Tokyo Food Safety Information Center » Tokyo Metropolitan Government food safety FAQ »I’m concerned about pesticide residue on imported foods. Can I request inspections from a Public Health Center?
I’m concerned about pesticide residue on imported foods. Can I request inspections from a Public Health Center?
I’m concerned about pesticide residue on imported foods. Can I request inspections from a Public Health Center?
- If I can’t, why not?
As pesticide residue testing involves the analysis of minute quantities of materials, it requires significant time and effort. In addition, the testing methods are different for each type of pesticide. Accordingly, testing is conducted after gathering information such as the state of usage of a given pesticide and past violations of laws and regulations.
In turn, outside of a clear abnormality such as a strange odor or ruptured skin, requests for individual testing by Tokyo residents cannot be accepted.
Some 200 varieties of pesticides are used in Japan.In addition, it is believed that somewhere between 700 and 800 varieties of pesticides are used worldwide.
Pesticide residue testing methods differ for each type of pesticide, and testing requires extremely expensive equipment and high skilled testers.The Tokyo Metropolitan Government gathers information such as the state of use of a given pesticide and past violations of laws and regulations in order to determine what requires testing the most to ensure that testing is conducted in an efficient and effective manner.
More specifically, currently the Tokyo Metropolitan Government tests around 200 pesticide samples out of 500 possibilities each year.
In addition, if the Tokyo Metropolitan Government did accept individual requests from Tokyo residents, such individual testing would require a massive budget and staff.
Accordingly, please understand that the decision on which foods to test for pesticides is conducted by experts.
Note, however, that pesticide testing is conducted by the national and local governments throughout the country and their results and published each year. Excluding an extremely unbalanced diet, in Japan today, pesticide residues causing an adverse effect on health is an unthinkable outcome.
Please note that the food distributed and sold throughout this country is tested when it is imported and sampled during distribution to ensure the safety of commercially available food.