Lead arsenate residues on export apples and pears

Growers, packers and exporters of fruit are reminded of the serious view taken by t h e various Health Authorities in the United Kingdom of lead arsenate spray residues on apples and pears. The Ministry of Food, Food Standards Committee, has recently reviewed the position and has recommended that all local Health Authorities uniformly enforce limits of 1.4 parts per million of arsenic trioxide and 2.0 parts per million of lead on apples and pears. It is therefore necessary that growers apply lead arsenate sprays at the minimum effective concentration and wherever possible use alternative sprays. In this respect later sprays are more likely to leave residues than early sprays and in particular lead arsenate should not be applied close to the picking dat