The FDA has raised the standard for strictly monitoring the safety of vegetables and fruits, increasing the inspection of both pesticide types and sample numbers by more than 10 times to create confidence for consumers. Dr. Surachoke Tangwiwat, Secretary-General of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced to the press that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict safety monitoring measures for vegetables and fruits, especially for high-risk groups, which will be detained from import until proven safe and in compliance with legal standards. Once vegetables and fruits are permitted to be imported for sale in the country, the FDA has continuous supervision measures by collecting samples at sales locations, fruit and vegetable sorting and packing plants, to send for analysis at the Department of Medical Sciences in accordance with the relevant announcements of the Ministry of Public Health every year. It also works with provincial public health offices nationwide to monitor vegetables and fruit s that may have pesticide residues at sales locations and production locations, fruit and vegetable sorting and packing plants nationwide. From the results of fruit and vegetable testing in 2024, 506 samples were collected and sent to laboratories at the Food and Drug Administration checkpoints, of which 329 passed the standards and 177 failed, accounting for 35 percent. If vegetables and fruits are found to have pesticide residues that do not comply with the law, legal action will be taken against all offenders. Importing bases for selling substandard food under Section 25 (3) must be aware of a fine not exceeding 50,000 baht and dealing with the products by destroying them or sending them back to the country of origin. In addition, there is an inspection using preliminary test kits of more than 10,000 samples. The FDA Secretary-General added that this year, the FDA will enhance the measures for monitoring imported vegetables and fruits in 2025 by increasing the types of pesticides to be analyzed. For examp le, the Department of Medical Sciences has increased the data collection for pesticide testing. Therefore, it is preparing to improve the list of pesticides to be analyzed to increase the efficiency of monitoring the safety of vegetables and fruits and increase the number of samples sent for laboratory analysis. From the fiscal year 2024, there were approximately 500 samples of vegetables and fruits sent for analysis. This will increase to 5,000 samples, or a 10-fold increase. However, vegetables and fruits should be washed before consuming every time. Source: Thai News Agency
