Another reason to buy local — an investigation by Baptist University found that eight out of 117 vegetable samples from the wet market contains metals way over international safety standards.
One broccoli sample was found to have copper levels 15.6 times over international limits, and lead levels that double international limits. Long-term consumption of such vegetables can affect children’s nervous system. Heavy soil contamination in China means that farmers grow crops that even they don’t dare to eat themselves. Since almost all of our food comes from China, there might be no way to avoid them — experts recommend that vegetables should be washed one to two times, and soaked for 15 to 30 minutes before consuming to lessen the harm. Eating a diverse diet will also help.
Source: HKET
Photo: Luica Mak, Flickr
