The confusion has arisen with the Pesticides Residue Committee's publication of its testing results for the second quarter of 2002.

'None of the residues found were of risk to consumer health,' said Fresh Produce Consortium chief executive Doug Henderson. 'The problem is that people confuse MRLs with safety limits, when the MRL is actually a determination that good agricultural practices have been adhered to.' He pointed out that there is a wide tolerance between MRLs and safety limits. 'But what Friends of the Earth is doing is confusing the two,' said Henderson. 'The two are very clearly separated in the PRC's reports and there is a consistent message from the PRC and the Food Standards Agency that there is not a risk to human health.' But pesticides campaigner at Friends of the Earth, Sandra Bell is calling on the government to reverse its decision that fruit and vegetables no longer need to be peeled before being given to young children.

Although more than half of the potatoes tested by the PRC in the second quarter had pesticides residues, the committee found that there was no danger to human health once they were peeled.

'None of the commodities tested produced results which gave rise to concern for consumer health,' said PRC chairman Ian Brown.

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