Bananas are healthy, keep you full for a long time, and contain many vitamins. But the seals on the fruit are misleading – according to Oko-Test, questionable residues of pesticides were found in some samples. EAT SMARTER shows you how the bananas cut off and what you should look out for when buying.
Oko-Test examined various bananas for around 600 different pesticides. Since the yellow fruit is considered a “pesticide champion”. Planes fly over the plantations several times a week, spraying pesticides and chemicals.
Not only the bananas absorb these toxins, but also the soil, water, and workers. Unfortunately, the simple workers on the plantations do not have appropriate protective clothing. These poor working conditions make many of the workers ill. This was confirmed by a study by the Vienna Doctors’ Initiative.
The interviewed plantation workers often suffer from dizziness, vomiting, burning eyes, skin irritation, severe fatigue, and insomnia. Organic plantation workers have these symptoms much less frequently. And in further DNA tests, the doctors found evidence of an increased risk of cancer among plantation workers.
Oko-Test only recommends organic bananas
According to the Öko-Test, the supermarket bananas are real “chemical clubs”. 22 different bananas were examined in the test. Only the organic bananas scored “Good” or “Very Good”. All bananas without the organic seal failed completely or received a bad rating. The results at a glance:
- The BananaFair bananas certified by Naturland did particularly well: They are pesticide-free and Fairtrade certified.
- Organic bananas from Lidl and Netto as well as from Edeka and Denn’s supermarket also received a “very good”.
- The organic bananas from Kaufland and Aldisüd were also rated well but received a deduction for being wrapped in plastic.
These bananas failed the eco-test
- Chiquita bananas were rated “Poor” because they are heavily contaminated with pesticides and workers work in poor conditions
- Bananas without the organic seal at Netto, Rewe, Penny, and Kaufland also received a poor rating due to high levels of pesticides
So which bananas can you buy?
When buying bananas, rely on the organic seal – and ideally also on the fair trade seal.
Oko-Test classified the Rainforest Alliance label as insufficient because it neither guaranteed workers a minimum price nor did all toxic pesticides appear on the organization’s banned list. The test also detected pesticides in some bananas with the Rainforest Alliance seal. Stiftung Warentest has also criticized this seal for not being very meaningful.
If you still buy conventional bananas, be sure to wash your hands after peeling. Children should only be given the fruit peeled.
