There are many strawberry rumors Listen to what the experts have to say

Strawberries are known as "the first fruit of spring" and "fruit queen", but there are information such as "big strawberries are fed with 'hormones' and 'bulking agents'" and "strawberries have high pesticide residues, and eating them is not good for children". So what is the safety status of strawberry products grown in the mainland, and how to choose in the face of so many rumors about strawberries. To this end, this newspaper interviewed Wang Qiang, chief expert of the Institute of Agricultural Product Quality, Safety and Nutrition of the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and researcher Wang Qiang, who is also the vice chairman of the National Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, the vice chairman of the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Branch of the Chinese Agricultural Society, and the chairman of the Zhejiang Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Society.

China Food News: Will the so-called "hormones" and "bulking agents" be used in the process of strawberry planting?

Wang Qiang: "hormones" or "bulking agents" are rarely used in the process of strawberry cultivation, and even if they are used, as long as they are used according to standards or labels, they are safe. The "hormones" used on strawberries are actually exogenous plant hormones, also known as plant growth regulators, which are one of the four major types of pesticides. These "hormones" belong to plant hormones, which are completely different from animal hormones in terms of chemical structure, target and mechanism, so they have no effect on animals (including humans). The purpose of using these "hormones" is to promote the growth of strawberries, including increasing fruit setting rate, promoting fruit expansion, and promoting recovery growth after natural disasters. At present, there are 4 kinds of "hormones" on strawberries that have been registered as pesticides in the mainland, which can be used in the process of strawberry planting, namely gibberellic acid, thiazuron, 24-epibrassinolide, and benzylaminopurine, and stipulate the dose, time, and safety interval of their use on strawberries. Therefore, it is safe for strawberries to be grown according to the standards or labels of the above 4 "hormones".

China Food News: What pesticides will be used in the strawberry planting process, what links will be strictly controlled before strawberries go on the market, and whether the strawberries listed and circulated in the mainland are safe?

Wang Qiang: Strawberry planting will suffer from a variety of pests and diseases, mainly powdery mildew, gray mold and other diseases and red spiders, aphids, thrips and other pests, so it is necessary to use pesticides to prevent and control. At present, there are 69 kinds of pesticides registered for use in strawberries in mainland China, including 20 kinds of insecticides such as matrine and pymetrozine, 43 kinds of fungicides such as etheroxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, difenoconazole and Bacillus subtilis, 2 kinds of herbicides such as beetroot and 4 kinds of plant growth regulators such as gibberellic acid.

Before strawberries are put on the market, there will be at least three links to strictly control the quality and safety of strawberries, including the main body of production, the main body of marketing and the regulatory department. First of all, the production entity needs to prove (or self-promise) that the strawberries it produces are qualified products through self-inspection or inspection, and issue a certificate of commitment to meet the standards; then, the marketing entity needs to check the commitment certificate issued by the production entity, such as the agricultural products purchased by the mixed or packaged after sale, the marketing subject of mixed or sub-packaging needs to be issued as the production subject in accordance with the provisions of the commitment to meet the standard certificate; finally, the competent departments of agriculture and rural affairs and market supervision will regularly or irregularly carry out risk monitoring and assessment of the strawberry products produced and operated by the production and marketing entity, supervise spot checks, supervision and inspection to ensure the safety of strawberries after marketing.

According to the 2023 special monitoring and evaluation results of the Agricultural Products and Processing Quality Inspection Center (Hangzhou) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the monitoring pass rate of strawberries has reached more than 99%.

China Food News: What is the national standard for strawberries, and how do our testing standards and monitoring results compare with other countries?

Wang Qiang: At present, there are 177 national standards for pesticide residue limits on strawberries (including 127 formal limits and 50 temporary limits), of which 30 pesticides have been registered (16.9%), 45 banned pesticides (25.4%), and 102 other pesticides (57.6%). There were 43, 50, 39 and 44 items with limit values less than or equal to 0.01 mg/kg, 0.01-0.1 mg/kg (including 0.1 mg/kg), 0.1-1 mg/kg (including 1 mg/kg) and 1-10 mg/kg (including 10 mg/kg), accounting for 24.3%, 28.2%, 22.0% and 24.9%, respectively, and only one item (0.6%) above 10 mg/kg.

As an importer of agricultural products, the European Union and Japan have formulated and implemented stricter standards for agricultural products, and the same is true for strawberries, which not only have a large number of pesticide residue limits, but also have many pesticide residue limits lower than those of the mainland, that is, the standards are stricter. However, there are also some pesticides that have the same residue limits as the EU and Japan, or even lower, i.e. the standards are stricter.

Countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are both importers and exporters of agricultural products, so the standards set are similar to those of the mainland. The number of pesticide residue limit standards set on strawberries is similar to that of the mainland, and there are both stricter and wider pesticide residue limit standards than the mainland.

China Food News: What's the matter with solid strawberries and hollow strawberries? Why sometimes the boxed strawberries we buy are red and bright on the top, and they are particularly easy to rot on the bottom, and do consumers rest assured in the application of preservatives?

Wang Qiang: Strawberry fruits are divided into two categories: solid and hollow, which is one of the essential characteristics of different varieties of strawberries. For example, Red Cheek is a solid strawberry variety with a hollow heart rate of only 0-6.3% and a hollow area rate of 0-1.23%, while Ningfeng is a hollow strawberry variety with a hollow heart rate of 30.0%-55.3% and a hollow area rate of 3.39%-4.54%. Whether the strawberry fruit is solid or hollow is determined by the variety, regardless of the "hormone". According to the experiment of the Laboratory of Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment (Hangzhou) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the hollow heart rate of the red cheek fruit of the solid strawberry cultivar changed from 0-6.3% to 0-4.3% after chlorpyramide treatment, and the hollow heart rate of the hollow strawberry cultivar Ningfeng fruit changed from 30.0%-55.3% to 41.3%-51.3% after chlorpyramide treatment, and there was no significant difference.

Sometimes the boxed strawberries we buy are bright red on the top and rotten on the bottom. This may be related to the fact that the strawberries are squeezed during storage and transportation.

Strawberries generally do not use preservatives, because strawberries are relatively "squeamish" fruits, if preservatives are used, it is easy to cause mechanical damage, and increase moisture, the fruit will rot faster.

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