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Food retailer aims
to restrict pesticide use
The UK retailer Marks and Spencer is committed to phasing out pesticides which may pose serious risks to health or the environment – before they are officially banned. David Buffin interviewed Mike Barry and Emmett Lunny of M&S.
| Table 1. Prohibited pesticides M&S says the following 79 pesticides are a priority for action and will prohibit their use on produce it purchases throughout the world in a phased approach starting 1 January 2002: UK usage 2-aminobutane, Atrazine, Bromoxynil, Carbaryl, Carbofuran, Chlorfenvinphos, Dichlorvos, Dimethoate, Disulfoton, Endosulfan, Etrimfos, Fenitrothion, Fentin acetate, Lindane, Malathion, Maneb, Methomyl, Methyl bromide, Permethrin, Propoxur, Quintozene, Simazine, Sulphuric acid, Tecnazene, Tridemorph, Vinclozolin. Non UK usage 2,4,5-T, Acetochlor, Alachlor, Aldrin, Antu, Azinphos-methyl, Azobenzene, Binapacryl, Cadmium compounds, Calcium arsenate, Camphechlor, Captafol, Chlordane, Chlordecone, Chlordimeform, Chlorobenzilate, Cyhexatin, DDT, Demeton-S-methyl, Diazinon, Dieldrin, Dinoseb, Dinoterb, DNOC, EDB, EDC, Endrin, Ethiofencarb, Ethylene oxide, Fluoracetamide, HCB, HCH, Heptachlor, Heptenophos, Mephosfolan, Mercury compounds, Methamidophos, Methyl parathion, Monocrotophos, Nitrofen, Parathion, Pentachlorophenol, Phosalone, Phosphamidon, Potassium arsenite, Pyrazophos, Quinalphos, Selenium compounds, Sodium arsenite, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, Thiometon, Toxaphene, Trichlorfon. |
Consumer concern regarding the possible impacts of pesticides has driven some retailers to re-think their attitude towards pesticides use for food production.
Marks and Spencer (M&S) announced comprehensive changes to its pesticide policy after consultation with a range of stakeholders. From 1 January 2002 farmers supplying M&S from across the world will start to phase out the use of 79 pesticides, including many persistent organochlorines and organophosphate nerve poisons (see table 1). M&S has agreed challenging targets with its suppliers to reduce the incidence of residues in fresh fruit and vegetables from the UK and overseas (see table 2), and wants to see a decrease in the multiple residues found in some samples.
So why act now? According to Emmett Lunny, Produce Technologist at M&S, it is because consumers believe pesticide residues have no business being in food. The action on pesticides fits in with everything M&S stands for. Much is made of its brand values, one of which is to sell a trusted food experience which Emmett Lunny says includes the issue of pesticide residues in food. ‘As a business, our mission is to be a standard-setter, and we want to be the most trusted retailer in the UK.’ But to achieve this, M&S readily admits that it ‘needs to do some work on pesticides.’
Pesticide bans
M&S is committed to phasing out what it calls ‘hard chemicals’ before they are officially banned. It wants to reduce operator and consumer health risks and environmental impact risks. Mike Barry, Environmental Systems Manager at M&S, explained the rationale behind the list. ‘There is a far wider degree of influence these days. I don’t care if there are 800 pages of scientific studies which say we can prove a pesticide as safe, according to the science of say 10 years ago. If significant stakeholders are concerned about pesticides based on the precautionary principle, rather than absolute evidence, we may decide to act.’
M&S will look to phase out any pesticide it identifies as a priority for risk management. Emmett Lunny says that the list will grow and evolve in the coming months. ‘We will add products which concern us. We will source information from a range of stakeholders such as the PAN network, through regulatory information including KEMI, the Swedish regulators, and through the US Environmental Protection Agency.’
Most of the pesticides on the M&S banned list are not used in the UK. A total of 12 are approved for use and a further 14 are being phased out by the government under policies that are administered through the Pesticide Safety Directorate (PSD), an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Mike Barry of M&S sees the current approach to environmental regulation as ‘a slow moving beast.’ He said: ‘M&S cannot wait five years for it to catch up. M&S does not want to be a quasi-regulator but has had to act because of consumer pressure. Perhaps it may be that there is not one system that suits all users today.’
| Table 2. Residue concerns M&S’s long term aspiration is to sell residue-free produce by working with farmers to achieve targeted reductions in measurable residue levels on their produce. M&S is in consultation with its suppliers on how to achieve the following percentages of produce residue-free in 2003:
M&S will be working to eliminate residues of chlorpyrifos and aldicarb from fruit, vegetables and salads by 1 January 2002. |
Residue targets
M&S wants to have targeted reduction in identifiable residues on its conventional produce (see Table 2). The long-term aim is to sell residue-free produce. The latest industry figures provided by M&S highlight the scale of the challenge – 47% of all fruit and vegetables contain pesticide residues.
So how is M&S going to achieve these targets? According to Emmett Lunny: ‘It’s our opportunity, no one else is doing it yet, and it would fit in with our consumers’ demands and our brand value. It is difficult, but everything we have done throughout our history has been difficult to begin with – and we have done it. M&S wants to offer advice, resources, and we want to get involved in the research – to enable growers to find solutions.’
Safer alternatives
M&S is working to replace the pesticides identified on its banned list with safer alternatives. Its team of agronomists has worked closely with its 47 fresh produce suppliers, involving 1,000 farmers worldwide. M&S especially wants to help suppliers by offering advice, resources and research opportunities to growers to enable them to avoid using persistent pesticides. Emmett Lunny says that there are several cases where there is a lack of safer alternatives. ‘In January 2002, we will say which pesticides are difficult to stop using, and will produce an Action Plan to take the issue on further.’
Conclusions
The policy change announced by Marks and Spencer has been welcomed by public interest NGOs. It follows a similar announcement by the Co-op retailer (see PN53 p3). The retailers are breaking ranks and are no longer prepared to leave pesticide decisions to the government and industry. Previous issues of Pesticides News have repeatedly reported acute problems with pesticide use in developing countries. M&S will have a particular challenge in this area, and it remains to be seen whether their influence will spread to the rest of agriculture and the food industry as a whole.
Marks and Spencer’s residue testing results are published on its website at:
http://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/ourcommitmenttosociety/
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 54, December 2001, page 3]