Research

Numerous study's have been conducted on the damaging effect of pesticides that we used to use on our products. Own research has shown no significant risk whatsoever of attracting illnesses. Here you can read all the research material and make up your own mind.

To be absolutely clear, the pesticide ACT is NO longer used on EAGA apples. It has been banned, even though no substantial evidence has been found to support a claim of the pesticide being dangerous. The EAGA felt that the consumer has the right to 100% safe apples, and have therefore decided to illiminate the useage of ACT.

2002 - Leiden University study:

"ACT and its residue, ACT-S, could cause cancer in animals"
As a result many EAGA apple growers stopped using ACT.

 

2004 - Research by ERDC, European Resources Defence Council, a self-designated public interest group.
We (the EAGA) would like to stress the fact that the ERDC research has not been scientifically proven.

The ERDC report highlighted the risk to children, who, because of their size and tendency to eat more fresh fruit than adults, seemed more at risk: “Children consume so many apples for their size”, the ERDC spokesperson said, on 1 and  2 February,  “the legal European standard is unsafe.”

 

2004 - Study by the Italian Ministry of Health.

"pesticide residues only one-thirtieth of safety levels and commented that a child would have to eat 250 000 apples a day for ACT residues to impose a threat to health."

 

2004 - British Health Officials.

“no risk to consumers”, an infant would have to consume 150 times a normal amount to reach even a “no effect” level of ACT.

 

2005 - French Consumers Union

“Apples treated with ACT are not necessarily unsafe to eat, since ACT itself has not been confirmed to cause cancer”. “ACT should be banned”.  The chief editor states that this is not a contradiction as ACT itself probably is not a carcinogen, but its breakdown product, ACT-S, probably is.  ACT-S appears when juice from ACT-treated apples is cooked to produce the concentrate from which juice is made.

 

2005 - Department of Chemistry, Harvard University

"danger is minute". Even if a larger presence of ACT is found in the body there is a minimal prospect of a fatal reaction. Advice is to phase out the chemical nevertheless.

 

2006 - Findings of EAGA's most recent study conducted on ACT:

The results obtained suggest that ACT is not a risk but a possible benefit to the health and preservation of organisms. Secondly, the results show that the by-product of ACT, ACT-S, is potentially dangerous but holds no statistical risk to consumers.

For a complete report on the research, please click here.