Checks intensified for toxic vegetables in southwest China

NANNING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Checks for toxic vegetables continued in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday after 9,610 kg of vegetables sold in the region were found having excessive pesticide residues.

Quality inspectors at the Wuliting vegetable wholesale market in Nanning, Guangxi's capital, have increased random testings on vegetables sent there, said Lu Zhuowei, manager of the market.

The market, the biggest one in Nanning, is the place where 9,610 kg of vegetables were found having excessive residues of three pesticides on Sunday night. Only 3,540 kg were unsold when the testing results were published, which were destroyed on Monday.

Nanning agriculture authorities later discovered that 4,451.5 kg of toxic vegetables were sold to dealers outside Nanning and 1,618.5 kg had entered the city's local markets.

Food safety authorities across Guangxi were alerted and asked to intensify testings on pesticide residues on vegetables.

Tang Bowen, director of Nanning Agriculture Bureau, said Monday some toxic vegetables sold to other Guangxi cities such as Fangchenggang had been seized and properly disposed.

Farmers in Jingxi County, where the detected toxic vegetables came from, now have to have their vegetables tested twice before they were sent to wholesale markets, compared with one pre-harvest test previously required, said an official with the Guangxi regional department of agriculture.

After vegetables had passed both tests, farmers could get a certificate from the county's agriculture bureau so they could sell their produce, the official said.

Lu Zhuowei speculated that recent supply crisis of vegetables, mainly due to rampant drought, might prompt some dealers to dodge compulsory testings, which caused the problem.

"Random testing at our market was now more frequent than before," Lu said.

Cow peas from south China's Hainan Province were found tainted with a poisonous pesticide called lsocarbophos in early February, triggering nationwide tests on the vegetable. Since then China's food safety authorities have urged strict tests on fruits and vegetables.