Supermarket Fruit and Vegetable Pesticide Residue Causes Controversy over Food Control

“The cabbage and leeks contain various pesticide residues such as carbendazim, dimethomorph, and chlorpyrifos, and the content of chlorpyrifos pesticides in leeks exceeds twice the national maximum residue.” This is Greenpeace’s since 2009. , The fourth time in the Tesco supermarket fresh fruits and vegetables found illegal pesticides and pesticide residues exceeded the phenomenon.

On September 21 this year, Greenpeace, the international environmental protection organization, sued Tesco Supermarket on the grounds of a "trade contract dispute." “We have repeatedly discovered illegal pesticide residues, indicating that the pesticides on fruits and vegetables sold by Tesco supermarkets have not been improved in the past three years.” On the morning of November 9, Wang Wei, director of the Greenpeace Food and Agricultural Project, told the “Legal Weekly Report” The reporter hopes that Tesco and other supermarkets will give consumers a safe commitment instead of blindly avoiding pesticide residues.

Li Jian, a lawyer from Hunan Wanhe Law Firm, stated that China's agricultural products traceability system has not yet been established, and the supervision of its source of production is in a blank state. The state should issue relevant laws and regulations to supervise the origin of agricultural product production as soon as possible.

Supermarket fruit and vegetable pesticide residues exceeded

“The fruits and vegetables sold in Tesco supermarkets were repeatedly detected as banned pesticides, but it has not made any positive improvement, but has repeatedly refused to respond to the demands of Chinese consumers on various grounds. (Legal Weekly News Hotline) This kind of serious infringement The practice of Chinese consumers’ rights and disregard for Chinese laws must be corrected,” Wang Wei, director of the Greenpeace Food and Agriculture Project told reporters. Since 2009, Greenpeace has carried out four consecutive supermarkets’ own brands and fresh bulk fruits and vegetables. Of the 31 samples that were collected, 21 were detected for pesticide residues, and 3 samples contained chlorimidic (carbocaine), isocarbophos, methamidophos, and monocrotophos, and other banned pesticides. The amount of pesticide residues in the sample exceeded the national maximum limit.

Greenpeace called on Tesco and other supermarkets with similar problems to immediately remove all problematic products and strictly control the quality of their own branded foods, fresh fruits, vegetables and cereals, and prohibit the use of five types of high-risk pesticides.

For the “accusation” of Greenpeace, Tesco did not approve of it. It is reported that Tesco’s UK headquarters stated in its reply to Greenpeace that its implementation of the rapid detection method is currently the “best detection system” available.

On November 14, the relevant person in charge of Tesco said in an interview with a reporter from the "Legal Weekly" that the company has already started an investigation and the result has not yet come out. The responsible person emphasized that "the company places great emphasis on consumer rights and food safety, and has established a strict food safety system to ensure food safety and give consumers a safe shopping environment."

The official said, "We have conducted strict self-examinations on these products and have also conducted tests through government-designated third-party laboratories, but the final test results fully comply with the standards required by the state." He emphasized that the company's vegetables are Farms and supermarkets are connected to achieve purchases. Currently, there are farms in Shanghai and Xiamen, with strict monitoring of soil cultivation, production selection, and finally the last shelves.

Whose pesticide residues have passed?

The investigation report released by Greenpeace in early September this year showed that the fruits and vegetables sold by chain stores in supermarkets such as Tesco, Lianhua, and Bee Lotus contained various illegal pesticides and excessive pesticide residues in various countries.

After the report was released, Lotus Lotus and Lianhua communicated with Greenpeace and expressed their positive attitude. However, Tesco did not take any positive action or reply. Therefore, Greenpeace took Tesco (Beijing) v. To the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court.

Greenpeace asked Tesco supermarkets to apologize to the public and establish a complete product traceability and strict quality control system to prevent similar violations.

Greenpeace believes that supermarkets are one of the important places for consumers to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and grains, and they are responsible for providing consumers with safe food. (Legal Weekly News Hotline) Therefore, Greenpeace initiated legal proceedings and asked Tesco to assume corresponding legal responsibility.

“Compared with the markets such as the food market, large supermarkets have more resources and capabilities to establish effective product traceability and quality control.” Wang Hao said that supermarkets have the ability to carry out self-owned branded foods, fresh bulk vegetables, fruits and cereals. Strictly control and control, and help producers gradually ban and eliminate five types of pesticides that pose a great threat to human health and the environment from the source cultivation process.

Xu Hongzhi, an analyst at AEG East, believes that the main responsibility for excessive pesticide residues is not in supermarkets, and the root cause lies in the cultivation and pesticide production. “The food traceability system covers the whole food supply chain from planting, production, storage and transportation to retailing. Such a system must be led by the government and can be effectively established with full social input.”

An agricultural expert who did not want to be named told reporters that at present, some vegetable bases in China are headed on the hats of green vegetable bases, but they are still using pesticides and even highly toxic pesticides. The sources of supermarket agricultural products in our country are complex, and the daily transaction volume is very large and it is impossible to detect the entire product.

Recently, Botanical expert Liu Renlin pointed out that the main problems in current agricultural product supervision are reflected in the imperfect testing equipment, low detection coverage, and low sampling frequency, not to mention the general inspection of agricultural products.

Lawyer Says Consumers Have Right to Claim Compensation

Li Jian, a law firm of Hunan Wanhe United Law Firm, told reporters that in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, business operators should ensure that the goods they provide meet the requirements for the protection of personal and property safety. (Legal Weekly News Hotline) For goods that may jeopardize the safety of people and property, consumers should make real explanations and clear warnings, and explain and indicate the methods for the correct use of goods and methods for preventing the occurrence of harm. Otherwise, consumers may seek compensation from the seller if the legitimate rights and interests are damaged when they purchase or use the goods.

“When choosing a partner or a channel for purchase, merchants should make a good decision. This is also necessary for self-protection.” Li Jian said that compared with the farmers’ market, supermarkets are not the least expensive but food safety. If businesses are obsessed with fulfilling obligations or ignoring consumers' demands, it is reasonable for consumers to go to court.

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