Thai-Pan conducts MRPS on fruits and veggies

BANGKOK, October 6 (TNA) - Thailand Pesticide Action Network (Thai PAN) has revealed recent lab tests on Multi Residue Pesticide Screen (MRPS), showing that most samples of fruits and vegetables sold on the domestic market contained chemical residues over the safety standard. Thai PAN Coordinator Prokchol Ousup released the finding, the second of its kind this year, on Thursday, saying that 56 per cent of all 158 samples were found contaminated with farming chemicals over the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL). Prokchol stated that Thai PAN collected 158 samples of fruits and vegetables, including those with certified labels for safe consumption, from major supermarkets, wholesale markets and high-end supermarkets in Bangkok and neighboring provinces during August 23-29 and detected the residues, mostly in Chinese kale and Sai Nam Phueng mandarin orange. Prokchol acknowledged that 16 out of 26 samples, or 61.5 per cent, under the Q label issued by the Agriculture Department for chemically-safe produce were also found chemical residues over the safety standard. According to the coordinator, Thai PAN will submit a report on the latest finding to the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards and the Department of Agriculture, under the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, on October 7 for their further action. (TNA)