In our current world where A.I. is taking over and data is king; it comes as a surprise that the UK does not have accurate data on the pesticides that are being pumped into our environment. Having said that, it doesn’t come as a surprise to those of us who [...]
A coalition of 25 health, farming, trade, human rights and environmental organisations from around the world, including Parkinson's UK, The Wildlife Trust, the Central American Institute of Research on Toxic Substances (IRET), Trade Justice Movement and the Landworkers’ Alliance have signed an open letter calling on Sainsbury's to ban paraquat. [...]
Fidra are an environmental charity working to prevent pollution and other harms to the environment through science-based solutions and collaborative systemic change. For almost a decade, Fidra has been investigating the impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), from their use in everyday consumer products such as food packaging and [...]
A new report reveals the widespread use of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) in coffee-producing countries. These include chemicals linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, reproductive harm, endocrine disruption, and catastrophic biodiversity loss. Poison in Your Coffee brings together scientific literature, government data and field research across Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, Colombia, and other major [...]
Farmworkers around the world are being put at risk due to the use of paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide (weedkiller). We’re calling on the UK’s second largest supermarket, Sainsbury’s, to end the use of paraquat in its global supply chains. Paraquat is responsible for poisoning thousands of farmworkers around the world. Repeated long-term exposure to [...]
by Jago Wadley, International Advocacy Manager This week, PAN UK will apply for membership of the new Global Alliance on Highly Hazardous Pesticides (GAHHPs). We encourage all relevant actors in agriculture and food systems to join this important new initiative and contribute to its success. Applications can be made via [...]
This year, 49 chocolate companies and retailers took part in the 7th edition of the Chocolate Scorecard. Between them, they cover roughly nine out of every ten cocoa beans in the global supply chain. They were assessed on eight themes: traceability and transparency, living income, child and forced labour, deforestation, agroforestry [...]
by Nick Mole, Policy Manager, PAN UK Earlier this year, CropLife, the trade body that represents the UK pesticide industry, published a report that exposed their goals to protect profits and resist regulations that might impact their sales. As proposed under the new UK-EU SPS agreement, the UK’s farmers, food [...]
Analysis of official government data – launched today by PAN UK – reveals that the amount of glyphosate being applied to UK crops has risen from 200 metric tonnes per year in 1990 to more than 2,200 tonnes in 2024. Major increases have been seen on a wide range of [...]
A new study published in Frontiers in Agronomy, has found that training farmers in agroecological practices helps to protect them from the harmful impacts of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). It also increases their income. Over 700 vegetable farmers in Ethiopia’s Lake Ziway region took part in a programme to promote agroecology [...]
Powerful commercial actors and the actions they take, affect us all, every day of our lives – many are undermining our health, our choices as individuals and the sustainability of the planet. They shape what we see, eat, and do. There is overwhelming evidence that the actions of many commercial [...]
Hello, I’m Ella, the ‘new’ Supermarkets Campaigner here at PAN UK. It’s been six months since I started this position – on one hand I can hardly believe it’s been that long and on the other it feels like I’ve been here forever. I remember the moment I got a [...]
PAN UK is delighted with this week’s reset deal which commits the UK to following EU existing and future pesticide standards. While far from perfect, the EU’s pesticide standards are the strongest in the world in terms of protecting human health and the environment, and the UK played a seminal [...]
The 6th edition of the Chocolate Scorecard has ranked Tony’s Chocolonely and Ritter Sport as among the most sustainable chocolate companies in the world. Run by Be Slavery Free, the scorecard ranks companies based on traceability and transparency across supply chains, whether they pay farmers a living income, efforts to [...]
Analysis launched today shows that food imported into Great Britain may pose a greater risk to consumer health than domestically grown produce. The most recent testing by the UK government detected 46 pesticides with links to cancer on imported produce, compared to 19 on food of UK origin. These results [...]
Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Food and agriculture play a major role. This week, the international community is convening in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As extreme weather events threaten lives and economies [...]
Calling on our new government to undo the damage done to UK pesticide standards As we prepare to head off to Labour Party Conference this weekend, our minds are focused on what actions need to be taken by the new government to reduce pesticide-related harms to both human health and [...]
Analysis launched today has revealed that the Conservative government attacked pesticide residue safety limits on a range of common GB food items including blackberries, grapes, onions and potatoes. Between 2022 and 2024, safety limits were weakened for 115 types of produce. While most of the food types affected are fruit [...]
The second of Atalo Belay’s reflections on ten years of tackling hazardous pesticide use on smallholder cotton farms in Southern Ethiopia Read the first part ‘The pioneers’ here. A reason to believe It was difficult to get farmers to believe in the project at first. After years of using pesticides, [...]
New research reveals that many common UK food items contain PFAS pesticides. PAN UK analysed the latest results from the UK government’s residue testing programme, finding that ten different PFAS pesticides were present in spices and a range of fruit and vegetables including grapes, cherries, spinach and tomatoes. Strawberries were [...]
