Healthy products from local cultivation are scarce in winter, which means that exotic fruit ends up in the shopping basket more often. But mango, papaya & co often contain pesticide residues. Only organic fruit proved to be ‘clean’ in a test. However, fruits generally need to be washed before consumption.
28 products were examined in the laboratory, seven of which come from organic farming. The samples came from nine countries – Italy, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Thailand, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and South Africa – and were purchased from supermarkets, organic shops, discounters and three stalls at Vienna’s Naschmarkt. These were mainly pomegranates, grapefruit and mangoes, but there were also fruits that are often served with a fine meal around Christmas, such as passion fruit, persimmons, papaya and kumquat.
Values partly worrying
According to the Consumer Information Association (VKI), organic products turned out to be ‘clean’. The result with conventionally grown fruit, on the other hand, does not whet the appetite. “We found pesticide residues in 13 samples. For a pomegranate from Turkey that we bought on the Viennese Naschmarkt, the maximum allowed amount was exceeded by more than one and a half times,” the experts report in the January issue of the magazine “Konsument”.
A total of four conventional products were rated as “less satisfactory” and two as “unsatisfactory”. Five samples were rated “very good”, another six were “good” and four were “satisfactory”. In the organic sector, the testers rated six “very good” and one “good”.
Four different pesticides found in passion fruit
Some fruits contain several active substances at the same time, for example a passion fruit from Colombia contained four different pesticides. It was also tested for chlorates and perchlorates. Chlorates used to be used as herbicides but are now banned across the EU. Chlorine compounds are still used to purify fruit washing water and to clean sorting systems. Perchlorate was detectable in four samples: two Spanish pomegranates, an Italian kumquat and an organic grapefruit from South Africa.
Whether pesticides or perchlorate, the chemicals are mostly on the skin. That’s why you should wash fruit well, even if you don’t eat the peel. Otherwise, the substances can end up in the food via hands, cutting board or knife.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
