Must Read 41 percent of vegetables in Thai markets exceed contamination standards

[keemapoot]

1 minute ago, Antonymous said:

Here ya go. From 2016. There's probably a later version.

 

Yes, that was the organization shown on the channel 3 morning news today. There must be a new study out by Thai-Pan. As I stated earlier, it's now 60% of sample contaminated in the stores sampled, and they showed bags one of which was clearly from Tops. One can further deduce that restaurants, food courts, food carts of all types cannot be relied upon to properly soak and wash produce, so in my estimation, anyone eating out anywhere faces more likely contamination than not.

[FarFlungFalang]

3 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

The one that kills you. Is there any other?

Oh that arsenic.Well yes there is another arsenic it's the "little bit that's not enough to kill you" kind of arsenic.So let me rephrase my question to see if I can get the appropriate response.How does the arsenic you mentioned in your post get in the rice as we grow rice and we don't knowingly add arsenic to the rice,I realise some may enter from upstream in the water but I was wondering if you would share your knowledge instead of .......

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

the more deadly pesticide they spray the less damage to the crop the more money they make and da hell with the end user's health,

And the more it costs the government (aka Thai taxpayer).

September 2018:

• “The deaths of nearly 600 people each year are directly a result of the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides,”
• "organophosphate and carbamates insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides send some 5,000 people on average to hospitals each year. Their treatment costs about Bt22 million annually."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30354068

Free from contamination: 1 says it all!

[bluesofa]

35 minutes ago, ricardofel said:

{snipped}

What I have heard from reliable sources is that "organic" farmers take their products to the authorizing government agency, get their products "certified" as organic....and then just use chemicals on their crops and sell them as organic. There is NO oversight!

Yes, I do remember reading an article about that (on here?) within the last six months.

[SOTIRIOS]

...sadly...'illegal' only seems to apply to foreigners....???

 

...where and how would farmers acquire '12 different banned chemicals'...???

 

...blame 'others' again...???

 

...oh well....

 

 

 

[FarFlungFalang]

1 minute ago, Beggar said:

If you google for rice and arsenic you will find a lot of information. I liked rice and didn't know this problem. In the meantime I try to avoid rice. 

Ok thanks for that now you can disregard my previous post! 

[bluesofa]

6 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

Your son left when he was -1?

Must be a fortune teller.

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, Emdog said:

I used to think it was a crap shoot regarding if you got pesticides etc in your food here.

Given these stats, I now consider more akin to a coin flip

I've always considered it to be a 'given'.....

 

Depressing to read on this thread that even thorough washing (using products that state they remove insecticides etc.) doesn't help much ☹️.

[kevin612]

Need to wash the veggies and fully cook

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Well, if you live in almost any part of the country, it's a toss-up what will kill you first - the air pollution, the vegetables and fruit, the roads, or your missus.

[dick dasterdly]

40 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

While washing your veggies in various solutions will help, by far the most effective method of removing toxic residues is to ozonate them before consumption.

 

An ozone generator specifically for this use (NOT an air purifier) costs a few thousand baht and can eliminate 96-99.9% of pesticides (depending on which machine you buy).

 

We grow much of our own organic food, but ozonate everything we buy.

 

Place veggies in a bowl of water, place the diffuser from the machine into the bowl of water and ozonate for 15 mins. That's all it takes. Another benefit is that the veggies perk up and last longer afterwards.

I apologise for being so lazy, but is there any evidence to show that this works?

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Well, if you live in almost any part of the country, it's a toss-up what will kill you first - the air pollution, the vegetables and fruit, the roads, or your missus.

I take it you typed that while wearing your bulletproof/stabproof vest and your respirator?

[Garybaldy]

Well you have got to die of something I suppose, it would be nice to know the difference from European vegetables and fruit as these are heavily sprayed too I’ve seen it happening. And we only have our governments word it’s safe.

[FarFlungFalang]

6 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Well, if you live in almost any part of the country, it's a toss-up what will kill you first - the air pollution, the vegetables and fruit, the roads, or your missus.

And thanks to @Beggar you can add rice to that list.I just did as he suggested and googled rice and arsenic and found it a little disturbing.

[ToddinChonburi]

This is why you wash them before you eat them.

[Sonhia]

Health and safety?  No!

Hygiene?  No!

Pollution?  Yes!

Filth and Dirt?  Yes!

 

How often have you seen a food vendor wash their hands? 

Use protective clothing, gloves, hair net etc? Not that often would be my guess.

 

Paradise!!!!

[e2x10]

This will end just like the burning will end

[dick dasterdly]

2 minutes ago, Sonhia said:

Health and safety?  No!

Hygiene?  No!

Pollution?  Yes!

Filth and Dirt?  Yes!

 

How often have you seen a food vendor wash their hands? 

Use protective clothing, gloves, hair net etc? Not that often would be my guess.

 

Paradise!!!!

Approx. once a week I buy takeaways from a local food stall/'restaurant', and could only laugh when the vendor started using plastic gloves - wearing which, she handles both food and money ????!

[gwynt]

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

 

 

 

I'm thinking to grow veggies using hydroponics.  I teach Science and part of the student curriculum that I recently covered was all about hydroponics.  Since I mainly eat fruit and veggies, it got me thinking to grow my own hydroponically (is that a real word - I suppose so!).

You could also look into Aquaponics where the fertilizer is derived from fish waste as opposed to synthetics as with Hydroponics. I fully intent to move to the land we have in Loei and set up the system there on 15 Rai which has two lakes and has had no chemical sprays used for the last 5 years except for maybe over-spray from neighbours. Just as soon as I can finish work here, but already into it from a distance. I currently wash/soak  everything in dilute vinegar. 

 

[Skallywag]

1 hour ago, Antonymous said:

(Regarding OZONE generators )

We bought ours from a Thai company called Thailand Juicer years ago for about 3,000 baht from memory. Still going strong, used every day. I have nothing to do with that company and don't know if they still make them, but you can try Lazada or Google it to find other suppliers. Get the best you can afford.

 

 

Washing with water is sufficient IMO.  Water is the universal solvent. 

Be very careful with Ozone generators, as NIH (National institute of health)  in america states,

"Ozone from its molecular structure is highly unstable and chemically very reactive as it breaks down into the much more stable oxygen (O2). The highly reactive singlet oxygen (O+) which is also liberated is a very powerful and damaging free radical to the lungs and body when inhaled. In short, ozone is highly toxic, probably more damaging to health than the trace amounts of pesticides in the food, fruits and vegetables it is trying to clean up. "

[Bangkok Barry]

Don't we get this story repeated every year? And, always, it's then business as usual. Basically, no matter what it is - poisoned vegetables, road casualties, corruption, rogue taxi drivers - nobody actually gives a s***. About anything.

[huangnon]

What's going to kill us all this week then? ????

 

If it's any consolation, a lot of the Paraquat used in S.E. Asia is produced in the UK. From my home town. Has been for decades.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/22/uk-condemned-shocking-export-deadly-weedkiller-poorer-countries-paraquat
 

[zydeco]

3 hours ago, maxisrael said:

One if the reasons we planted our own veggies and have a  large hydroponic greenhouse  for our family where  we grow several types of salads melons and tomato even chillies, it's nice to have two rai of land...... 

We have a large fishpond as well where we grow tilapia the natural way without hormones to grow them fast so it takes one year to a size of about 800 gram instead of 6 months and we added around 1000 juvenile fish last year and they  breed well so plenty of stock. ????

Have you tested your soil?

[Shine 919]

Do an audit on Big C and Tesco lotus, macro, that's where I buy my food at least I think it's safe to consume 

[law ling]

It's not just the fruit and veges themselves. Residue spray drifts off into local communities for inhalation. Livestock are likewise contaminated as they consume it through their foods and from their water as the chemicals leach into the water table and rivers.

It's not just farm chemicals. Contamination also comes from antibiotic overuse. Some fish famously now contain dangerous levels of mercury. Etc. etc.

Not-fully-digested, or improperly discarded, contraceptive pills are now said to be putting unacceptable levels of female hormones into the environment, endangering male health.

All this was identified decades ago in the book "Silent Spring" - it dealt with the then big issues of DDT etc, but the principles remain the same.

[Brickbat]

Morons have no clue about Consequences. They live for today. 

[bluesofa]

8 minutes ago, huangnon said:

What's going to kill us all this week then? ????

 

If it's any consolation, a lot of the Paraquat used in S.E. Asia is produced in the UK. From my home town. Has been for decades.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/22/uk-condemned-shocking-export-deadly-weedkiller-poorer-countries-paraquat
 

That's surprising, I never knew it came from Huddersfield.

 

I thought it was produced in the US, then when the patent(?) expired I was under the impression the Chinese were the main producer of paraquat now?

[Pomy]

3 hours ago, maxisrael said:

One if the reasons we planted our own veggies and have a  large hydroponic greenhouse  for our family where  we grow several types of salads melons and tomato even chillies, it's nice to have two rai of land...... 

We have a large fishpond as well where we grow tilapia the natural way without hormones to grow them fast so it takes one year to a size of about 800 gram instead of 6 months and we added around 1000 juvenile fish last year and they  breed well so plenty of stock. ????

Would like to see any pics as surely others may learn that are led astray by lazy thais.

[nikmar]

those 7 11 burgers and toasted sandwiches never looked more appetizing 

 

[johnnysunshine]

I believe these numbers represent a slight improvement from last time but still disgusting with regards to our right to live with healthy food in a health environment.

WE CAN DO MANY THINGS TO REVERSE THIS!

Shift your attitude to "what you can do to facilitate change as opposed to surrendering to hopelessness."

NO EXCUSES for just complaining...excuses are like buttholes...everyone has one!

Buy organic and go to Organic Farmers Market to support them so that eventually organic will be more affordable than pesticide laden...this will not happen overnight so patience is important.   

Tell the folks at your favorite restaurants that you request organic and if they cannot do, take your business elsewhere and be sure to tell them that their choice is not acceptable as it perpetuates disease and discomfort.   

Go to have food with a Thai person to be sure your message is being transmitted with conviction and caring.

Get a list of restaurants that do serve healthy foods...there are lots of them in Chiang Mai

TRUST that some Thai folks feel the same way as farangs feel about this issue cuz they have children also.

Grow your own garden no matter how small and share your food with others who are doing the same.