Rastreabilidade e controle sanitário na cadeia produtiva de alimentos de origem vegetal: um estudo do Programa de Análise de Resíduos de Agrotóxicos em Alimentos do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the conditions of monitoring, traceability and sanitary control regarding the results of vegetable foods analysis reports collected by the Program for the Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Food in the State of Minas Gerais (PARA-MG). Therefore, the research was organized in three chapters: (1) Evaluation and monitoring of pesticide residues contamination levels in plant origin food sold in the state of Minas Gerais; (2) Technologies for traceability, safety and control of pesticide residues in the food production chain of plant origin and; (3) Analysis of the factors involved in sanitary control and food traceability in Minas Gerais. The methodology consisted of documentary and descriptive examination of the analysis reports from PARA-MG; integrative review of the literature on traceability, safety and control technologies for vegetable foods and interviews with municipal sanitary inspectors and food quality managers from retail chains participating in PARA-MG. All procedures for conducting the research were previously approved by the Research Ethics Committee (COEP) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG (Opinion nº. 3.508.440). 602 food samples were analyzed, of which 62.3% had pesticide residues and resulted in 22.6% of unsatisfactory reports. Among the unsatisfactory results, 86.8% had pesticide residues not authorized for the crop and 13.2% contained pesticides above the maximum limit allowed by legislation. Despite the obligation of traceability in the country and the existence of modern information technologies, there are still operational and technical difficulties that hinder its implementation. According to the quality managers, 88.9% of the retail chains do not include traceability information on foods and 62.2% of the commercialized foods do not carry all the mandatory traceability information. Most interviewees are unaware of the program analysis results and consider that the lack of traceability information on food negatively interferes with control actions on pesticide residues. It is concluded that the contamination by pesticide residues threatens the safety and quality of food sold in Minas Gerais and that the lack of information on food traceability is associated with the lack of knowledge of the results of the PARA-MG analysis by municipal health surveillance agents and those responsible for quality control, hindering the sanitary control of pesticide residues in food in the state.