'Untrustworthy Online Agricultural Products'... Increasing Trend of Residual Pesticide Detection

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The amount of online agricultural products in the Gyeonggi region detected with residual pesticides exceeding the standard is increasing every year.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment Research announced on the 20th that residual pesticides exceeding the standard were detected in six cases, including pumpkin seeds, as a result of safety inspections of agricultural products distributed online.

From January to the end of September this year, the institute collected and tested 191 agricultural products distributed through 15 places such as popular portal sites, large mart online stores, and social markets via online ordering methods.

The inspection results showed that a total of six cases exceeded the standard for insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and other substances: ▲2 cases of imported pumpkin seeds ▲1 case of dried Lingzhi mushroom ▲1 case of crown daisy ▲1 case of dried Omija ▲1 case of dried Goji berries.

In particular, in this survey, among 15 eco-friendly agricultural products known not to use pesticides, including organic and pesticide-free products, pesticides such as carbendazim and trifloxystrobin were detected in one case each of mulberry and dried Omija.

Accordingly, the institute registered the products confirmed as non-compliant agricultural products in the 'MFDS Non-compliant Food Emergency Notification System' and notified the relevant departments.

An institute official said, "As purchases of agricultural products through online channels increase, we conducted this safety inspection to ensure the health and safety of residents. We will continue to take responsibility for safe dining tables for residents through monitoring residual pesticides in online distributed agricultural products."

Meanwhile, an analysis of residual pesticide inspections of online distributed agricultural products in the province over the past three years showed that the detection rate rose from 21.3% in 2020 to 27.9% in 2021 and 44.5% in 2022. The non-compliance rate (exceeding the standard) also increased from 1.7% in 2020 to 3.0% in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022.

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