Irish Farms Warned Over Fertilizer Use

"The food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has called for tighter controls on the use of organic fertilisers on Irish farms, warning of possible contamination of ready-to-eat food. In a report released yesterday, the FSAI said that while the use of organic, municipal and industrial materials (OMI) was very small in relation to farm-generated fertiliser (OA), trends indicated a significant increase in the use of treated OMI materials in agriculture in Ireland.

The report said ready-to-eat produce (food not cooked before consumption) posed a particular food safety risk when land on which they were grown was spread with OA or OMI materials. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN Europe) has claimed that food products sold in the European Union now contained more than 350 different pesticides, the highest total level ever recorded.

According to an advance copy of the annual EU-wide pesticide residue-monitoring report, seen by PAN Europe, 49 per cent of fruits, vegetables and cereals contain pesticides, representing an increase of about 20 per cent over the past five years.
In addition, 4.7 per cent of fruits, vegetables and cereals contain pesticides at concentrations above the maximum legal limits."

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