Angry in the Great White North

From Africa, more damage inflicted on local economies importing substandard Chinese goods. Now it's Chinese fertilizer contaminated with heavy metals hurting South African pineapple growers:

High levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium have been found in South African pineapples after farmers unwittingly used fertiliser contaminated with the trace element. As a result, at least one shipment of canned pineapples from SA has been rejected in the European Union. The fertiliser, zinc sulphate, is used "across the board" by South African agriculture.

Angry pineapple farmers, who have suffered big losses, blame the department of agriculture for allowing the suppliers to import the contaminated fertiliser from China, and say officials should have checked that the heavy metals did not exceed the maximum allowed limit.

The pineapple growers are testing the pineapples before they enter the distribution channels:

Allen Duncan, chairperson of the Pineapple Association in East London, has assured consumers that they are not at risk from the cadmium, as none of the contaminated fruit will be sold locally or overseas. The association had been testing pineapples from all over the Eastern Cape since last year, and any which have elevated cadmium levels are rejected.

This is good news for consumers, but this bad Chinese fertilizer is hurting the famers:

Eastern Cape pineapple farmer Craig Handley is one of the worst positions of his career. Only about 30 percent of his pineapple crop can be sent for canning after he used the contaminated fertiliser. "Every field has got to be tested and if it is over the limit, we've got to leave it to rot," he said.

Handley, like other farmers, stopped using the contaminated zinc sulphate fertiliser as soon as the cadmium was detected. Zinc is used in almost all agriculture and animal feed. "Our canning factory has been very strict and won't take anything if there's a chance that it's over the limit," Handley said. He said representatives of the pineapple association had had to fly to Europe and Australia to explain the problem and ensure that South Africa did not lose any markets.

"Our field officers are running around to all the fields and picking one pineapple, sending it back to the lab for tests, and we have to sit and wait for the results. If it's okay, we pick for canning. "This chemical company [South Africa's Protea Chemicals] has nearly been the death knell of the pineapple industry," Handley said.

Pineapples loaded with heavy metals. Nice. Now are Canadian importers bringing East Cape pineapples into Canada, and are they testing for cadmium and other heavy metals?