Topic SA, an acronym for Testing of Products Initiated by Consumers South Africa came with the results of its eighth investigation and spoke on the veracity of label claims on World Environment Health Day.
Topic, which is funded by consumers and specialist retailers, conducts laboratory testing, farm and factory visits and other means to verify the accuracy of ingredient and label claims.
In a statement, the group said it had concluded its latest probe to verify that Woolworth’s organic vegetables were truly organic and pesticide-free, and found the retailer wanting.
“Since 2015, consumers have nominated numerous Woolworth’s organic vegetables such as courgettes, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and spinach, and have queried whether the produce is pesticide-free, irradiated, chlorine-washed or sprayed with the herbicide Glyphosate. The most nominated concern was whether the produce was pesticide-free, so we focused on this label claim,” it said.
According to iol.co.za, the two products sent for testing - voted for by consumers on their Facebook page - were Woolies organic baby spinach and sweet potatoes, labelled with the BCS Öko-Garantie logo, a global organic certifier.