The garlic sprout safety scandal has triggered a food safety alarm bell
Recently, a report about excessive pesticide residues in garlic sprouts has sparked heated discussions on the Internet. According to the disclosure, garlic sprouts sold in many regions and markets have been detected with serious pesticide residues, and the pesticide residues in some products are even dozens of times higher than the national standard. This shocking fact not only made consumers seriously lose confidence in the quality of agricultural products in the market, but also sounded the alarm bell of food safety again.
The exposure of the incident caused a shock in public opinion
As soon as the garlic pesticide residue scandal was exposed, it caused an uproar in all walks of life. Consumers have expressed their anger and disappointment, questioning whether the regulator has been derelict in its duties for a long time. Some experts and scholars have conducted in-depth interpretation and analysis of the causes and harmfulness of this incident.
Although the "garlic sprout" incident seems to be just an ordinary food safety incident, its impact is far from ordinary. This is not only related to the food safety of thousands of households, but also related to the supervision and credibility of the whole society on the production and circulation of agricultural products.
Pesticide root irrigation methods are crude and excessive
After preliminary investigation, the excessive pesticide residues in garlic sprouts were mainly caused by the abuse of "root irrigation" pesticide application methods by some farmers in the planting process. The so-called "root irrigation and pesticide application" is to inject high concentrations of pesticides directly into the roots of plants, so as to achieve the purpose of rapid insecticide and disease prevention.
Although this method can maximize the insecticidal effect of pesticides, it also solidifies a large amount of pesticide residues on the crop itself. These pesticide residues can hardly be completely removed, and long-term consumption will inevitably cause serious harm to human health.
Pesticide residues are fatal to health
Ordinary people's perception of the hazards of pesticide residues may stay at the general level of "causing cancer". But in fact, pesticide residues are far more terrible than we think. Different types of pesticides have different pathways, some can damage the nervous system, some can cause genetic mutations, and even affect the normal functioning of the human endocrine system.
Among the garlic sprouts that were found to have excessive pesticide residues this time, a variety of highly toxic and high-residue pesticide substances such as dichlorvos, methyl parathion and chlorpyrifos were mainly detected. Among them, dichlorvos has been listed by the World Health Organization as "an environmental persistent organic pollutant that constitutes non-genotoxic", and excessive ingestion may cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and other poisoning symptoms, and in severe cases, it may also cause damage to the nervous system and reproductive system.
Regulators are hard to blame and are severely criticized
The garlic pesticide residue scandal not only exposed the barbaric practices of some farmers in the use of pesticides, but also highlighted serious loopholes in food safety supervision. Obviously, such a deep-dug food safety case is by no means an accident and an isolated case.
A number of experts bluntly said that this incident shows that there is still a systematic dereliction of duty and negligence in food safety supervision. From farmland to table, the entire production, processing, and circulation of agricultural products need to be strengthened to standardize management and supervise the whole process. In terms of food safety, although the rare heavy-handed attack of the relevant departments has produced a certain deterrent to those who violate laws and regulations, the overall effect is limited. For a long time, in some places, due to the emphasis on development and neglect of supervision, the regulatory workflow has become a formality.