Pesticide levels of fruits and vegetables sold in markets should be clearly labelled and more needs to be done to retrain workers, the Muscat Municipality’s members said.

“All vegetables and fruits sold in Oman should display a label of their farms so that it is easy to trace them if any problem arises,” a Muscat Municipal Council member said on Monday. 

In its fourth meeting this year, the Committee on Health, Social and Environmental Affairs at the Municipal Council, hosted stakeholders to discuss pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Fatima bint Mohammed Baqir Al Ajami, and focused on a number of observations regarding fertiliser residue, the proper way to conserve vegetables and fruits, the efficiency of expatriate workers in the management of the agricultural sector and the performance of the central Mawaleh vegetable and fruit market.

During the meeting, members also stressed that all vegetables and fruits should have labels. “On imported agricultural products, the meeting stressed the need for a certificate to prove the absence of pesticide residues, as the current health certificate does not include that,” a statement from the Municipality stated. 

In turn, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, through its central laboratory, is analysing samples related to pesticide residues, which was launched earlier this year.

While expatriate labour has become an essential part of the agricultural production process, members see the importance of retraining workers to ensure the proper handling of vegetables and fruits, as it was noted that a large number of shops selling vegetables and fruits in the central Mawaleh market are managed by migrant workers.

The meeting also stressed the importance of supporting the idea of a central laboratory for food safety, with appropriate equipment and qualified personnel, in addition to paying attention to existing laboratories and strengthening them with the necessary resources.

The safety aspect of vegetables and fruits is one aspect of the food safety issue to be reviewed by the committee during 2017, with other aspects being poultry and meat.

This comes after the United Arab Emirates banned some Omani vegetables and fruits saying some of the products exceeded the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for pesticides.

Source: Timesofoman