2023-07-25 19:41:28
Spain has alerted the European Commission (EC) about the presence of watermelons from Morocco with traces of a pesticide, methomyl, above the permitted levels. The Commission has received the notice through the Community Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff for its acronym in English) and has transferred it to other European countries. The Ministry of Health does not have information on the specific batches affected, but in any case the alert does not include that consumers should take any action with this product. There are no official comments from Morocco, reports Juan Carlos Sanz from Rabat. Meanwhile, the Facua consumer association has pointed out that this substance can cause symptoms of intoxication such as “headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, tremors and blurred vision” and that its mixture with alcohol “can impact the nervous system”.
The official notification took place on July 14, with an update on the 20th. The Commission has specified that the fruit exceeds the presence of this pesticide allowed by community regulations. The EU detection system has categorized the level of risk as “serious”, according to Facua, which has indicated that methomyl is “a substance that is used as a pesticide and that can have serious consequences in some cases”.
A Health spokesman explains that the ministry, responsible for the Foreign Health Surveillance Plan, has opened a Foreign Health Alert for this specific product and in accordance with existing protocols due to the presence of this pesticide above the maximum residue limit established in the legislation. The department does not have information on the specific batches affected, since the distribution traceability location once in Spain corresponds to the autonomous communities.
As of this alert, the department of José Manuel Miñones has intensified the controls for the measurement of methomyl in watermelons coming from the exporting establishment from which the watermelons came from, in which non-compliance was detected —which has not been reported. “Once the analyzes were received, the ministry informed the Autonomous Community of destination of the merchandise, in this case Catalonia,” added the spokesperson. Meanwhile, sources from the Ministry of Consumption, on which the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan) depends, indicate that they do not have more information about the alert.
Ruben Sanchez, spokesperson facua, denounces that the alert system is very imprecise: “We believe that the information from alert networks should be more specific so as not to cast a shadow of suspicion over an entire region or country. The European alert network does not even provide the batch number, or any other data to identify the plantation of origin”.
Alert for the presence of high levels of unauthorized pesticide in a batch of watermelons from Morocco https://t.co/6kYsogNK9R
— Rubén Sanchez???? (@RubenSanchezTW) July 24, 2023
Facua has reported that the intercepted Moroccan watermelons “contained traces of an insecticide in a proportion higher than that allowed in the European market, specifically in a proportion of 0.38+/-0.19 mg/kg-ppm, when its Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) is established at 0.015 mg/kg-ppm”.
Miguel Ángel Lurueña, PhD in Food Science and Technology, points out that “fruits and vegetables sold in the European Union must comply with Community limits regarding pesticides, which are generally respected.” In addition, the danger of these types of substances is much greater for those who use them —farmers— than for consumers, who are generally much less exposed to them. “As a general measure, it is recommended to wash and brush all hard-skinned fruit —such as watermelons, oranges, melons…— to remove dirt and possible traces of substances. Just as we have a brush for washing dishes, it is convenient to have another to use for cleaning these foods, ”he adds.
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Lurueña explains that these types of alerts “are relatively frequent, although most are not made public, and that usually happens because consumers do not have to take any action.” Other times, citizens are alerted not to consume the product, as happened a few days ago with the potato tortillas with botulism from the Grupo Palacios brand.
Pesticides on fruits and vegetables
According to a report published by the Commission, in 2022, 990 notifications related to pesticide residues were registered through Rasff, which, however, represented a decrease of 20% compared to 2021. The Commission has reflected in this notification that no action has been taken in reaction to this finding, that is, that in principle consumers do not have to take any action.
A man sells watermelons in the medina of Fes, Morocco. Artur Widak (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
41.69% of the fruits and vegetables consumed in Spain have pesticide residues, according to an analysis carried out by Aesan with 2,700 samples taken in 2018. From these data, Ecologists in Action concluded in 2020 that pepper and apple top the classification of foods with the most toxic, having found up to 33 and 31 different pesticides in each of them. “Some of these pesticides are endocrine disruptors, which alter our hormonal development, but they continue to be used and end up on our plates,” explains Koldo Hernández, coordinator of the Direct to Your Hormones report. Guide to disruptive foods from the environmental organization. Consumption highlights that in no case are food safety limits exceeded.
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