Every pesticide is one too many: the reactions of the Minister of Agriculture to the Meco press conference.
Traces of pesticides in food:
Every single pesticide is one too many!
In the Luxemburger Wort of 21 February 2025, Minister of Agriculture Martine Hansen responded to the statement by the Mouvement Ecologique on the pesticide contamination of food.
Some of the minister’s statements cannot be left uncommented on.
Mouvement Ecologique report misleading?
Quote M. Hansen: ‘A report on food safety published last week by the Mouvement Ecologique is misleading’.
This statement gives the impression that the Mouvement Ecologique has provided false information. The fact is that the statements are based on official analyses by the ALVA, the Luxembourg
Veterinary and Food Administration.
Are the pesticides ‘harmless’ because they are mostly – but not all (!) – below the legal limit?
Quote M. Hansen: ‘For example, the Méco listed samples that contained low levels of pesticides that were harmless to human health.’
The way in which the fact that pesticides have no place in food and that, from a health point of view, zero tolerance should be the aim, is highly irritating.
Are the ALVA analyses not representative?
Quote M. Hansen: ‘The 608 samples taken by ALVA were not randomly selected, but targeted products that were more likely to contain pesticides.’
Exactly! This is the requirement of the EU regulation. And precisely because individual foods (e.g. strawberries, tomatoes, apples) are more often tested for pesticide residues, the results provide a good picture of the actual pesticide contamination of these products. Furthermore, this allows for a correct comparison between EU countries, since each country has to test the same products. And last but not least: the products are everyday foodstuffs, so it is obvious that they should be tested.
Playing down the benefits of organic products?
Quote M. Hansen: ‘Méco’s claim that organic farming is safer than conventional farming runs the risk of pitting the two methods against each other.’
Both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report and the ALVA figures clearly show that organic products are far less contaminated. While the EU report is transparent about this, consumers in Luxembourg are being denied this fact.
Multiple contamination not an issue?
Quote M. Hansen: ‘For example, the Méco listed samples that contained small amounts of pesticides that were harmless to human health.’
Many of the foods analysed often show residues of several pesticides at the same time. The EFSA also reports on this transparently in the European report. However, this fact is also not mentioned in the ALVA report. In the interview, Minister Hansen also does not mention this fact. However, the effects of these ‘pesticide cocktails’ pose risks to health and the environment and have so far been inadequately addressed.
So if, for example, individual samples of strawberries contain residues of up to 13 different pesticides, we agree with the EU regulation: ‘It would be appropriate to explain these risks to the public in full.’!
If we don’t achieve our reduction targets, then we’ll just lower our sights!
Quote M. Hansen: ‘… set realistic targets in the next plan (PAN-Bio, adR).’
The fact that organic products are hardly contaminated with pesticides is not mentioned in the ALVA report, which is irritating. Instead of merely advising people to thoroughly wash fruit and vegetables before eating them, the Minister of Agriculture would do well to both push ahead with the expansion of organic products and use all the options available to her to ensure a reduction in the use of pesticides in conventional agriculture. This should be done by means of funding programmes for appropriate agricultural practices and research programmes, instead of lowering the standards set out in the PAN-Bio or the Pesticide Action Plan!
In view of the scientific results of the LIST 2021(2) on pesticide residues in children’s hair in Luxembourg, with the detection of up to 88 different pesticides in children, the statements of the Minister of Agriculture seem like a mockery. Every single pesticide is one too many!
(1) ‘When considering maximum residue levels for pesticides, it should also be recognised that few consumers are aware of the risks posed by pesticides. It would be appropriate to explain these risks to the public in full.’ (Excerpt from EU Regulation No. 396/2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food).
(2) Peng et al. (2021). Population-based biomonitoring of exposure to persistens and non-persistent organic polluants in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Results from hair analysis, Environnment International, Volume 153. https://doi.org/10.289/isee.2021.P-480
26.02.25