Food Standards Agency advice on washing or peeling fruit and vegetables
Tuesday 26 March 2002
The Food Standards Agency last year asked the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), independent scientific advisers on pesticides, to consider whether longstanding public advice on washing or peeling fruit and vegetables for hygiene reasons was also necessary in relation to pesticides.
The ACP concluded that washing or peeling fruit and vegetables is not required as a protection against pesticide residues.
However, the Agency advises that it is sensible to wash fruit and vegetables before eating for reasons of general food hygiene, but considers that as a matter of principle, safe use of a pesticide should not be dependent on such action by consumers. The Agency would not agree to the use of any pesticide if fruit or vegetables treated with it would have to be washed or peeled for safety reasons.
The Food Standards Agency wants to see pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables reduced to their lowest possible level. If fruit and vegetables do contain any residues, consumers can be confident that they are only present at levels well below those that might be harmful to health.
Food Standards Agency nutritional advice is that consumers should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day as part of a healthy balanced diet.
Notes to Editors
The advice in a 1997 News Release, reiterating longstanding advice by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has been interpreted by some as implying that fruit and vegetables are not safe to eat unless they are washed and peeled before eating.
Since 1997, the Pesticides Safety Directorate has carried out a large body of work aimed at clarifying the implications of variability for risk assessment and ensuring that the regulatory system evolves to accommodate these implications.
In view of those developments, the Agency felt it would be timely for the ACP to consider whether the advice on washing or peeling fruit and vegetables should be quoted in relation to pesticide residues.
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