Sugar Beet: Neonicotinoids

(asked on 11th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the process of approving the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for sugar beet seed included assessments of the (1) general human health, (2) obesity, and (3) dietary, impacts of the crop on which they were proposed to be used; and, if so, what were the conclusions of these assessments.


This question was answered on 25th January 2021

The process for considering emergency authorisation for a pesticide is derived from the legislation. This process was followed for the application to use the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021. This included an assessment of the risks to people and to the environment that may result from use of the product. This assessment, which considers risks to people from pesticide residues associated with eating treated crops, did not identify any concerns about risks to human health. The assessment did not extend to consideration of the impacts of the crop, for example on obesity.

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