Re: Pregnancy and pesticides, The Enterprise-Bulletin, May 11, 2011
By Lorne Hepworth
Posted 10 hours ago
Re: Pregnancy and pesticides, The Enterprise-Bulletin, May 11, 2011
Canadians are fortunate to have access to an abundance of safe and affordable food. Unfortunately, a recent column in the Enterprise-Bulletin provided misinformation to readers about the safety of Canada’s food supply and crop protection products used here and around the world that needs to be corrected.
Canada has one of the most modern and stringent regulatory systems in the world. This means that whether the food you eat is grown conventionally or organically, it is among the safest food available anywhere. Both organic and conventionally grown foods use crop protection tools that are approved through Health Canada – the difference generally is that conventional farmers use modern technological solutions.
Take fruits and vegetables for example. Health Canada sets strict limits for the allowable amount of pesticide residues and in instances where trace amounts of pesticides are detected, the levels are extremely small and not a concern for consumers. In fact, recent data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shows that about 88 per cent of all fresh food items and 90 per cent of processed food items show no traces of pesticides at all.
However, even in those instances where minute residue traces are detected, it’s important for consumers to understand that pesticides receive a greater breadth of scrutiny than any other regulated product in Canada. Health Canada, which is one of the most respected regulatory agencies in the world, undertakes a thorough scientific review and risk assessment of every pesticide before approving it for use to ensure it does not pose a health risk to farmers using the products or to families at the dinner table.
The fact of the matter is that crop protection products are important tools that help farmers provide Canadians with access to an affordable supply of safe and healthy foods, like the fruits, vegetables and whole grains we need to stay healthy.
The decision to buy organic or conventional foods is a personal choice, but Canadians should feel confident about making that choice knowing that both offer a safe and healthy choice.
Sincerely,
Lorne Hepworth
President, CropLife Canada – representing the plant science industry
