you shouldn't die because of bad beans

It is no more news that Europe has rejected exports of agrarian products from Nigeria(EU ban). The Europeans do not want to expose themselves to the risk we have been putting ourselves through here in Nigeria. We have subjected ourselves to acute poisoning through pesticide residues in our grains and agro allied products and the painful truth is, many of us are not even aware of this.

What is pesticide residue? Pesticide residue refers to the pesticides that may remain on or in food after they are applied to food crops. The levels of these residues in foods are often stipulated by regulatory bodies in many countries pesticide residue.   The Nigerian Standards also has these limits for different pesticides in food products but due to poor management of our food sector, this becomes difficult to control.

In other words, the average grain in the Nigerian market has pesticide beyond the limit allowed. Aside the pesticides used on the farm, many farmers apply dangerous chemicals to grains in the store in order to avoid weevils from invading their products. For example, the common practice is to use DD force, a pesticide that is highly poisonous with active ingredient as dichlorvos, to preserve beans and maize grains against weevils. 
The unfortunate part is that the dosage used inside the small stores are much more than the ones even recommended on the field itself. For example, the instruction is for one litre of the pesticide to one hectare of land but we see farmers using the one litre in a store not larger than 25ft by 12ft and spray the grains directly or in worst case scenarios, soak part of it in the pesticide solution.

I am very sure you have seen the news on food poisoning where it would have been reported of a whole family wiped out after a meal of beans. Some of us even go as far as giving a handful of beans to pets around, observe them before consuming ours. Truth is, accumulation of the pesticide may lead to acute poisoning over time, chronic illness, organ failures and so many other complications (the effect is just overwhelming).

The government can do little or nothing really about this because our food sector is very crude and not sensitised. Anybody can harvest from his farm and move grains directly to the market. All food professionals (especially food safety) should take this challenge on themselves to educate traders and farmers who are involved in this practice. I have done a few training myself and found out that it is pure ignorance for many food handlers involved in this practice.

Now to avoid this poisoning, let me share a tip with you (guess it will work). You cannot test each grain you buy in the market and feeding pets with a handful is not enough to avoid the pesticide. Your best option then is best way to remove the pesticides from the grains. In order to be sure your grain is safe, soaking in mixed solvent is advisable. Let’s take beans for an example, washing/soaking of beans in a 50/50 soution of vinegar/water will take away any residue present to the barest minimum.

We are working on creating a safe food market for grains and processed food, but till then, please stay safe, wash beans in vinegar/water solution and you are sure to be safe.