Residues in the food for organic goods lower

Consumers are afraid of plasticizers, pesticides and preservatives in food

09/08/2013

Almost daily, new alarming reports circulate through the media landscape: Eggs are contaminated with dioxin and lettuce with germs. Added to this are rotten meat scandals and the discussion about plasticisers in food packaging. Many consumers are unsure and ask themselves: „What else can I eat??“ Experts explain in conversation with the news agency „dpa“, what's behind the dreaded ingredients and what consumers should be aware of.

Essen is burdened with pesticides, plasticizers and other substances
To one hundred percent „pure“ There is no food. Nearly every foodstuff contains substances - from rainwater, production or production - that can potentially be dangerous in certain quantities. „You can also poison yourself with spices or liquorice, "says Professor Andreas Hensel, President of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin, told the news agency that the human body is in a position to process these toxins. „We can not live free of poison, but you can actually eat anything that tastes, that's the beauty of it. "Nevertheless, there are many substances that confuse consumers - often cope.

This is shown, inter alia, by the example of the plasticizers. The most commonly used is so-called diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), for example, in plastic packaging and in glass screw-top lids to soften the plastic. The particular problem with plasticizers is that they do not enter into a chemical bond in the plastic and therefore can escape again over time. More and more studies come to the conclusion that DEHP is highly hazardous to health. The plasticizer is suspected to cause respiratory diseases such as asthma, diabetes mellitus and infertility. While DEHP is already banned in baby articles and children's toys, the substance may still be used in food packaging. „Plasticisers like to go where fat is, "explains Christiane Huxdorff, expert on sustainable agriculture at the environmental protection organization Greenpeace, to the news agency.

A pesticide alone is not the most dangerous substance in food
Pesticides are also among the substances that are extremely harmful to health. They often have a slow and delayed effect on the body, disrupting cell division, favoring cancer, damaging genetic material, adversely affecting the immune system and triggering allergies, Greenpeace reports on its website. Especially dangerous is a cocktail of different pesticides, which are sprayed on the fertilization of the fields on the fruits and vegetables. Also Frank Waskow of the consumer center North Rhine-Westphalia is of this opinion. „From our point of view, pesticide residues are not the highest risk in the food sector“, said the news agency expert. In recent years, there have hardly been any exceedances of the permissible maximum levels of individual pesticides. Much more problematic are just those multiple residues. „Especially with pesticides, only the single active substance is looked at, "explains Huxdorff. „It does not evaluate how multiple pesticides work together. "

For example, Greenpeace found residues of 15 different pesticides on grapes. „There is still a need for action. "Huxdorff recently said that Chinese medicinal herbs that are available in Germany were examined by the environmental protection organization, and some of them were found to be highly contaminated with pesticides Example serve.

Preservatives in food are troubling consumers
Many consumers are also afraid of preservatives in food. Products with ingredients that come with a „e“ begin to be avoided by some people consistently. „That's why the trend is for manufacturers to eliminate chemical preservatives from their products, "reports Waskow. „Preservatives are toxicologically tested and harmless to health. "However, the additives can cause health problems for allergy sufferers, for example.Huxdorff advises, especially in children, to pay attention to what they eat to avoid intolerance, but this also applies to adults The use of food additives has been regulated by the legislator with appropriate limits or maximum levels, which are usually set so low that health damage only threatens a massive overrun.

„Legislative limits do not describe the border between toxic and non-toxic, "says Hensel. „These are politically-made trade standards, but of course they take into account health issues. "Consumption partly assumed that all food was contaminated and dangerous just because sometimes a limit on undesirable substances in food would be exceeded.

How consumers can avoid unwanted additives and food residues
However, this raises the question of why even unwanted substances must be contained in food. For example, safety can also protect against preserving the environment from health risks such as food poisoning, but ultimately consumers are not asked which substances they want to eat when they eat a food. In addition, only natural and harmless substances could be used as in some organic products.

„Huxdorff explains, "The more processing that a food needs and the more costly it's produced, the more adjuvants are used, which means that a self-prepared meal will contain fewer preservatives than the ready-to-serve meal for the microwave." Who wants to avoid plasticizers in foods should For example, buy cheeses, sausages and meat products at the bar, and avoid having to pack vegetables in plastic wrappers such as peppers and broccoli.

In addition, no pesticides may be used for fruits and vegetables from controlled organic farming. Products from certain growers are grown according to strict guidelines so that the consumer can be reasonably assured that the food does not contain any residues.

„The greed-is-cool mentality prevents high-quality products, "reports Huxdorff, who advises consumers to buy regional, seasonal, organically-grown produce rather than just price.

The hint „Bio“ does not always mean, however, that no pesticides were used. A Greenpeace study of organic food showed that 13 percent of the products still contained minor traces of pesticides. (Ag)