In a response to a Greenpeace report that said fruit and vegetables sold in four major supermarkets of Beijing contain high levels of pesticide, China's Ministry of Health has stated that all the fruit and vegetables sold in these supermarkets are fit for consumption.
The ministry was reporting the results of investigations by the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine of China, and the Beijing Municipal Government.
Previously, Greenpeace published a report on its website on the safety of fruits and vegetables which stated that as many as 17 kinds of cancer-causing pesticides had been identified on sweet melons, apples, peaches, nectarines, and cherries sold at four major Beijing supermarkets: Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Lotus, and China Resources' Vanguard Shop.
The Ministry of Health said that the pesticides identified by Greenpeace in goods of the four supermarkets are commonly used in the agriculture industry. The pesticide residues in all the samples are below the official limits and no highly toxic pesticides have been found. Ministry of Health also said Greenpeace's report is invalid as it does not offer any criteria for judging the pesticide levels on the samples.
The ministry stresses that the Chinese government attaches great importance to agricultural product safety and has taken a range of measures to supervise the use of pesticides. It says that the government encourages the propagation of food safety standard by NGOs and other parties, but these organizations must offer factual, accurate, and objective reports based on China's Food Safety Law and other regulations.
