Are there pesticide residues on bagged watercress and rocket?
Samples have been taken this year for testing, but results have not yet been published. When bagged salad – including rocket and watercress – was last tested, residues of some powerful insecticides were found but the Government-backed Pesticides Residues Committee did not deem them to be at harmful levels. Are all salads washed in water and chemicals? Yes. As famously documented by Felicity Lawrence in her book, Not on the Label, nearly all leaves are washed in heavily chlorinated water. The industry says that chlorine is a proven safe method of killing bacteria and pests on leaves, but loss of flavour, nutrient quality and residues can make the salad unpleasant to eat. But the tide is changing, with one supermarket in the vanguard. In two weeks’ time, Sainsbury’s will be washing and rinsing 50 per cent of its bagged salad range in natural spring water. How are bagged leaves stored? Many are bagged in packaging with a modified atmosphere (MAP) – that is to say, in gases that preserve t
