What is cadmium in Peruvian avocado?

The industry is in danger. The latest news in Peru has reported on what is happening with the agro-export of Peruvian avocado, one of the inputs that generate income to the country and a large percentage of Peruvian families that are engaged in their planting. The first official reports indicate that the health authorities in the Netherlands have withdrawn a batch of the fruit from the market because it contains levels of cadmium over and above what is allowed by the European Union.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) was the official institution to give the alert through a notification published on 21 March. According to this report, the warning has been classified as serious because Peruvian avocados contained cadmium at a rate of 0.054 mg/kg in ppm (milligram/kilogram in part per million). But why isn't it the right one? The authority indicates that the maximum allowable level is 0.05 mg/kg in ppm, as set out in the Annex to European Commission Regulation 488/2014, on the presence of cadmium, heavy metal in food.

WHAT IS CADMIUM?

Its general definition holds that it is a metal from the group of transition elements, silvery-white, malleable, tin-like, highly toxic, obtained almost exclusively as a by-product in the refining of zinc ores. It is used in alloys for the manufacture of fire extinguishers, fire alarms and fuses, in welding, etc.

Among the clinical manifestations of cadmium ingestion are symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and headache. “In many cases there is severe diarrhea with collapse. These symptoms appear when water or food containing cadmium is ingested in concentrations of around 15 ppm. Acute poisoning can be caused by ingestion of high concentrations of cadmium and even leads to shock”, data expressed by the Institute of Social Security and Social Services of Workers of the State of Mexico.

HOW DID CADMIUM GET TO AVOCADOS?

Luis Gomero, engineer and president of the Peruvian Agroecological Consortium (CAP), explained on a daily basis La República that there are up to four sources of heavy metal contamination, which should be immediately traced by the National Agricultural Health Service (Senasa) of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri).

“... One, it may be because of plantations that have been in the mining environment; another, because the soil has been loaded and the plants are taking it; another, that they are making massive applications of pesticides. Finally, an unlikely option is for fertilizers containing cadmium, but that usually happens under tropical conditions with the use of phosphate rock.”

The professional also stated that the correct procedure is that those who have detected the case in the Netherlands must communicate the place of origin of the avocados in order to be able to take immediate action that does not cause difficulties in the agro-export of this food.

AVOCADO EXPORT

Shipments of avocado abroad, accumulated until August 2021, recorded a value of US $1,149.7 million, 59.8% more compared to the same period of the previous year (US $719.4 million). In August 2021 alone, it was worth US $267.2 million, while in the same period in 2020 it was obtained US $105.9 million, which represented a growth of 152.4%.

During the months of January to August 2021, avocado exports went to 38 countries; the Netherlands is presented as the main destination, with shipments of US$ 385.6 million, with a share of 33.5%; followed by the United States, with US $211.4 million (18.4%) and Spain with US $182.9 million (15.9%); these three countries comprise more than 67 per cent of the total exports, according to the report of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation.