The magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs tested 74 products from organic farming. The doses of chemical substances found in 10% of them are “unsatisfactory” or even “very unsatisfactory”.
Is the organic label a guarantee of the absence of pesticides? The magazine 60 million consumers tested 74 products from organic farming. The results are generally good, but not all products are created equal. Some show traces of chemicals in “unsatisfactory” quantities.
Seven families of products, largely imported and of varied geographical origins, were scrutinized. These are rice, quinoa, coffee, cane sugar, olive oil, honey and chocolate. The magazine searched for several hundred unwanted substances, including pesticides, plasticizers, solvents, veterinary residues and other contaminants.
Phthalates in olive oils
For cafes, on the whole, no problem. Whether they come from Mexico, Ethiopia or Indonesia, the products tested did not contain traces of pesticides. The same goes for sugar, with the exception of a reference from Costa Rica where tests detected the presence of a synthetic herbicide, 2,4-D, classified as “possible carcinogenic” by the Organization. World Health in 2015.
As for olive oils, pesticides were found in 5 of them and 6 contained plasticizers, in particular phthalates, recognized as endocrine disruptors. The brands concerned by one and / or the other are Bio Planète, Crudolio, Gabro, Marque Repère-Bio village, Vallon de l’Allamande and Olivier Happy.
“A concentration ten times greater than the maximum limit” for a quinoa
Honey (Famille Mary, Côté Miel, la Vie Claire) and chocolates (70% Côte d’Or cocoa, 74% Ethiquable, 90% Kaoka, 85% JD Gross) are not free from pesticides but the quantities are deemed “acceptable” by the magazine.
On the other hand, among quinoa, the French family Rochefort is the real bad student of organic, reaching “a concentration ten times higher than the maximum limit for conventional quinoa”, as we can read in the magazine. The organic basmati rice of the Taureau Ailé and Monoprix brands from India and Pakistan was also singled out.
Although there is nothing alarming for the vast majority of products, 60 Million consumers are calling for “the establishment of a more stringent regulatory limit for organic products”.
Read also :
Pesticides: which fruits and vegetables are the most affected?
Pesticide “tastings” to better identify them in wine
Pesticides harm female fertility
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