High residues detected
Foodwatch calls for ban on pesticide acetamiprid
06/30/2023, 09:31 am
Because of high residues, Foodwatch calls for a ban on acetamiprid. The contamination of fruit and vegetables with the pesticide has more than tripled in recent years. In some foods, the active ingredient is discovered particularly often.
The consumer protection organization Foodwatch has called for a ban on the insecticide acetamiprid because of high pesticide residues in food. According to Foodwatch, the contamination of fruit and vegetables with the pesticide has more than tripled in recent years. The NGO relied on an evaluation of data from the German food control authorities.
According to this, residues were found in 2012 in 2.1 percent of all food samples tested for acetamiprid. In 2021, the proportion was then 7.4 percent. According to the information, the active ingredient was very often discovered in samples in Germany in sweet cherries, pomelos, zucchini, aubergines, spinach and peppers.
The pesticide has been banned in France for years. Foodwatch referred to studies that showed residues of the drug in the brains of children and adults. The NGO called for the approval of acetamiprid to be withdrawn “until all studies have been included in the review and strict legal limits have been set”.
The EU has restricted the use of certain neonicotinoids in recent years, Foodwatch explained. Other insecticides from this pesticide group are now being sprayed all the more frequently in agriculture. “Dangerous chemicals have been exchanged for equally problematic ‘alternatives’ for decades. This vicious circle must finally come to an end,” explained Foodwatch expert Lars Neumeister. “We need to phase out chemical agriculture.”