Controversy over pesticides in food

Date: 26/03/1998

By Myles Neligan

EUROPEAN Commission officials are attempting to reconcile member state calls for the highest possible standards of consumer protection with the interests of the agri-food industry, in drawing up proposals for maximum pesticide residue levels in baby food.

The Commission has to choose between proposing an undifferentiated residue limit of 0.01 milligrams per kilogram of fruit and vegetable-based baby food, which would apply to all relevant types of pesticide, or adopting a more flexible approach whereby the maximum residue level (MRL) could vary according to the toxicity of the material in question. A final decision is not expected until the full Commission meets next Tuesday (31 March).

A group of member states led by Germany is pushing hard for the first option, while farmers and the agri-food sector favour the second, more cautious approach.

"Imposing such a low maximum residue level for all types of pesticide would in effect mean that many farmers who supply the industry would have to switch to organic production methods," said Dr Andrée Bronner of the European Dietary Foods Association (IDACE), which represents baby food producers. "Organic farming carries health risks of its own and it would also raise production costs. Any increase would inevitably be passed on to consumers."

The cost of baby food in Germany, which has the strictest national legislation, is currently 30% higher than the EU average.

Critics of an undifferentiated MRL also warn it would probably spark trade disputes, as many imported brands of baby food would not meet the overall residue limit.

This could be avoided by setting lower ceilings only for the more toxic pesticides, and allowing marginally higher MRLs where the processing methods used by baby food producers eliminated some of the residues.

But the Commission is under considerable pressure from Germany to press ahead with the undifferentiated limit of 0.01mg/kg. Bonn suspended sales of a certain brand of Spanish-made baby food in 1996 because it contained more than the maximum permitted level of pesticide residues, and it has repeatedly urged the institution to follow its highly restrictive approach.

Commission officials admit that more flexible rules would be immensely difficult to administer.

"Baby food can contain residues of up to 200 different types of pesticide, and very few of these are harmonised at EU level. It would take us months, if not years, to assess their respective toxicities and to set a series of different MRLs for each one," said an official.