I live in Turkey and I don't feel safe eating the fruits and vegetables that I enjoy that are plentiful here. After reading this article, I have been washing all fruits and vegetables with water and vinegar mixture, but I am not sure if this is sufficient.
As stated in said article fruits and vegetables exported to the EU (European Union) from Turkey have been returned to Turkey for having unacceptable levels of certain insecticides; particularly Chlorpyrifos (banned for causing hormonal problems in humans) and Methamidophos (hazardous carcinogenic chemical).
The article mentioned that the returned goods could not be traced after their return to Turkey and most likely were sold and consumed domestically. Although Turkey has the same laws as the EU for banning and restricting these chemicals, these are obviously not enforced.
I need help in figuring out a practical method of testing for these chemicals. In the EU, RASFF- the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed is a key tool to ensure the flow of information across borders to swiftly react when risks to public health are detected in the food chain. Perhaps the RASFF tools are practical and cost effective or maybe there is even a more practical detection technology or method.
I tried to find what specific tools and methods the RASFF uses to detect these pesticides but their website does not openly reveal these details.
