Banned pesticides found in food products sold by Jumbo and AH

Dozens of products sold by the Netherlands’ two largest supermarket chains contain pesticides that are banned by the European Union, according to a new study.

An analysis of 64 products on sale in Albert Heijn and Jumbo branches found that 49 of them, including tea, rice and spices, contained traces of pesticides.

Foodwatch, the independent food standards watchdog that carried out the study, said that in 45 cases the chemicals were not permitted for consumption in the EU.

In 14 cases the products contained higher levels of pesticides than the EU limit, meaning they should not have been on sale.

The worst offender was Verstegen’s mild ground paprika, which contained 18 different pesticides, half of which were on the EU’s banned list.

Food producers based in the EU are allowed to use pesticides that are banned for domestic consumption if the products are exported to other countries.

Boomerang effect

Foodwatch has called for all trade in banned pesticides to be outlawed across Europe and said supermarkets should “take responsibility” by using their market position to ensure their suppliers do not send them products that breach the rules.

Last year the EU promised to step up food safety controls to stop residues of banned pesticides coming back into Europe through imported products – the so-called “boomerang effect”.

But Foodwatch said the new measures were inadequate because they “would only cover a small portion of pesticide substances and would require an individual impact assessment every time the residue limit of a substance is to be considered”.