Significant pesticide level found on Irish food said to be inside safety limits

SIGNIFICANT pesticide contamination of fruit and vegetables is occurring here, figures released yesterday by the Department of Agriculture and Food confirm. The levels found - including in apple samples - are, however, in the vast majority of cases, within safety limits, it insisted.

In Britain, the public has been advised in recent days to wash and peel fruit before eating it, particularly if it is being consumed by children. This follows confirmation there by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of a report which found that British apples had high traces of pesticides, particularly organophosphates. These pesticides have been linked to Gulf War Syndrome and illnesses suffered by farmers using such chemicals to dip sheep.

MAFF officials stressed that apples were safe to eat and the highest residues were still within internationally accepted safety limits. The Department of Agriculture here emphasised that pesticide levels in fruit, both home produced and imported, were being closely monitored. Only one Irish sample, an imported apple, was found to have exceeded the maximum residue level (MRL) between 1994 and 1996.

"In 179 samples of apple tested in the 1994-1996 period, one sample of imported apple was found to contain residues of a pesticide above the MRL," a Department spokeswoman said. She added, nevertheless, that "it would be good hygiene practice to wash all fruit and vegetables before cooking and eating.

In Britain, out of a total of 700 apples analysed, 126 contained residues above the MRL, but in most cases only slightly so. The most contaminated apple, a Worcester Pearmain, was found to have 11 times the recommended MRL of an insecticide known as triazophos.

British scientists said safety margins allow for an occasional breach without any health risk. Consumption of two large eating apples, if both happened to have the highest pesticide traces found in the survey, could cause stomach pains, particularly in children. This was considered a one in a million chance.

The Department of Agriculture has yet to publish figures on pesticide levels in this State for the past three years but, in response to The Irish Times, it released figures for 1994-1996 due to be published next month.

Out of 1,356 samples (533 Irish) of fruit and vegetables analysed at its Pesticide Control Unit, 27 (10 Irish) were found to be above the MRL. A further 631 samples had pesticide residues but below the MRL while 698 samples had no detectable residues. Pesticide residues above the MRL increase from three in 1994 to 11 in 1995, and to 13 in 1996, with most of these samples imported products.

The failure to publish pesticide figures for three years and lack of adequate reassurance to the public from the Irish authorities about fruit consumption was condemned by the Prof Paul McNulty of UCD's department of agricultural and food engineering. This, he added, was further indication of the need for a separate consumer driven rather than producer led Department of Food.

"A gap of three years is not very satisfactory. I'm also disappointed that the Food Safety Board has not made a statement on this widely publicised issue. The public need advice and assurance that these and all other foods are being adequately screened."

But having seen the recent Irish figures he felt there was "minimal risk" to Irish consumers and adequate monitoring was in place. The British figures were of concern and a level of 11 times the MRL was totally unacceptable.