Pesticide Testing on Lipton Tea

Greenpeace 2012

In February 2012, Greenpeace collected random samples of teabags made by the world’s

biggest tea brand – Lipton. Investigators randomly selected Lipton-branded green tea,

jasmine tea, Iron Buddha tea and black tea from two supermarkets in Beijing. These four

samples were sent to an accredited independent third-party laboratory to test for

pesticides. Test results showed that in total 17 different kinds of pesticides were found on

all four samples: samples of green tea, jasmine tea and Iron Buddha tea each contained at

least nine different kinds of pesticides. Also found on the samples were traces of seven

pesticides on Lipton-branded tea sold in China that have not been approved for use by the

EU, while several pesticides on all samples exceeded EU’s maximum residue limit

(MRL). Furthermore, traces of pesticides that have been banned by China for use on tea

plants and have been classified as highly toxic by the World Health Organization (WHO)

were found on the green tea, jasmine tea and Iron Buddha tea samples. Pesticides which

may affect fertility, harm the unborn baby or cause heritable genetic damage were found

in the above mentioned three samples as well.

Test Findings

1. Three of the samples contained at least nine pesticides each

In total, 17 different kinds of pesticides were detected on the four samples (see Table 1).

Of these, the green tea and Iron Buddha tea samples showed traces of 13 different

pesticides; the jasmine tea sample had nine kinds of pesticides; while the black tea

sample had one kind of pesticide.

2. Three of the samples contained pesticides that are banned for use on tea plants

and are highly toxic

This investigation discovered that Lipton-branded green tea, Iron Buddha tea and jasmine

tea all showed traces of methomyl, a pesticide that has been banned for use on tea plants

under “the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of the People's Republic of China Notice

1586”. WHO classifies methomyl as a highly toxic pesticide. It is an insecticide and can

damage the human nervous system.

Traces of dicofol, a pesticide banned for use on tea plants (MoA Notice 199) as far back

as 2002, were found on the Iron Buddha sample. Dicofol is an organochlorine pesticide,

which the EU classifies not only as harmful when swallowed, but also when it gets in

contact with skin 1.

Traces of endosulfan, a pesticide banned for use on tea plants by MoA Notice 1586, were

found on the green tea sample. In addition, traces of omethoate were also found on the

green tea sample, which is classified as highly toxic by the WHO2.

A comparison with EU pesticide legislations also reveals that the green tea, jasmine tea

and Iron Buddha tea samples contained a total of seven pesticides not approved by the

EU, including chlorfenapyr, omethoate and bifenthrin.

3. Three of the samples showed pesticides that may affect fertility, harm the unborn

baby or cause heritable genetic damage

Carbendazim and benomyl were found on the green tea, Iron Buddha tea and jasmine tea

samples. The European Union (EU) classifies carbendazim and benomyl3 as being

capable of affecting fertility, harming the unborn baby, and causing heritable genetic

damage. Endosulfan (found on the green tea sample) and dicofol (found on the Iron

Buddha tea sample) were confirmed by an EU study4 in 2011 as known antiandrogen,

while bifenthrin, found on three of the tea samples (green tea, Iron Buddaha tea and

jasmine tea), was suspected of interfering with male hormones and affecting male fertility 1 http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.detail2 World Health Organisation: “The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard and Guidelines to Classification 2009.”3 http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.detail4 Orton et al. 2011, Widely Used Pesticideswith Previously Unknown Endocrine Activity Revealed as in Vitro Antiandrogens, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol 119, number6, June 2011

by the same study.

Conclusions

1. Large-scale use of pesticides is common in the tea industry

Test results from Greenpeace sampling on 10 well-known domestic and international tea

brands, including Lipton, have shown that heavy use of pesticides is a widespread

problem within the tea growing industry in China. On April 11, 2012, Greenpeace

published a report “Pesticides: Hidden Ingredients in Chinese Tea” which found that all

of the 18 samples tested from nine famous tea brands, including names such as Wuyutai,

Zhang Yiyuan and Tianfu’s Tea, contained serious levels of pesticides. Not only were

there a mixture of pesticides found but more than half of the samples showed traces of

methomyl, a highly toxic pesticide that is banned for use on tea plants in China.

Although a significant proportion of pesticides are removed during the production

process, the fact that all of the tea samples showed pesticide indicates that pesticide use in

the tea cultivation is very heavy. These famous tea brands have failed to adequately

supervise their product supply chains and in particular, they have been turning a blind eye

to the industry’s pesticide use and thus exposing their customers to the long-term health

threats of pesticides.

Lipton is the world’s biggest tea company, and it is also a very popular brand in China.

However, this sampling investigation by Greenpeace clearly indicates that there are flaws

in how Lipton oversees the use of pesticides by its tea suppliers: pesticide use is not only

large-scale but also includes highly toxic chemicals. This is seriously at odds with how

Lipton has taken great pains to publicize its image as a company that is actively

promoting the development of sustainable agriculture

2. The world’s Number One Tea Brand has Fallen Short of Expectations

Since multinational companies have a global development strategy they should also have

unified global strict product-quality standards and a product traceability and supply chain

control system. Many consumers have exactly this opinion and therefore they have higher

levels of trust towards multinational companies. However, this investigation detected

traces of seven pesticides on Lipton-branded tea sold in China that even have not been

approved for use by the EU. Moreover, each of the 4 samples contained at least one

pesticide level exceeding EU’s MRL (see annex II). These tea products from Lipton that

do not meet EU’s safety standard however are sold in China and are not likely sold in its

home market. This indicates that Lipton is ignoring the health and the rights of its huge

customer base in China, even to the extent that it has demonstrated unfair treatment

towards its Chinese customers.

In its “Corporate Responsibility Report”, Unilever (Holding company of Lipton brand)

said that Lipton was its “first foreign enterprise to enter China; it has a long-term

commitment to China, and it hopes to establish a sustainable business model in the

country.” On its official Chinese website, Lipton claims that it only uses insecticides that

have received formal state approval for use, and it pledges to only use “the minimum

amount of chemicals to achieve the required effect.” However, Greenpeace’s

investigation has shown that Lipton is certainly not doing its utmost to protect the health

of tea farmers, or to improve food safety for its customers and to protect China’s

environment. Lipton has given tacit permission to its manufacturers and suppliers or been

complicit in the heavy use of a large number of different pesticides including highly toxic

chemicals. Lipton's inconsistent behavior - saying one thing and doing another - is not

only polluting China's valuable tea plantations and threatening the health of its customers,

but even more so it has betrayed the trust that its customers have placed in the Lipton

brand.

Greenpeace Demands

The heavy use of pesticides has already greatly undermined the safety of tea products and

led to an environmental pollution situation that cannot be ignored. As the world’s biggest

tea company, Lipton should employ its principles of sustainable agriculture to even

higher standards of practice, set an example to the entire tea industry, protect the health of

tea consumers and tea producers, and prevent the pollution of tea plantations.

Greenpeace strongly urges Lipton to act according to its promises, to have effective

“from the tea garden to the teapot” product-tracing and pesticide control systems, and to

immediately put in place the following measures to ensure the sustainable development

of the tea manufacturing industry and to protect China’s agricultural environment:

1. Ensure a drastic reduction in pesticide use and stop using highly toxic pesticides.

2. Establish a good supply chain traceability system to effectively control the tea

production process to ensure the above policy is carried out.

Annex I

No Sample Date of purchase

Location of purchase Place of production

Date of production

y/m/d

PriceRMB

Batch number

1 Lipton Yellow Label

Tea(50g)

2012/03/13 Seven Eleven Store Jiqingli Jiahui Center,

Beijing

Hefei, Anhui 2011/12/22 15.5 2011/12/22H2 01 19

2 Lipton Green

Tea（200g）

2012/03/13 Walmart Chaowai Store, Beijing

Hefei, Anhui 2012/01/06 29.9 2012/01/06H2 22 19

3 Lipton Jasmine

Tea（200g）

2012/03/13 Walmart Chaowai Store, Beijing

Hefei, Anhui 2011/12/13 41.8 2011/12/13H2 20 38

4 Lipton Iron Buddha

Tea（50g）2012/03/13 Walmart Chaowai

Store, BeijingHefei, Anhui 2011/10/31 12.5 2011/10/31H2

22 48

Annex II

Tea No. of pesticides

Pesticides Level（mg/kg）

China MRLi

(mg/kg)

EU MRLii

（mg/kg） Banned in China

Status in EU

Harm unborn

baby

Affect (male

) fertilit

y

May cause heritab

le genetic damag

eLipton Yellow Label Tea

1 2-phenylpheno

l

0.14 0.1

Lipton Green Tea

13 Chlorfenapyr 0.14 50 Not approve

dSum of

Endosulfan0.01 20 30 Yes Not

approved

Yes

Bifenthrin 0.05 5 Not approve

d

Yes

2-phenylpheno

l

0.46 0.1

i According to GB 2763-2005 《Maximum Residue Level of Pesticide in Food》和 GB26130 -2010 《Maximum Residue Level of paraguat and other 54 Pesticides in Food》。ii See EU Pesticide MRLs, http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.selection

Imidacloprid 0.08 0.05

Pyridaben 0.01 0.05

Acetamiprid 0.13 0.1

Buprofezin 0.08 10 0.05

Carbendazim (MBC)and

benomyl

0.04 0.1 Benomyl not

approved

Yes Yes Yes

Chlorpyrifos 0.03 0.1

Omethoate 0.04 0.05 Not approve

dMethomyl 0.04 3 0.1 Yes

Propargite 0.02 5 Not approve

dLipton

Jasmine Tea

9 Bifenthrin 0.04 5 Not approve

d

Yes

2-phenylpheno

0.28 0.1

lImidacloprid 0.09 0.05

Pyridaben 0.01 0.05

Acetamiprid 0.2 0.1

Buprofezin 0.05 10 0.05

Carbendazim (MBC)and

bennomyl

0.02 0.1 Yes Yes Yes

Chlorpyrifos 0.05 0.1

Methomyl 0.03 3 0.1 Yes

Lipton Iron

Buddha Tea

13 Dicofol 0.03 20 Yes Not approve

d

Yes

Cypermethrin

0.04 20 0.5

Chlorfenapyr 0.1 50 Not approve

dBifenthrin 0.11 5 Not

approved

Yes

2-phenylpheno

0.27 0.1

lTridemorph 0.02 0.05 Not

approved

Imidacloprid 0.69 0.05

Acetamiprid 0.88 0.1

Buprofezin 0.04 10 0.05

Carbendazim (MBC)and

bennomyl

0.07 0.1 Yes Yes Yes

Chlorpyrifos 0.05 0.1

Methomyl 0.22 3 0.1 Yes

Difenoconazole

0.15 10 0.05