Pesticide Testing on Lipton Tea
Greenpeace 2012
In February 2012, Greenpeace collected random samples of teabags made by the world’s
biggest tea brand – Lipton. Investigators randomly selected Lipton-branded green tea,
jasmine tea, Iron Buddha tea and black tea from two supermarkets in Beijing. These four
samples were sent to an accredited independent third-party laboratory to test for
pesticides. Test results showed that in total 17 different kinds of pesticides were found on
all four samples: samples of green tea, jasmine tea and Iron Buddha tea each contained at
least nine different kinds of pesticides. Also found on the samples were traces of seven
pesticides on Lipton-branded tea sold in China that have not been approved for use by the
EU, while several pesticides on all samples exceeded EU’s maximum residue limit
(MRL). Furthermore, traces of pesticides that have been banned by China for use on tea
plants and have been classified as highly toxic by the World Health Organization (WHO)
were found on the green tea, jasmine tea and Iron Buddha tea samples. Pesticides which
may affect fertility, harm the unborn baby or cause heritable genetic damage were found
in the above mentioned three samples as well.
Test Findings
1. Three of the samples contained at least nine pesticides each
In total, 17 different kinds of pesticides were detected on the four samples (see Table 1).
Of these, the green tea and Iron Buddha tea samples showed traces of 13 different
pesticides; the jasmine tea sample had nine kinds of pesticides; while the black tea
sample had one kind of pesticide.
2. Three of the samples contained pesticides that are banned for use on tea plants
and are highly toxic
This investigation discovered that Lipton-branded green tea, Iron Buddha tea and jasmine
tea all showed traces of methomyl, a pesticide that has been banned for use on tea plants
under “the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of the People's Republic of China Notice
1586”. WHO classifies methomyl as a highly toxic pesticide. It is an insecticide and can
damage the human nervous system.
Traces of dicofol, a pesticide banned for use on tea plants (MoA Notice 199) as far back
as 2002, were found on the Iron Buddha sample. Dicofol is an organochlorine pesticide,
which the EU classifies not only as harmful when swallowed, but also when it gets in
contact with skin 1.
Traces of endosulfan, a pesticide banned for use on tea plants by MoA Notice 1586, were
found on the green tea sample. In addition, traces of omethoate were also found on the
green tea sample, which is classified as highly toxic by the WHO2.
A comparison with EU pesticide legislations also reveals that the green tea, jasmine tea
and Iron Buddha tea samples contained a total of seven pesticides not approved by the
EU, including chlorfenapyr, omethoate and bifenthrin.
3. Three of the samples showed pesticides that may affect fertility, harm the unborn
baby or cause heritable genetic damage
Carbendazim and benomyl were found on the green tea, Iron Buddha tea and jasmine tea
samples. The European Union (EU) classifies carbendazim and benomyl 3 as being
capable of affecting fertility, harming the unborn baby, and causing heritable genetic
damage. Endosulfan (found on the green tea sample) and dicofol (found on the Iron
Buddha tea sample) were confirmed by an EU study4 in 2011 as known antiandrogen,
while bifenthrin, found on three of the tea samples (green tea, Iron Buddaha tea and
1
http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.detail
World Health Organisation: “The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard and Guidelines to
Classification 2009.”
3 http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.detail
4 Orton et al. 2011, Widely Used Pesticideswith Previously Unknown Endocrine Activity Revealed as in Vitro
Antiandrogens, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol 119, number6, June 2011
2
jasmine tea), was suspected of interfering with male hormones and affecting male fertility
by the same study.
Conclusions
1. Large-scale use of pesticides is common in the tea industry
Test results from Greenpeace sampling on 10 well-known domestic and international tea
brands, including Lipton, have shown that heavy use of pesticides is a widespread
problem within the tea growing industry in China. On April 11, 2012, Greenpeace
published a report “Pesticides: Hidden Ingredients in Chinese Tea” which found that all
of the 18 samples tested from nine famous tea brands, including names such as Wuyutai,
Zhang Yiyuan and Tianfu’s Tea, contained serious levels of pesticides. Not only were
there a mixture of pesticides found but more than half of the samples showed traces of
methomyl, a highly toxic pesticide that is banned for use on tea plants in China.
Although a significant proportion of pesticides are removed during the production
process, the fact that all of the tea samples showed pesticide indicates that pesticide use in
the tea cultivation is very heavy. These famous tea brands have failed to adequately
supervise their product supply chains and in particular, they have been turning a blind eye
to the industry’s pesticide use and thus exposing their customers to the long-term health
threats of pesticides.
Lipton is the world’s biggest tea company, and it is also a very popular brand in China.
However, this sampling investigation by Greenpeace clearly indicates that there are flaws
in how Lipton oversees the use of pesticides by its tea suppliers: pesticide use is not only
large-scale but also includes highly toxic chemicals. This is seriously at odds with how
Lipton has taken great pains to publicize its image as a company that is actively
promoting the development of sustainable agriculture
2. The world’s Number One Tea Brand has Fallen Short of Expectations
Since multinational companies have a global development strategy they should also have
unified global strict product-quality standards and a product traceability and supply chain
control system. Many consumers have exactly this opinion and therefore they have higher
levels of trust towards multinational companies. However, this investigation detected
traces of seven pesticides on Lipton-branded tea sold in China that even have not been
approved for use by the EU. Moreover, each of the 4 samples contained at least one
pesticide level exceeding EU’s MRL (see annex II). These tea products from Lipton that
do not meet EU’s safety standard however are sold in China and are not likely sold in its
home market. This indicates that Lipton is ignoring the health and the rights of its huge
customer base in China, even to the extent that it has demonstrated unfair treatment
towards its Chinese customers.
In its “Corporate Responsibility Report”, Unilever (Holding company of Lipton brand)
said that Lipton was its “first foreign enterprise to enter China; it has a long-term
commitment to China, and it hopes to establish a sustainable business model in the
country.” On its official Chinese website, Lipton claims that it only uses insecticides that
have received formal state approval for use, and it pledges to only use “the minimum
amount of chemicals to achieve the required effect.”
However, Greenpeace’s
investigation has shown that Lipton is certainly not doing its utmost to protect the health
of tea farmers, or to improve food safety for its customers and to protect China’s
environment. Lipton has given tacit permission to its manufacturers and suppliers or been
complicit in the heavy use of a large number of different pesticides including highly toxic
chemicals. Lipton's inconsistent behavior - saying one thing and doing another - is not
only polluting China's valuable tea plantations and threatening the health of its customers,
but even more so it has betrayed the trust that its customers have placed in the Lipton
brand.
Greenpeace Demands
The heavy use of pesticides has already greatly undermined the safety of tea products and
led to an environmental pollution situation that cannot be ignored. As the world’s biggest
tea company, Lipton should employ its principles of sustainable agriculture to even
higher standards of practice, set an example to the entire tea industry, protect the health of
tea consumers and tea producers, and prevent the pollution of tea plantations.
Greenpeace strongly urges Lipton to act according to its promises, to have effective
“from the tea garden to the teapot” product-tracing and pesticide control systems, and to
immediately put in place the following measures to ensure the sustainable development
of the tea manufacturing industry and to protect China’s agricultural environment:
1. Ensure a drastic reduction in pesticide use and stop using highly toxic pesticides.
2. Establish a good supply chain traceability system to effectively control the tea
production process to ensure the above policy is carried out.
Annex I
No
Sample
Date of
purchase
Location of purchase
Place of
production
1
Lipton
Yellow
Label
Tea(50g)
Lipton
Green Tea
（200g）
Lipton
Jasmine
Tea
（200g）
Lipton Iron
Buddha Tea
（50g）
2012/03/13
Seven Eleven Store
Jiqingli Jiahui Center,
Beijing
2012/03/13
2
3
4
Price
RMB
Batch
number
Hefei, Anhui
Date of
production
y/m/d
2011/12/22
15.5
2011/12/22H2
01 19
Walmart Chaowai
Store, Beijing
Hefei, Anhui
2012/01/06
29.9
2012/01/06H2
22 19
2012/03/13
Walmart Chaowai
Store, Beijing
Hefei, Anhui
2011/12/13
41.8
2011/12/13H2
20 38
2012/03/13
Walmart Chaowai
Store, Beijing
Hefei, Anhui
2011/10/31
12.5
2011/10/31H2
22 48
Annex II
China
MRLi
(mg/kg)
EU MRLii
（mg/kg）
Tea
No. of
pesticides
Pesticides
Level
（mg/kg）
Lipton
Yellow
Label
Tea
Lipton
Green
Tea
1
2phenylpheno
l
0.14
0.1
13
Chlorfenapyr
0.14
50
Sum of
Endosulfan
0.01
Bifenthrin
0.05
5
2phenylpheno
l
0.46
0.1
Imidacloprid
0.08
0.05
Pyridaben
0.01
0.05
20
30
Banned
in China
Yes
Status
in EU
Not
approve
d
Not
approve
d
Not
approve
d
Harm
unborn
baby
Affect
(male
)
fertilit
y
Yes
Yes
May
cause
heritab
le
genetic
damag
e
Lipton
Jasmine
Tea
9
Acetamiprid
0.13
0.1
Buprofezin
0.08
Carbendazi
m (MBC)and
benomyl
0.04
0.1
Chlorpyrifos
0.03
0.1
Omethoate
0.04
0.05
Methomyl
0.04
Propargite
0.02
5
Bifenthrin
0.04
5
2phenylpheno
l
Imidacloprid
0.28
0.1
0.09
0.05
Pyridaben
0.01
0.05
10
3
0.05
0.1
Benom
yl not
approve
d
Yes
Yes
Not
approve
d
Yes
Not
approve
d
Not
approve
d
Yes
Yes
Lipton
Iron
Buddha
Tea
13
Acetamiprid
0.2
0.1
Buprofezin
0.05
Carbendazi
m (MBC)and
bennomyl
Chlorpyrifos
0.02
0.1
0.05
0.1
Methomyl
0.03
Dicofol
0.03
Cypermethri
n
0.04
Chlorfenapyr
0.1
50
Bifenthrin
0.11
5
2phenylpheno
l
Tridemorph
0.27
0.1
0.02
0.05
10
3
20
0.05
Yes
0.1
Yes
20
Yes
Not
approve
d
Yes
Yes
0.5
Not
approve
d
Not
approve
d
Not
approve
d
Yes
Yes
Imidacloprid
0.69
0.05
Acetamiprid
0.88
0.1
Buprofezin
0.04
Carbendazi
m (MBC)and
bennomyl
Chlorpyrifos
0.07
0.1
0.05
0.1
Methomyl
0.22
3
0.1
Difenoconaz
ole
0.15
10
0.05
10
0.05
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
According to GB 2763-2005 《Maximum Residue Level of Pesticide in Food》和 GB26130 -2010 《Maximum Residue Level of paraguat and other 54
Pesticides in Food》。
ii See EU Pesticide MRLs, http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.selection
i