June 15, 2005 – Almost 80% of fresh foods grown in Canada show no trace of pesticide residues; about 20% would contain it – but below the limits set by Health Canada – and only 0.7% would exceed Canadian standards.
This is revealed by an analysis carried out by Croplife Canada – a pressure group that represents pesticide manufacturers – and carried out using 2003-2004 data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The Agency analyzed 2,401 samples of fresh fruits and vegetables produced in Canada.
As for imported fresh foods, the picture was similar: for 80.7% of them, no pesticides were detected, while traces were found below the threshold allowed in 18.8% of the samples. Only 0.5% exceeded this limit.
For processed foods, pesticide residues were undetectable 94% of the time when they originated in Canada. This proportion reached 97.5% for imported processed foods.
Marc Richard, spokesperson for the CFIA, argues that these results are not surprising: “The data collected over the last 20 years supports the absence of pesticide residues.” According to him, there would be no need to worry about the 20% of foods that contain it below the permitted limits since “to increase the risk of cancer, for example, one should only consume foods that exceed the allowable limits. maximum limits on a daily basis for 70 years ”.
Be careful all the same
As the results come from a lobby of pesticide manufacturers, caution remains in order, according to Isabelle Joncas, agronomist and Équiterre spokesperson for organic farming.
Ms. Joncas deplores, among other things, that the maximum residue limits are set for adults “without taking into account the exposure of children, who form a fragile group”. In fact, last October, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec said it had discovered the presence of insecticides in 98.7% of urine samples from 89 children. One of the study’s authors said action needed to be taken, as the long-term effects of pesticides remain unknown.
More generally, Isabelle Joncas questions the relevance of the use of pesticides in an agricultural environment, especially since no study has been carried out to measure the cumulative effect of pesticides on humans and ecology: “Is it is worth taking this risk, no matter how small? We think that we can have recourse to a different agriculture ”, she maintains.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
According to The Globe and Mail.
1. On this subject, see the press release distributed by Croplife: www.croplife.ca [site consulté le 13 juin 2005].