Pesticide found in Chinese peppers

Following the shocking discovery of crabs and puffers weighted with lead pellets and tarred sesame seeds, yet another hazardous substance has been found in farm pesticides, dicofol. It was found in dried red chili peppers from China.

According to the Gyeongin Regional Food and Drug Administration, the president of Hanyoung Food in Madu-dong, located in the Ilsan area, made a request May 20 for an inspection of 10,000 kilograms of dried red chili pepper worth about 21 million won. The tests detected a dicofol level of 1.629 milligrams per kilogram, higher than the 1.0 mg/kg allowed. The discovery led to the destruction of the chili peppers.

The colorless dicofol, which is an organochlorine acraricide, has been known to be highly toxic for birds, mammals and insects. The discovery has prompted the FDA in Gyeonggi to initiate safety inspections and tests through random sampling at the Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal clearing terminal for all Chinese agricultural products carried in by packmen.

The Gyeongin FDA on Wednesday has appointed a team of inspectors for the confiscation and mandatory testing of agricultural products. For those product samples failing safety tests, the Incheon port customs authority will be notified and requested to permanently confiscate the product in custody.