Researchers Warn Over 'organic' Produce

Researchers at Baptist University have warned that some so-called organic vegetables from wet market stalls might not be as healthy as you think.

The university's Organic Resource Centre said on Sunday that it recently checked samples of dozens of locally and mainland grown vegetable from Hong Kong wet markets, and found some fell short.

It said that over 50 percent of the produce either certified or claiming to be organic had pesticides exceeding European safety standards.

It also found that three wet market stalls' organic certificates had expired and a fourth only displayed a photocopy.

The centre's director, Jonathan Wong, urged the government to regulate the certification of organic food.

"I can put a label 'organic' on my vegetable (and) I can sell it," Wong said, adding that the Customs and Excise Department could not prosecute because they couldn't prove that it wasn't organic.

He told RTHK's Iris Yeung that a certification labelling law is needed to solve the problem.