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- Impassable bowl: large batches of tea with pesticides have been identified in the Russian Federation
Impassable bowl: large batches of tea with pesticides have been identified in the Russian Federation
Since the beginning of the year, more than 111 tons of tea with pesticides have been identified in Russia. Inspections by Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor revealed violations in such brands as Tess, Greenfield, Russian Tea Company, Zolotaya Chasha, Beseda and others. According to Rospotrebnadzor alone, more than 57,000 food samples were examined for pesticides, of which 0.01% did not meet the established requirements. But the public figures considered the volume of violations significant and appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office, the government and the Ministry of Agriculture with a request to hold the companies accountable. Experts confirm that exceeding the permissible level of pesticides in products negatively affects health, and many of these substances are not registered in Russia.
Which tea was found to contain pesticides
In Russia, over 111 tons of tea with pesticides were detected in eight months of 2025. This follows from the data from the Unified Register of Inspections conducted by Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor. Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI), appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Agriculture to bring violators to justice. Izvestia reviewed the documents.
We are talking about seven major manufacturers, such as Universal Food Technologies, Orimi, RCHK-Trading, United Tea Company, Shennong, Symphony, and Ryazan Tea Factory. These companies produce products under the brands Tess, Greenfield, Kioko, Golden Bowl, Conversation, Eastford, Three Friendly Elephants, Cities of Russia, Extraordinary, TeaTale and others.
Pesticides are pesticides used to kill or suppress harmful organisms that can cause damage to agricultural crops. More than 3.5 million tons of them are used annually in the world. This concept includes: herbicides — destroy weeds; insecticides — insect pests; fungicides - pathogenic fungi; zoozides — harmful warm—blooded animals. Depending on the degree of danger and dose, pesticides can be harmful to human health.
Rospotrebnadzor told Izvestia that in the first half of 2025, more than 57 thousand food samples for pesticides were examined in the department's laboratories, of which 0.01% did not meet the established requirements.
— Administrative measures have been taken in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation for all violations identified against business entities, and instructions have been issued to eliminate the violations identified. All products that do not meet the established requirements have been withdrawn from circulation," the press service of the department explained.
Despite the fact that this amount is a minimal proportion of the total volume, public figures have drawn attention to the negative impact of chemicals on human health.
In his letter, Oleg Pavlov emphasized that "pesticides negatively affect the nervous system, lead to impaired coordination of movements, memory and concentration, and can also provoke allergies." Moreover, some of them are recognized as potential carcinogens, their use increases the risk of developing cancer. High doses of pesticides can cause acute poisoning with headache, nausea, vomiting, seizures and loss of consciousness, he added.
In this regard, he asks the Prosecutor General's Office to bring the perpetrators to justice. And also to oblige businesses to carry out work on the registration of foreign chemicals that were used in tea-producing countries.
— A high level of detection of violations indicates an increase in the effectiveness of control (supervisory) bodies and, at the same time, the insufficiency of their powers to curb violations and bring violators to justice. In our opinion, such dynamics indicates systemic violations in the activities of manufacturers and importers of products and requires urgent measures," Oleg Pavlov explained to Izvestia.
During the inspections of Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor, more than 20 substances were found in tea, including acetamiprid, bifentrin, dinotefuran, diphenoconazole, carbendazim, lambda-cyhalothrin.
Some of them can be particularly harmful to human health. Thus, acetamiprid has a neurotoxic effect on health, especially on the brain (the development of neurons and structures responsible for memory and memory). The European Food Safety Agency came to this conclusion back in 2013. According to the World Health Organization, carbendazim is toxic to the liver, affects the reproductive system and is considered a potentially carcinogenic compound. Lambda cyhalothrine is not considered toxic to humans, however, direct exposure to the chemical can lead to mild symptoms such as skin irritation, headaches, or dizziness.
Izvestia sent requests to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Rosselkhoznadzor with a request to comment on the situation with the discovery of chemicals. The editorial board also addressed questions to tea producers.
The tea industry has been asking the government and Rospotrebnadzor for several years about the need to harmonize the Russian regulatory framework with international standards for pesticide control, Ramaz Chanturia, general director of the Russian Tea and Coffee Producers Association, told Izvestia.
— For example, in a letter from the association addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova dated 05/23/2024, the tea industry expresses extreme concern about the relevance of the standards in force in the Russian Federation on the residual content of pesticides in tea. This problem is known both in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rosselkhoznadzor, where they are professionally and carefully oriented in this area and are trying to resolve this situation as soon as possible," the business representative explained.
According to him, in April of this year, the Department of Crop Production, Mechanization, Chemicalization and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture informed the association "Roscaikofe" about Tatyana Golikova's order received by Rospotrebnadzor to work with Rosselkhoznadzor to revise the current standards for the maximum permissible levels of active substances of pesticides.
— The pesticides standardized in Russia have actually not been used in the world for many years, and those used by all the leading tea-producing countries (India, China, Sri Lanka) in Russia are simply not standardized. And it is precisely this discrepancy that makes the topic of pesticides unnecessarily scandalous. Therefore, in fact, there is no increase in violations, there is an increase in the number of inspections, which, we hope, will allow us to gather the necessary base for a long—overdue reform in pesticide control," Ramaz Chanturia emphasized.
Tea companies, as before, are fully prepared to provide the relevant departments with the necessary expert support, he added.
How pesticides affect the human body
— The presence of pesticides and insecticides in food can lead to negative consequences. It can be from acute poisoning, allergic reactions, chronic abnormalities from the functions of body systems — tremor, convulsions, ending with death. In addition, their regular use can lead to pathology of the liver, kidneys, and nervous system, as they directly affect the production of neurotransmitters in the brain and not only that," Larisa Gabdulkhakova, a nutritionist and nutritionist, explained to Izvestia.
According to her, even with minor but prolonged exposure to the body, there will be a negative effect.
— The use of pesticides and herbicides, even in tea, can cause certain harm to health, but there is a question of the dose and degree of harmfulness of a substance. If the dose is insignificant, it will pass without consequences, but if significant, they can be very different," Sergei Leonov, head of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, explained to Izvestia.
He considers it positive that such products are being identified and not allowed to be sold in Russia, and this applies not only to tea, but also to other agricultural products. The MP also noted that the interest of businesses that use these chemicals is understandable and lies in increasing yields and, consequently, profits. At the same time, Sergey Leonov added that pesticides are widely used in agriculture, so their use by manufacturers is inevitable, the only question is a competent system of protection against their overabundance.
According to former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Leonid Kholod, any supplier knows the requirements of the state for the goods he wants to sell, both in terms of safety and quality.
— Russia has quite strict requirements for pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. Tea, like any agricultural product, cannot be grown without them, but the fact is that when you go to a certain market, you know its requirements in advance and adjust to it," the expert noted.
According to him, in this case, either low—quality pesticides with excess chemical substances were used in the production of the discovered tea, or these were inexperienced suppliers.
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