Most of vegetables and fruits on sale in fresh and modern trade markets are laced with pesticide residues

About 56 percent of fresh vegetables and fruits on sale in fresh markets, super markets and modern trade stores, including the so-called high-end gourmet markets are laced with chemical residues beyond acceptable standards, according to survey conducted by Thai-PAN, a pesticide alert network.

Thai-PAN coordinator Ms Prokchon Usap told the media on Thursday that the network collected 10 types of vegetables and six kinds of fruits which are popular among the consumers for tests to find out pesticide residues during August 23-29.

The ten types of vegetables include red chilli, kale, morning glory, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, pea eggplant, tomato and basil. The six kinds of fruits are Sainampoeng orange, papaya, water melon, cantaloupe, guava and dragon fruit.

Altogether 158 samples of the six fruits and 10 vegetables were collected from three modern trade chain stores namely Big C, Macro and Tesco Lotus, three wholesale markets namely Talad Thai, Pathom Mongkol market in Nakhon Pathom and Srimuang market in Ratchaburi and several super markets where the fruits and vegetables are tagged with safety or organic labels such as Tops, Home Fresh Mart, Max Value, Villa Market, Lemon Farm, Golden Place and Foodland.

Full Story – Thai PBS

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