Pesticides ensure that pests do not damage or destroy food, but depending on the amount and forms of exposure, they can be potentially toxic and have acute and chronic effects on people's health, the WHO warns.
In principle, in the EU it is controlled that they are applied correctly and the use of the most dangerous is prohibited. But the manufacture of the latter is allowed, so that some pesticides that are harmful to health end up being exported to third countries, which treat fruits and vegetables with them, and can return to Europe through imported food, reported Food Justice a few days ago in the report Good luck: Pesticides and food.
Precisely, the European Commission (EC) has just issued a food alert after detecting high levels of an unauthorized pesticide, methomyl, in some watermelons from Morocco, after receiving a notice from the Rapid Alert for Food and Feed (Rasff) from Spain.
The EU detection system has categorized the level of risk as "serious". However, it has not specified the level of pesticide detected in this fruit, one of the most consumed during the summer in our country. According to the notification, no reaction measures have been taken to this finding either.
In this type of case, consumers should wait for the authorities to take action and withdraw the affected products from the market. However, there are also ways to reduce exposure to pesticides at home, the OCU assured in this report. These are the tips that the organization gives:
The OCU also recalls that "a varied diet is the key to diversifying risks and obtaining all the nutrients the body needs."
