Baby food

Agronomy
With the increasing demand for visibility in the supply chain an solid tracking and tracing system is crucial. SVZ is not just able to trace back to the farm, but we also take a close look at what these farmers have been using of fertilizers and pesticides. For the conventional products we do this to control the farmers complying with the EU legislations. For the baby food raw materials our agronomists take this control to another level. SVZ’s agronomic department monitors the majority of cultivations and co-operates with an increasing number of growers who record in logbooks all relevant treatments. This allows the agronomists to have an extensive knowledge and experience of cultivation treatments, the use of pesticides and the possible level of residues. SVZ’s agronomical requirements are often based on EU regulations. But increasingly it is based on specific demands from customers, or national legislations of the countries where the customers operate.

The routes our agronomist follow depends of the origin of the fruit, the cultivation method and the final product application.

Selected growers
SVZ is increasingly working with selected growers who cultivate according to SVZ’s Agronomical Instructions. These Agronomical Instructions pre-scribe the use of pesticides for each fruit and vegetable. According to the EU Directive EC/2003/14 no pesticide may show a residue above 10 ppb (0.01 mg/kg). For some pesticides even lower Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) are set and some pesticides are forbidden to use at all.

Positive list
SVZ’s instructions contain a positive list of pesticides that the growers are allowed to use during cultivation. SVZ tries to set it up in such a way that it gives sufficient alternatives for traditional used pesticides. The growers are not allowed to use pesticides that are not mentioned on the positive list. For this local agronomists of SVZ regularly visit the selected growers and check their logbook registrations in which the growers have to mention all relevant cultivation treatments.

Pesticide Monitoring System
Besides the intensive study on the cultivation techniques of the growers, SVZ also checks several other raw materials and processed ingredients for residues of pesticides with the yearly updated Pesticide Monitoring System. The analytical tests are based on all pesticides that have been used and pesticides that could possibly have been used. There is a plan for sampling and a sanction policy is in place for growers who violated the Agronomical Instructions.