The detection in Spain of a batch of watermelons contaminated with a pesticide banned in Europe from Morocco reveals the vulnerability of European markets in the face of global food trade, but which has unequal environmental standards between countries. The protection of the Spanish consumer of fruit, vegetables and other imported foods is not sufficiently guaranteed when these consumer items come from countries with lower standards than European ones regarding the use of pesticides. This is indicated by several experts consulted by this newspaper, who claim an increase in the number of controls by the Spanish Food Safety Agency (Aesan).
The debate about pesticide contamination of fruit and vegetables (in this case, watermelons) has been put back on the table from a health alert launched by the European border food control system (Rasff, for its acronym in English). The latter detected on July 14 the entry into Spain of a batch of watermelons with high levels of methomyl, a pesticide whose use is not authorized in Europe.
The intercepted Moroccan watermelons also contained residues of an insecticide at levels higher than those permitted on the European market (specifically, in a proportion of 0.38 mg/kg-ppm, when the residue limit is set at 0.015 mg/kg- ppm). Even if a substance is banned, there are legal limits set for health reasons.
The European system qualifies the incidence as "serious", but the places where the affected watermelons have been distributed are not known. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs avoided giving details about the origin and destination of the batch of watermelons, nor who the importer was or the market where they were destined. Nor is it known in what percentage they were distributed. "Spain's notification, through the European rapid alert system for food and feed (Rasff), is the result of official and ordinary checks at border checkpoints," Aesan pointed out. "In this case, a substance not authorized in the EU was identified, so all the protocol actions required in Europe were carried out, including communication to the operator for the withdrawal of the products from the market ”, the agency limited itself to saying.
Methomyl is used as a pesticide and can have serious consequences in some cases. Symptoms of poisoning by this substance are headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, tremors, muscle weakness and blurred vision. Mixing methomyl with alcohol consumption can impact the central and peripheral nervous system, and can also lead to kidney damage, as Facua recalled.
Are there enough checks on food products from Morocco? "As a consumer, I have my doubts", says Cristóbal Serrano, who has chaired for years the melon and watermelon inter-sector of the Asaja agricultural union. Serrano states that Morocco "does not have the same controls" or limitations on the use of pesticides as in Europe. "They have no limitations on any type of pesticides", he emphasizes, before praising Spain's traceability systems. "Each watermelon and melon has its DNI and we know which polygon and which plot it is from", which makes it possible to locate its origin and act quickly if there is an alert, says Serrano, who calls for more controls in border
Koldo Hernández, expert in Ecologists in Action, believes that it would be wrong to think that there are only irregularities in the case of fruit and vegetables imported by Spain, and points out that there have also been alerts at the borders of other European countries as a result of the entry of Spanish agricultural products. In this regard, he points to recent alerts in the Netherlands and Poland, such as the appearance in March of Spanish mandarins with prohibited pesticides or with residues of these pesticides. "Everywhere they cook beans", he sums up. "In the Rasff rapid alert database there are cases in which there are also non-compliant Spanish foods", he says.
One of the current contradictions of the globalized food system is that there are chemicals banned for use in agriculture in the EU, but whose manufacture is authorized in the EU and can be exported to other countries (such as of methomyl, which was manufactured in Spain in 2020).
The consequence of all this is that it is plausible to think that the pesticides present in imported food (from third countries) end up being ingested by Spanish consumers, which may indicate a lack of zeal on the part of the importers. And all this without being able to rule out that the producers of the watermelons (or melons) are Spanish, since much of the investment in the sector is made in Morocco, as Serrano points out.
Current regulations set maximum permissible residue limits for each pesticide in food, including non-authorised pesticides. These limits have a dual purpose. On the one hand, they serve to protect the health of vulnerable people and, on the other, it is a formula that in practice serves not to block free trade. The commercialization of food with low levels of pesticides is allowed, whatever its origin, so as not to make global trade impossible.
"The risk to the population is not eliminated by washing or peeling food. It is essential that the Government supports and fulfills the objective of reducing the use of pesticides to 50% by 2030 proposed by the new European regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides", says Kistiñe García, from the toxics area of Ecologists in Action. "Aids are needed for the agricultural sector, which must learn new ways to grow food without the archaic use of toxic products," he adds.
