Pesticide Residue in Fresh food

Every so often there is a lot of media hype about pesticide residues in fresh fruit and vegetables;  mislabelling and false product claims but Canada is still one of the best countries to live for healthy and safe food. Of course there is always the 1% who don't comply to regulations for various reasons.  The question is which fruits and vegetables should you buy organically grown or perhaps consider growing at home. Here is a breakdown of the CFIA 2009/10 report on Pesticide Residues in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, testing apples, berries, greens and tomatoes.

Test Criteria

• 3078 samples of apples (1000) small berries (943)  leafy greens (525) and tomatoes (610) were tested
• Test locations from across Canada  from the Atlantic to the West
• Only non imported products were tested

Individual results

• Apples - 50% had no pesticide residue (conversely 50% had pesticide residue)
• Berries - 50.5% had no pesticide residue (so 49.5% had pesticide residue)
• Greens - 71.8 had no pesticide residue
• Tomatoes - 76.7% had no pesticide residue (does not break down test samples into field grown, greenhouse grown, etc)

Results from report

• 84 different pesticide residues were detected
• 11 of the 3078 samples (less than 1%) were in violation of Maximum Residue Limits

1. 7 of the 11 violations were in leafy greens
2. 3 of 11 violations were berries
3. 1 of 11 violations were tomato

While this makes for interesting reading with only four products being tested; this sets the guideline generally for other crops as well.  It is well-known that certain fruits and vegetables retain chemical residues more than others and some chemicals stay for longer than others.  Unfortunately, there are rarely labels on your fresh produce to let you know what, when and how many chemicals were used during their life.

Here is my short list of fruit and vegetable recommendations to buy organically, or grow, not necessarily in order of most healthy or least pesticide residue :

Buy organically

• Apples, Celery, Cucumber, Fruits such as nectarines and peaches, Greens such as lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, kale, Peppers bell, Potatoes (regular)

Or grow a few vegetables at home (without chemicals)

• Apple tree and a plum-tree would be first fruit tree choices - both dwarf varieties
• Greens such as lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, kale (these grow quickly and don't take a lot of garden space especially if grown in a container)
• Rhubarb - and a few other fruits to grow - at home or in a container
• Strawberries and blueberries (both show up on high pesticide residual lists such as Dirty Dozen)

There you have it. If you have visited Caramel and Parsley before you will know this is not a new theme but hopefully more and more families will become aware of the importance of dietary choices, especially for their children, and the connection between healthy food choices and disease.

It would appear that there is no where in the world to go today to not be affected by the impact of toxic chemicals - our water, the soil and the very air that we breath 
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide residue

Links & references : 

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Chemical Residues in Food
• Pesticides in our environment 
• Here's a few of the diseases in greenhouse tomato growing
• Chemicals used in greenhouse operations for tomatoes include malathion and pyrethrins
• Fresh fruit and vegetables transported long distances lose some of their nutritional value
• Pesticide residuals in imported foods not to Canadian standards and using banned chemicals - petition to the Auditor General
• Extensive report on pros and cons of pesticide soil and air contamination, human deaths and illnesses. Pesticide use at what cost?
• Challenges of Limiting Pesticide Residues in FreshVegetables: The Indian Experience
• World and U.S. Amount of Pesticide Active Ingredient at User Level by Pesticide Type, 2000 and 2001 Estimates on page 8

The Good :

• Fruit and vegetables lowest in pesticides - Dirty Dozen
• When to buy organic - US EPA

The Bad :

• What is a pesticide 
  
• Pesticide drift
• Pesticide misuse

The Ugly :

• Health effects of pesticide
• Organophosphates are highly toxic chemicals
• Organophosphates are the most widely used chemicals in the world

Remember when it comes to your fresh fruit and vegetable food choices to :
- Buy organic
- buy local and know your grower, then, buy B.C.
- buy Canada