Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491356
STiR tea & coffee industry international 61 1999-2009 pesticide residue change in China export teas known to cause harm. Six samples con- tained more than 10 different pesticides. Twelve samples showed traces of banned pesticides including methomyul, endosul- fan and fenvalerate which are known to impair fertility, harm unborn children and cause heritable genetic damage. What the report did not state is that most of the residue was within estab- lished standards. "If you take the considerable trouble of comparing the Greenpeace data with EU pesticide limits for the 28 chemicals mentioned then 5 of the 18 teas accused actually fall below the MRL limits for all 28 and two teas exceed by a trace level of 1 mg/kg on two chemicals," writes Nigel Melican, founder of TeaCraft, a widely acclaimed British tea consultancy. He goes on to say: "This leaves 11 teas non-compliant for one or more pesti- cides, were they to be sold in the EU." The sampled tears were from local ven- dors and not subject to more stringent export rules. "Nowhere in the report does Green- peace China suggest that the non-com- pliant teas are representative of China Source: Zhejiang Tea Industry Chamber of Commerce J. Fr. Scheibler GmbH & Co. KG · Trostbrücke 4 · 20457 Hamburg · Germany Phone +49 (0)40 / 37 85 89 - 0 · E-Mail tea@jfstea.de · Web www.jfstea.de Scan QR-Code with your mobile and visit JFS online! Tradition in Tea since 1834 teas presented for export – but commentators in the USA and UK have erroneously and immediately jumped to this conclusion," he writes. More troubling is a March 2014 CBC investigation of tea for sale in Canada. Of 10 brands tested only Red Rose came back free of pesticide residues. Lipton, Tetley and Twinings were among eight that contained multiple chemicals. One Chinese tea, Uncle Lee's Legends of China, contained residue from 22 different pesticides. Half of the teas contained pesticide residues above the allowable limits in Canada.