Poison in your ‘chai’? Tea Board, producers slam Greenpeace findings

In response to a report by well-known global activist group Greenpeace alleging high level of pesticides used in Indian tea, the Tea Board of India on Tuesday released a statement saying it had reviewed the findings of the report and found them baseless.

The Tea Board asserted that all the samples tested comply with Indian laws and regulations which are designed to protect consumers. The board said that Indian teas are safe and follow stringent standards.

Greenpeace India on Monday released its report 'Trouble Brewing' on the level of pesticides in the tea sold by leading brands in India.

The Greenpeace report says that branded Indian tea, on which the study focussed, contained chemicals deemed from moderately to highly hazardous by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO).

The companies concerned include Hindustan Unilever, Tata Global Beverages, Wagh Bakri Tea, Goodricke Tea, Twinings, Golden Tips, Kho-Cha and Girnar.

The Tea Board cited specific steps taken to make tea cultivation more sustainable and reducing reliance on pesticides. One such step is Trustea, an initiative which will have certified at least 50 million kilograms of tea by December 2014. The programme is funded by Hindustan Unilever Limited and IDH–The Sustainable Trade Initiative.

The board also said that its Plan Protection Code aids best practice in tea cultivation.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd, one of the companies named in the report, said, "We have internal HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) processes for all our factories. Samples of raw materials and finished products are regularly sent to third-party testing laboratories. Our data does not show the presence of any unapproved chemicals and we fully comply with the Indian foods regulations as stipulated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)."

The company is looking to phase out and eliminate the use of the pesticides in tea cultivation altogether in collaboration with its suppliers by 2020. "HUL aims to source 100 per cent of its tea from sustainable sources", a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Tata Global Beverages said the company ''stands by the statement issued by Tea Board of India."

According to Greenpeace India, between the period of June 2013 and May 2014 it tested 49 brands of packaged tea sold in India. The brands were chosen from eight of the top 11 companies that dominate the tea market in the country.

These brands are also exported to countries such as the US, the UK and Russia.

Greenpeace found a mix of several pesticides in the packaged tea.

Of the 46 samples, residues of at least one pesticide was found in 34 (94 per cent) of the samples. Another 29 (59 per cent) of the samples contained 'cocktails' of more than 10 different pesticides.

Also, 29 (59 per cent) of the samples also contained residues of at least one pesticide active ingredient above the Maximum Residue Levels set by the European Union (EU); while 18 (37 per cent) of the tea samples exceeding these levels by more than 50 per cent.

The long-banned pesticide DDT was present in 67 per cent of the tea samples. Monocrotophos, classified as highly hazardous by WHO, was found in 27 samples. This pesticide is not approved for use on tea. Tebufenpyrad was found in one sample manufactured by Hindustan Unilever. This pesticide is not registered in India, making its use illegal. In high concentrations it is said to be toxic for the liver.