraquat (38 percent) was highly toxic, Glyphosat (6 percent) and Attrazin (4 percent) a widely used weed killer, including at golf courses.
Activists from the Biodiversity Sustainableb Agriculture Food Action Thailand (BioThai), who support Thai-Pan, have announced that they will file a court complaint against the Ministry of Agriculture. In the past, the use of Paraquat in agriculture had already made it public that this substance posed a danger to consumers. This according to bio Thai activist Kingkorn Narindharakul in the Bangkok Post.
Can this broadcast still be rewatched?
Maybe through your computer “Missed broadcast”.
When broadcast, name of program?
I have often commented on food safety on this site. It is striking that there are always people who write 'I have no problems with anything'. Can't do more than emphasize again, stay away from the Thai food chain. If you do not grow your own vegetables so that you know what you are eating, buy European imported (frozen) vegetables and fruit from Casino and Carrefour at resp. Big C and Tonks. It will cost you a little more, but you will easily save on your medical bills later. You are guaranteed to live longer!
That doesn't surprise me about that pesticide, nowhere is there control over these dangerous products.
One can buy and use here as desired.
There is probably also the fact that the Thai uses the product incorrectly.
The chief executive of the council of government
who has to ban the pesticides is on the board of directors of the companies that sell the pesticides,count your profit
Food safety and hygiene are also poor on the markets. If you compare it with the Netherlands, where there are many rules to run a market stall with food, it is a mess here. One just does something. My Thai wife always says, cooking and baking well kills everything and does not cause any problems for your health. Life can be that simple. However, I am not reassured and the option of Brabantman does indeed give more reassurance.
Since 1994 I have been importing canned fruit and vegetables from Thailand, among others, from BRC, IFS or FSSC22000 certified companies. This means that they are under fairly strict control, and must regularly have their output analyzed, and thus ensure the supply of raw materials from farms, which they keep “in the loop” with contracts and regular checks with regard to pesticide use.
What is available for domestic sales… regarding controls ? ? Fortunately, with rinsing/washing, peeling and cooking, quite a lot of those pesticides are lost.
Research shows that the commercial canning process not only destroys bacteria that can cause food spoilage, but also can eliminate as much as 99% of the pesticide residues occasionally found in fresh produce. See Colorado State Uni publication. publication of University of Zaragoza, Spain, the US National Food Processors Association reviewed data and see publication of Ghent University (see https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1943300 ), Wageningen Agri-Uni.
The Thai government standards are not that much. For example, arsenic in rice: 2 mg/kg, while the EU uses 0,2 mg/kg as a maximum tolerance, and even 0,1 mg/kg for children. see http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32015R1006&from=EN
Looking at the 1,4 kg/yr/hfd consumption in NL and the 50-60 kg in Thailand, after millennia the entire population in S-SE and E-Asia must have gradually died of arsenic poisoning…. Or are the EU directives too strict? See the storm unleashed by Foodwatch: https://www.foodwatch.org/nl/onze-campagnes/onderwerpen/nvwa/actuele-nieuwsberichten/gehaltes-anorganisch-arsenicum-gevonden-in-babyvoeding-boven-wettelijke-norm/