{"id":3157,"date":"2019-02-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neolifesalud.com\/poisons-in-our-food\/"},"modified":"2019-02-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T23:00:00","slug":"poisons-in-our-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neolifesalud.com\/en\/blog\/nutrition\/poisons-in-our-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Poisons in our food"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Human exposure to food additives, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics is widespread, chronic and silent. Lack of food safety, the economic interests of the industry, the impact of agrotoxics, processed foods and junk food in general can affect human health.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The 2018 report presented by Ecologists in Action based on official data collected in the 2015 Pesticide Residue Control Program, compiled by the Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition, confirms the presence of numerous pesticides in Spanish foods with the ability to alter our endocrine-hormone system.<\/p>\n

Tania Mesa – Director of Neolife\u2019s Nutrition and Nursing Unit<\/em><\/p>\n

Alejandro Monz\u00f3 – Nutrition Unit<\/em><\/p>\n

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We are suffering a silent poisoning that confirms the toxicity and lack of safety of the food industry<\/strong><\/p>\n

The term “Food Safety<\/strong>” encompasses aspects such as microbiology, residues, contaminants<\/strong>, additives (including nutrient enrichment), new foods (including those subject to genetic selection), new production techniques and new pathogens. Since absolute safety isn\u2019t possible, it\u2019s important to estimate the risk. The body responsible for ensuring food safety throughout Europe is the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority<\/em>), which needs to operate at the highest scientific level and take on functions of advice and risk estimation.<\/p>\n

The latest reports confirm that Spain is the largest consumer of pesticides<\/strong> in Europe. Thousands of tonnes of pesticides<\/strong> sprayed each year on crops and plantations expose food to invisible pesticide residues<\/strong> that reach consumers directly(1).<\/p>\n

The study carried out by Ecologists in Action focuses on pesticides, <\/strong>considered hormonal pollutants<\/strong> or endocrine disruptors<\/strong> (EDC), and analyzes the latest official data available on the presence of pesticide residues in food<\/strong>, corresponding to 2015 (Table 1). This report describes the pesticide residues found in food in Spain, and shows that the level of exposure of the population to these substances via food<\/strong> is, to say the least, worrying (1).<\/p>\n

By definition, EDCs are a set of exogenous chemicals<\/strong> that interfere with the natural action of hormones<\/strong>, alter the hormone balance<\/strong> and can alter physiology throughout the life of an individual, from fetal development through to adulthood. For this reason, hormonal contaminants have been linked to important diseases<\/strong> such as damage to the reproductive system, different types of cancer, diabetes, obesity, cognitive or behavioral deficit, or neurological and cardiovascular disorders (1).<\/p>\n

\"poisons
Table 1.<\/strong> Results of analyzing residues of endocrine-disrupting pesticides in food in Spain. MRL: Maximum Residue Limit established as safe (1).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The available data from the program for controlling contaminants in food<\/strong> in Spain, corresponding to 2015, show that Spanish foods contain at least 38 pesticides<\/strong> with the capacity to alter the hormone system<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Foods such as peppers, tomatoes, pears, apples, oranges, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries, among others, are those that are the most contaminated with endocrine-disrupting pesticides. All this implies the need for urgent measures to reduce exposure to these pesticides (1).<\/p>\n

With regard to the report, of the total of 2,186 samples, 28 were from organic production (Table 1). Only 1 of the 28 samples had residues from an EDC pesticide. This data confirms that organic products<\/strong> contain hardly any pesticide residues. In short, foods labeled “BIO” or “ECO” meet the following standards<\/strong> (2):<\/p>\n