The Centre for Food Safety has found excessive pesticide residues in a sample of white string pods from Smithfield Market in Kennedy Town and a sample of green string pods from a vegetable stall in Yau Ma Tei.
The white string pod sample was found to contain Carbofuran and Chlorpyrifos at levels of 1.4 ppm and 0.032 ppm, 14 and three times the legal limit, while the green string pod was found to contain Carbofuran at a level of 4.4 ppm, 44 times the legal limit.
The centre is still tracing the source of the vegetables.
According to Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation, the maximum residue limits for Carbofuran and Chlorpyrifos for string beans are 0.1 ppm and 0.01 ppm.
The centre said the detected level of the white pod residues would not pose adverse health effects if the beans were consumed in normal amounts. However, adverse health effects cannot be ruled out for the green pods.
