Roskachestvo has completed a study of potatoes on the Russian market, which revealed both tubers affected by various diseases and potatoes containing cadmium, the organization said.
The organization's experts bought potatoes of the current and last seasons, which were grown both in Russia and abroad, in the markets and in chain stores. “The main attention of specialists was focused on the country and time of origin of vegetables. All root crops were examined according to 181 indicators of safety and quality, of which 26 are regulated by law, ”the message says.
In particular, Roskachestvo checked whether prohibited preparations were used in the cultivation of potatoes and whether the norms of pesticides allowed by the technical regulations were observed. “All tubers coped with this check - experts did not find any excess of permissible values of pesticides,” the study says.
In the study, traces of chlorprofam (a growth regulator used to inhibit sprouting of tubers during storage) and thiamethoxam (used for pest control) were found in Pakistani potatoes purchased from a chain store. “The presence of traces of thiamethoxam indicates that the manufacturer has exceeded the dosage of the drug when processing potatoes,” the organization explains.
In addition, Roskachestvo tested potatoes for nitrates, which may be contained in tubers. “The main thing is that their quantity does not exceed the established norms (no more than 250 milligrams per kilogram). In most of the studied potatoes, the specialists of Roskachestvo did not find an excess of the norm of nitrates, ”the report says.
“But there were still exceptions - Egyptian early potatoes from a chain store and early Russian potatoes bought on the market. Usually, it is the early potato that “sins” in excess, as it continues to grow, the nitrogen metabolism inside the tuber tissues is very high, and therefore the concentration of nitrates is overestimated, and most of them are in the peel, ”adds Roskachestvo.
Flaws in the potatoes
In addition, the experts checked the potato tubers for the presence of radionuclides and heavy metals (cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury). "No radionuclides were found, but for the first time in a long time, experts have identified an excess in cadmium, which was contained in early Pakistani potatoes from a chain store and market early Russian potatoes," the study says.
Director of the research department of Roskachestvo Lyudmila Vikulova explained that cadmium could get into potatoes if it grew in an ecologically unfavorable place - for example, not far from oil refineries or metallurgical plants. "A single use of such potatoes will not harm health, but if you eat them every day, the consequences will be dire, since cadmium is the most carcinogenic element that can accumulate in the body," she added.
Roskachestvo checked the potatoes for external defects. In most of the early potato samples, the presence of clods of soil was revealed, which should not be according to GOST, and germination and green spots on the skin were noted on last year's tubers.
"Diseases of the studied potatoes also could not be avoided - they affected almost all tubers," the message says. So, the experts found late blight, common and silvery scab, rhizoctonia, phomosis, wet and dry rot.
“For vegetables, this is certainly a minus, but do not be afraid - these diseases are not dangerous for human health, but when choosing potatoes in a store, it is better to leave suspicious tubers on the counter. Visual flaws on the tubers, such as brown-black bloom, dense spots under the skin of an indefinite shape, dark pulp, will tell about potato disease, ”says Roskachestvo.
The autonomous non-profit organization "Russian Quality System" (Roskachestvo) was established by order of the government of the Russian Federation in 2015 to conduct independent research on the quality of goods presented on the shelves of Russian stores, and to educate Russians in the choice of quality goods and services. Roskachestvo awards the best goods with the Russian "Quality Mark".