Corn salad: healthy - or even harmful?
He is one of the few fresh vegetables in winter: lamb's lettuce. And with its nutty taste it is a welcome change in the leafy lettuce monotony. He is also healthy, at least as far as its ingredients are concerned: It is full of vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium and iron.
The cultivation uses many pesticides
However, the cultivation of field salad uses a lot of pesticides. Since the small plantlets are close to each other, fungi and insects can easily nest in and destroy the crop.
The limits were last raised
Already in 2008, the examiners of the? Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety? in lettuce pesticide residues that exceeded the legal limits. Since then have been loud? Eco-test? screwed up the permitted maximum amounts.
In the case of the fungicide iprodione the allowable amount was even doubled. The remedy is classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "probably carcinogenic" to humans. Incidentally, it is the manufacturers themselves who apply for maximum residue levels to the authorities.
33 lamb's lettuce were tested for pesticide residues
The magazine's testers bought 33 samples of salads from classic supermarkets for their January issue and tested them in the laboratory for more than 600 pesticides. Among them were salads from Aldi, Rewe, Edeka, Lidl and the organic chains Alnatura and Denn? S.
Although no salad has exceeded the permitted pesticide limits. Nevertheless, some classified as harmful substances were found - repeatedly Iprodion and much nitrate. ? Lettuce is classified as a comparatively heavily contaminated vegetable? summed up the testers.
The safest lamb's lettuce's at Denn's
The? Amico organic corn salad? by Demeter, by the bio chain? Because? s? is the only salad that is very good with the note? has cut off. Of this cost 150 grams, however, also 2.99 euros.
Only four salads get the grade? Good?
With? Good? Salads cut from the organic market Alnatura, but also from Aldi and Penny: the? Barduca organic lamb's lettuce? (3.74 Euro / 150 grams) from Alnatura, the "lamb's lettuce noble and fine? from Aldi Nord (0.95 Euro / 150 grams), a salad with the bulky name? Market fresh from Germany Corn salad from Lampertheim? (1.09 Euro / 150 grams) from Kaufland and the? Lamb's lettuce mild & aromatic? (0.99 Euro / 150 grams) from Penny.
Only? Satisfactory? received the salads from Aldi Süd, Edeka, Lidl, Netto, Real and Rewe. In them, traces of up to four, partly questionable pesticides were found. Nobody knows how "pesticide cocktails" affect the human body.
