Switzerland: high levels of ethephon found in import tomatoes

Zurich based Chemist, Rolf Etter, discovered last year that the growth hormone, ethephon, can be found on tomatoes sold in Switzerland. He launched a series of tests on 141 samples (from both Swiss and foreign farms) and found that 64 of the tomatoes tested (of which 62 come from Switzerland) contained the hormone.

Ethephon is a ripening agent that is authorised in Switzerland with a limit of 1mg/kilo. In a quarter of the samples this limit was passed, in some cases it was twelve times over the limit.

''One would have to eat a great deal of tomatoes for it to have an effect on one's health. There is no reason to panic'' reassures Rolf Etter. In high doses, ethephon can cause diarrhoea, skin irritations, mucous membranes and the urge to urinate frequently. At the worst, this hormone could act as a neurotoxin.

Many harvests have been destroyed and producers have been warned of the problem. Authorities in other regions of Switzerland have also been warned.

In a press release, the UMS (Swiss Vegetable Growers Union) and SWISSCOFEL (Swiss Association for the Commerce of Fruit, Vegetables and Potatoes) underlined that tomatoes currently being sold do not contain ethephon as regulations only allow it to be used on end of season production, i.e. from the 20th September until about October (the tests took place over this period).

The UMS and SWISSCOFEL say they are aware of the problem and are researching, alongside the Federal Office of Agriculture, a substitute. One idea would be to use ethylene, a natural product that is used to ripen bananas.