Samples collected two years ago from several crops, including celery and strawberries, were found to contain excessive levels of insecticide residue, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said in a report this month.
The council’s Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute on Jan. 9 released the results of its insecticide residue tests on vegetables and fruits in 2017.
Of the 5,322 samples of 47 kinds of fruits collected, 3.1 percent contained insecticide residues higher than the maximum permissible level, the report said, adding that strawberries, passion fruit and citrus fruit had a disqualification rate of more than 10 percent.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
Fruits used in school lunches had a disqualification rate of 4.9 percent, higher than the 3 percent among fruits sampled on farms, it said.
Of the 8,847 samples collected from 16 kinds of vegetables, 5.1 percent contained insecticide residues in excess of the permissible limit, the report said, adding that celery, peas and radishes had higher disqualification rates.
The agency collects nearly 30,000 samples of vegetables, fruits, tea leaves and rice for insecticide testing every year, COA Agriculture and Food Agency Deputy Director-General Juang Lao-dar (莊老達) said yesterday.
It immediately informs local agriculture bureaus to track producers and issue fines if it finds samples containing excessive levels of insecticide residues, Juang said.
The disqualification rates are similar to those in Japan, Europe and the US, he said, adding that a ranking of the so-called “most toxic” crops is meaningless, as the list might change every year.
The samples were collected from crops grown in fields and unqualified produce would not be allowed into markets, institute Acting Director-General Ho Ming-hsun (何明勳) said.
The test results should not be interpreted as certain crops being toxic, as the “allowable daily intake” criterion takes into account the daily consumption levels of different substances by people from different age groups, he said.
Certain samples show higher levels of insecticide residues possibly because farmers grow different crops on the same field, while a given insecticide is not applicable for every crop, he said.
Another reason might be that farmers did not harvest the produce at the recommended time, he said, adding that they are advised to use biological insecticides with lower toxicity closer to harvest.
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