Getting More Than You Bargained For in Your 'Five a Day'?

'Five a Day' campaign was an oversimplified campaign to get people to eat more 'healthy' fruit and vegetables. It predictably resulted in increased eating/drinking of fruit; fruit juice and baked beans, whilst having little effect on fresh vegetable consumption. The advice is appears further complicated by an analysis of official UK government figures on contamination of fruit and veg with pesticides (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/29/cocktail-pesticides-almost-all-oranges-grapes-uk-study ). The analysis was carried out by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN). Pesticides include fungicides (to kill moulds); herbicides (to kill competing plants) and insecticides (administered in the vain hope of killing pest insects, without damaging pollinators). Some pesticides cause cancer. Others are reproductive or developmental toxins. A third category (mainly insecticides), influence neurotransmitters, changing brain activity. None of the individual pesticides in government tests exceeded legal limits. PAN, however, totalled 122 in the 12 most commonly-polluted fruit and veg. More than 60% of these pesticides, are UN-classified as being highly hazardous to human health and/or the environment. PAN listed 12 fruit and veg, in terms of their sample percentage contaminated with one or more (the actual range was 2 to 25) pesticides. The list from the highest (almost 90%) to the lowest (more than 15%) levels of contamination was:- grapes; oranges; dried fruit (e.g. raisins and sultanas); herbs; pears; peas with edible pods; beans in pods; okra; lettuce; dried beans; carrots and mango. If the levels of individual pesticides, are within legal limits, why are PAN concerned? The effects of 'cocktails' of pesticides on human health, have never been assessed. Rather obviously, people eating even modest quantities of fruit and veg, are likely to be also ingesting a number of pesticide residues. People need to know whether pesticides can have additive effects.