Skip to main content

Hazardous pesticides in tea: MNC Uniliver, Modi favourite Tatas, top Gujarat brand Wagh Bakri blamed

An investigation carried out by top international environmental NGO Greenpeace has found “residues of hazardous chemical pesticides” in a majority of samples of the main brands of packaged tea produced and consumed in India, including MNC Uniliver subsidiary, India’s powerful business group Tatas, and Gujarat's favourite tea brand Wagh Bakri. “Over half of the samples contained pesticides that are ‘unapproved’ for use in tea cultivation or which were present in excess of recommended limits”, a Greenpeace report, based on research carried out by its team in India, insisted.
The Greenpeace report, titled “Trouble Brewing: Pesticide Residues in Tea Samples in India”, points out, “The results indicate that the cultivation of tea in India continues to rely on of the use of a diverse range of pesticides, consistent with previous analyses of pesticide residues in tea produced in India.” It adds, “Dependency on pesticides is an inherent part of the current system of industrial agriculture and in the cultivation of tea in other countries, as shown in a similar report on Chinese tea published by Greenpeace in 2012”.
Suggesting why there is reason for the report should be of global concern, the report says, “India is the second largest producer and the fourth largest exporter of tea globally, with the marketing and sales of tea forming a multi-billion dollar market (estimated at US$40.7 billion) both domestically, and globally. Within India, the top two brands – Hindustan Unilever Limited, subsidiary of the global multinational company Unilever, and Tata Global Beverages Limited – share upwards of 50 percent of the market.”
Greenpeace collected a total of 49 branded and packaged tea samples. “These were purchased between June 2013 and May 2014 from retail outlets in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata and were sent to an independent accredited laboratory to be tested for the presence of over 350 different pesticides. The samples cover eight of the top eleven companies which dominate the branded tea market in India. These include well-known brands produced by Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tata Global Beverages Limited, Wagh Bakri Tea, Goodricke Tea, Twinings, Golden Tips, Kho-Cha and Girnar”, the report says.
“A total of 34 pesticides were found, with 46 samples of branded tea – or 94% - containing residues of at least one pesticide. 59% (29 of the samples) contained ‘cocktails’ of more than 10 different pesticides, including one sample which contained residues of 20 different pesticides. 59% (29) of the samples also contained residues of at least one pesticide active ingredient above the Maximum Residue Levels set by the EU (EU-MRL), with 37% (18) of the tea samples exceeding these levels by more than 50%”, the report states.
The report regrets, “The chaotic and conflicting state of regulations in India regarding authorisation of pesticides makes it extremely difficult to draw clear conclusions. However, 68% of the 34 pesticides found in the various samples appear not to be registered for use in cultivation of tea.”
Greenpeace’s specific examples include:
· Monocrotophos, a suspected mutagen and neurotoxicant, found in 27 samples across tea brands made by various companies including Tata, Hindustan Unilever, Kho Cha, Royal Girnar, Goodricke, Wagh Bakri and Golden Tips. This pesticide is not approved for use on tea and is classified as Highly Hazardous (Class Ib) by the World Health Organisation.
  • Triazophos, another unapproved toxic pesticide, was found in five samples (in tea brands made by Tata, Hindustan Unilever, and Wagh Bakri). This pesticide is also classified as Highly Hazardous (Class Ib) by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • Tebufenpyrad, which is not registered in India, and therefore illegal, was found in one sample manufactured by Hindustan Unilever. Tebufenpyrad is a potential liver toxicant at high concentrations.
  • DDT: The results also showed the presence of the pesticide DDT, banned for use in agriculture in India since 1989, as well as a significant number of pesticides classified as Moderately Hazardous according to WHO. These included Cypermethrin, classified as a respiratory irritant, and the neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid has shown the potential to cause reproductive or developmental impacts in animals. All three of these pesticides were found in 60% or more of the samples.
  • Neonicotinoid insecticides were present in a large proportion of samples (for example, Thiacloprid at 67.3% and Thiamethoxam at 78%), which may indicate that these relatively new entrants to the agrochemical market are becoming insecticides of choice in tea cultivation, and that tea production is still firmly stuck on the industrial pesticide treadmill.
Greenpeace says, “The results indicate that the cultivation of tea in India continues to depend on a large number of chemicals with proven adverse effects on the environment and human health. Companies purchasing and selling tea in India and other key stakeholders in the industry need to act urgently to ensure the protection of the environment and of human health. Such changes will require strong supportive policies to ensure the tea sector as a whole, including small tea growers, can shift rapidly away from the use of these chemical pesticides and thereby avoid the associated hazards.”
It adds, “The tea sector needs to become aware of ecological agriculture systems which already exist and to apply the same principles in tea cultivation. Ecological agriculture techniques could prove to be both a sound business choice for the tea sector as well as a global market leadership opportunity for any given tea brand. The tea industry needs to take responsibility for existing problems to make a commitment to their consumers that they can trust that tea production will not contaminate the environment or expose consumers to hazardous pesticide residues, from crop to cup.”

Comments

TRENDING

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

From SECI CMD to #OpenToWork: Gujarat cadre ex-IAS RP Gupta’s curious LinkedIn journey

Recently, I wrote a blog on retired Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat RP Gupta, with whom I used to interact during my Gandhinagar Sachivalaya days as the Times of India man. Written in the backdrop of the Government of India controversially easing him out of his position as CMD of the PSU Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a special purpose vehicle to promote solar energy, the title of the  blog  — "RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?" — is self-explanatory about the blog’s contents.