Climate change and food safety

Impact of climate change on food safety from FAO

"It is likely that some of the first detectable changes of global
climate change on food safety will be seen as longer summertime peaks of foodborne disease
and/or increased geographic range"

Organic and food safety - II

According to an organic newsletter from Biofach

Conventionally grown food in Europe is still heavily contaminated with
pesticide residues. Of the 17,039 samples from monitoring programmes and
official food safety measures in Germany in 2007, only 39 % were not
contaminated. 57 % of all samples were contaminated up to the
permissible limit. 4.5 % of products from Germany, 5 % from other EU
member states and 9.5 % of fruit and vegetable samples from non-EU
countries were above the legally permitted limit. Right at the top of
the list in the “National Report on Pesticide Residues 2007” is paprika
powder, of which up to 80 % is contaminated with a cocktail of as many
as 30 different chemical residues.
Organic food contained pesticide residues much less frequently and in
smaller amounts than conventionally grown food, but as many as 0.9 % of
these products were also contaminated above the legal limits.

Organic and food safety

Having an organic certification tells consumers that the food product has no pesticides used on it. Consumers also tend to think this means the food is safer. A recent food safety scandal (reported by the NY Times) of a Georgia organic peanut butter company highlights that this may not necessarily be the case.