PESTICIDE SET TO BE BANNED IN EUROPE BUT STILL IN YOUR CHOCOLATE
The Ban Lindane Campaign wants major retailers and chocolate manufacturers
to make a commitment this Easter to stop a dangerous pesticide being
sprayed on cocoa crops.

Lindane is due to be phased out in Europe following an EU decision last
year to ban it.Despite concerns about the health effects of eating
lindane-contaminated chocolate and the risks to farmers using it, lindane
will still be used in cocoa-producing countries. Lindane is a hormone
disrupter, linked to breast cancer.


In a recent survey [below] the Ban Lindane Campaign found that - although
there have been welcome moves by some retailers to phase out the use of
lindane - residues are still being found in UK-purchased chocolate [1].
Some supermarkets are still offering bland reassurances that levels of
lindane found in chocolate are “safe”, even though an Austrian report in
1998 concluded that it isn't possible to set a safe exposure level for
lindane.


Most supermarket own-brand chocolate is supplied by the big chocolate
companies. The supermarket's responses reveal an alarming lack of control
over the chocolate supply chain, which some retailers are using as an
excuse for not taking action.


Safeway said: “The complex infrastructure makes it impossible to ensure
that lindane is not used”. Sainsbury's quoted a trade association for
chocolate suppliers which says “It is not practicable for purchasers to
stipulate that they will buy only beans from cocoa trees not treated with
lindane” By contrast, the Co-op, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose say that
they are seeking lindane-free chocolate from their suppliers, and
Somerfield says its suppliers don't use lindane “at the present time”.
Co-op found that its Fair Trade chocolate,which can be traced directly back
to the cocoa grower in Ghana, is free of lindane residues.However, it could
not give the same assurance for the rest of its own-brand chocolate which
is supplied by a major chocolate manufacturer. If all major retailers
joined together to demand lindane-free chocolate, suppliers would be forced
to act. The Co-op has made a commitment to withdraw from sale any chocolate
which is found to contain lindane - at whatever level. Tesco, the largest
supermarket, didn't reply .


The Ban Lindane Campaign is calling on all retailers and chocolate
manufacturers to phase out the use of lindane. Consumers can choose organic
and fairly-traded chocolate, but next Easter the campaign wants all
chocolate to be lindane-free.


Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner for Friends of the Earth said
“People should be able to enjoy Easter eggs without worrying about hidden
pesticides. It is alarming that some supermarkets don't even know if
lindane has been used on the cocoa in their chocolate. The big chocolate
companies and retailers must ensure that all the cocoa they use is safely
farmed, and isn't sprayed with dangerous chemicals like lindane.”

Jill Day, of UNISON said
“Lindane is linked with serious health problems including breast cancer. It
is hazardous to those who are exposed to it in their food and those who
work with it. We recommend that shoppers buy organic or fairly traded
chocolate this Easter but all chocolate should be pesticide- free.”

Helen Lynn, of Women's Health Co-ordinator of Women's Environmental Network
said
"Cocoa workers are exposed to Lindane used on the cocoa crops to fuel our
chocolate habits. Consumers do not have access to information about what
pesticide are used on cocoa in order to make an informed choice. We welcome
any moves to make the best choice available to everyone. With Easter around
the corner we call on retailers to make a commitment to work with their
suppliers and the chocolate manufacturers to ensure chocolate is both a
luxury to work with as well as to eat."


Barbara Dinham, of the Pesticides Action Network said:
“Retailers and consumers have a responsibility to support cleaner and safer
ways of producing chocolate. Cocoa farmers are interested in growing
organic cocoa but need government, industry and consumer support to do so.
Ghanaian environmentalists are extremeley concerned that cocoa pesticides,
including lindane are also being used on local crops, with serious risks to
human health.”


NOTES

[1] The ban Lindane Campaign comprises Friends of the Earth, Green Network,
Pesticides Action Network UK, UNISON, Women's Environmental Network and the
Soil Association.


[2] Supermarkets claim that levels of lindane in chocolate are going down,
but they do not publish results of their testing, making it impossible for
shoppers to know whether lindane is still turning up in their favourite
chocolate. The last time that chocolate was tested by Government three
quarters of the samples contained residues of lindane, and 20 out of 20 of
food industry samples contained lindane [Annual Report of the Working Party
on Pesticides Residues 1998]


[3] Lindane is also hazardous to the farmers who use it. Even before the EU
ban was agreed some uses of lindane had been withdrawn in the UK to protect
farm workers exposed to it. Yet in cocoa producing countries like Ghana,
sprayers are rarely given any safety training or supplied with the sort of
protective clothing required in Europe. Chemicals drip onto the skin, are
breathed in, and accidentally swallowed.