Dried fruit to be tested following chemical finding

Food safety officials say an annual survey of imported foods has shown excessive levels of lead in five dried plum products.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) said it is carrying out a wider survey of heavy metals in dried fruit, in the wake of tests which showed the high lead levels.

New Zealand food rules allow for 0.1mg of lead in 1kg of fresh fruit - the equivalent of 0.1 parts per million.

NZFSA official found that even if they allowed for 0.35mg in dried fruit - accounting for the shrinkage in drying the fruit - five imported products exceeded the threshold, with the range between 0.023mg/kg-1.3mg/kg. A total of 13 samples were tested.

The authority said it had contacted importers of the products directly. "It is possible that the drying process for these products concentrated the levels of lead," it said.

Additional testing of the fruit with excessive levels to determine if the level of lead was concentrated in the flesh or the skin of the plums was inconclusive.

Even the higher lead levels were not considered a public health concern "and therefore no compliance action was taken", the authority said.

It noted that in October 2009 last year, state health official in Texas also identified high levels of lead in dried plum products, ranging up to 30.3mg/kg.

Though details of the offending imports in New Zealand were not released, most of those picked up in the United States were typically sold as salted or candied treats, and officials there said the dried plums came from Asia.

Green Party Food spokeswoman Sue Kedgley today criticised the NZFSA for not taking action against the importers of dried plums with excessive lead levels.

"The NZFSA appears more concerned with safeguarding trade relationships than consumer safety," she said.

"Finding that almost 40 percent of dried plums are contaminated shows that we need to be testing more often and imposing fines and removing import licences."

- NZPA