Dangerous levels of pesticides will poison food plan

Part of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s mission at the United Nations General Assembly in New York was to promote her policy to develop Thailand into the “world’s kitchen”. At a Thai food exhibition there, she gave certificates to Thai restaurants that met the Commerce Ministry’s “Thai Select” standards. The certification system issues seals of approval to Thai restaurants abroad by gauging their food quality and service. Thai Select is part of the government’s “Thai Kitchen to the World” project, which was introduced in 2006 to boost the cuisine’s international profile.

Many politicians believe that the kingdom is ready to be not just the “world’s kitchen” but one of the world’s biggest food exporters. Yingluck cited the country’s annual US$20 billion in food exports and last year’s status as the world’s largest rice exporter. It’s all thanks to “the strength of our agriculture sector, the abundance of natural resources and the advancement of our food processing technology”, she said.

The point is, the task of promoting Thai food overseas demands responsibility and sincerity.  What’s less known is that Thai restaurants abroad cannot always use authentic Thai ingredients because much of the farm produce available for import doesn’t meet the stricter food-safety standards in the European Union and other regions. 

A local food-safety survey conducted last month by a consumer network might sound the death knell for our chances of becoming the world’s kitchen.  

The Thai Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-PAN) and respected consumer magazine Chaladsue reported that large amounts of vegetables assessed at Bangkok’s fresh markets and supermarkets and on the pickup trucks that make the rounds of housing estates are contain a significant amount of pesticides. Even nicely packaged vegetables bearing “Safe” and “Quality” logos were deemed unsafe because of pesticide residue.

Tests were conducted on cabbages, broccoli, water morning glory, parsley, yard-long beans and bird chilli peppers collected at random from supermarkets, the Pracha Nivet and Huay Kwang markets and mobile markets. Some of the packaging carried the Q-for-quality logo.

Thai-PAN said the Huay Kwang produce showed the highest concentrations of pesticides in all kinds of vegetables, at an alarming 202 times the amount of chemicals allowed by European guidelines.

The risk of contamination varies according to the vegetable, with parsley topping the danger list. Tests on the herb revealed five types of pesticide, including Carbofuran, Chlopyrifos, EPN and Methidathion, at levels up to 102 times higher than the European limit. Yard-long beans and bird’s-eye chillies came second and third, respectively. All of these chemicals are harmful to the health, threatening long-term effects and even acute poisoning if the concentration is high enough. Just three drops of EPN or a teaspoon of carbofuran can be fatal.

European guidelines suggest that there should not be more than 0.05mg of chloropyrifos, 0.02mg of methidathion and 0.3mg of methomyl in any given sample of food. Thai standards impose no limits at all.

Thailand can play a much more significant role in the future as the issue of global food security becomes more pronounced. The country’s credibility depends on whether it can limit the use of pesticides in farm produce and processed products. What we need are stricter safety regulations. Thai-PAN once proposed that pesticides be officially registered and guidelines written to regulate their use. The Department of Agriculture turned down the proposal, claiming that 99.97 per cent of vegetables were free of pesticides such as carbofuran. 

The government must make sure that Thais and overseas consumers of Thai food don’t get sick eating Thai farm produce. Until we correct this situation, our goal of being the world’s food provider remains far-fetched and far from possible.