Several NGOs warned last February that more and more fruits and vegetables consumed in the European Union were contaminated by pesticides.
According to a study published Thursday by 60 million consumersa very large majority of bagged salads, organic or conventional and of all brands distributed in supermarkets in France, are part of this.
According to the newspaper, nearly seven out of ten households buy packaged salads, particularly for their “practical” side, being already cut, washed and drained.
No difference between organic or conventional
60 million consumers analyzed twenty-six references, thirteen classic and iceberg lettuces, thirteen conventional or organic lamb’s lettuce, from national brands or distributors. Only five show no contamination.
In the others, twenty-eight different molecules were detected, and eight could have at least one “carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction” (CMR) action, according to the analyses.
In his report, 60 million consumers writes that “there is – theoretically – no risk for health” but that “to date, scientists know almost nothing about the cocktail effects between all these molecules”.
Questioned on France Info, Patricia Chairopoulos, journalist for the magazine, indicates that it is the “accumulation” of other sources of pesticide residues in food which, in the long term, can end up “increasing the risk of certain diseases chronicles.”
The journalist specifies that re-washing your salad before eating it will not be able to remove all the pesticides, “some are not soluble in water”. Before recalling that the cultivation of these leaves (sensitive to fungi) is particularly difficult, hence the presence of pesticide residues.