The nonprofit Consumer’s Foundation on Wednesday said its latest pesticide residue testing conducted on 12 randomly chosen samples of fresh vegetables resulted in a failure rate of 33.33 percent, while two of the samples labeled or advertised as “organic” were found to contain large amounts of pesticide residue.
The foundation said it purchased vegetables in August last year at wet markets and traditional night markets in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taichung.
The items were tested for agricultural pesticide residue using a rapid pesticide screening method recommended by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it said.
Photo: CNA
Of the 12 items, three were labeled as organic products, including one cucumber, one ceylon spinach and one Chinese spinach, it said.
Two of the three failed pesticide residue testing, the foundation said.
The results showed that of the 12 samples tested, four failed pesticide residue testing, including the ceylon spinach labeled as organic, which failed testing for nine different types of pesticides and was found to have seven types of pesticide residue, which when combined exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRL) for non-organic produce by a factor of 2,017, it said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese spinach purchased at a stall with an advertisement board bearing the word “organic” was found to have three types of pesticide residues, it said.
Among the other two failed items, an ordinary ceylon spinach was found to contain pesticide residue 100 percent higher than the MRL, while a similar level was also found in a Chinese leek, the foundation said.
The foundation said that suppliers of farm produce incorrectly labeled as organic can face fines ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 in accordance with the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法) and related regulations.
The foundation urged consumers to check whether vendors selling organic vegetables have a certificate indicating they have been certified to sell such produce, and that the certificate contains the name of the certifying body and a registration number.
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