🫐 Berry Sweet:

🫐 Berry Sweet, Berry Silent: Australia's Unwatched Fruit Bowl

Why Australia’s berry boom needs more than sunshine—it needs oversight.

Australia’s appetite for berries has exploded. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries—once niche indulgences—now dominate supermarket shelves and breakfast bowls. But behind the antioxidant glow lies a troubling truth: the berry industry is thriving in a regulatory vacuum. Pesticide use is largely unmonitored, and the agencies tasked with protecting public health are watching from the sidelines.

The Unregulated Orchard

Berry consumption in Australia has surged by up to 962% since the last major pesticide review in 2017. This prompted the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to propose suspending the use of dimethoate—a neurotoxic insecticide banned in the EU and classified by the US EPA as a “possible human carcinogen”. The APVMA’s own reassessment found that current usage may not leave an adequate safety margin between residue levels and acceptable dietary exposure.

Growers currently wait just one day after spraying blueberries and seven days for rubus berries before harvesting. The APVMA has proposed extending this to 14 days—a move the $1.3 billion industry claims would disrupt production and raise costs.

Translation: we’re flying blind, but please enjoy your fruit salad.

🧪 The EPA—A Watchdog with a Muzzle?

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) regulates pesticide use under the Pesticides Act 1999 and Pesticides Regulation 2017. It enforces safe application and licensing, but does not routinely monitor pesticide residues in food sold at supermarkets. That responsibility is scattered across federal bodies like FSANZ and the National Residue Survey (NRS), which rely on outdated consumption data and limited sampling.

So while the EPA has the teeth, it rarely bites where it matters most: the retail shelf.

Where the EPA Should Step In

This is where the EPA could show some regulatory muscle. Not with more paperwork for farmers, but with compliance checks on major supermarkets. If pesticide residues exceed safe limits, fine the retailers. Hit them where it hurts: shelf space and profit margins. Let the market incentivize clean supply chains.

Because right now, the only thing being sprayed with consistency is consumer ignorance.

A Modest Proposal

Imagine a system where:

• Supermarkets are randomly audited for chemical residues.

• Offending batches trigger fines and public disclosure.

• Retailers demand cleaner practices from suppliers.

• Consumers regain confidence in the fruit they feed their kids.

It’s not radical. It’s regulatory common sense. And it shifts accountability to those with the power to influence upstream practices.

Final Thought

Australia prides itself on clean, green produce. But pride without proof is just marketing. If we want berries that are truly sweet—not just in taste but in ethics—we need oversight that bites. The EPA has the framework. The supermarkets have the leverage. The public has the right to know.

Let’s stop treating pesticide regulation like a berry patch—easy to walk past, hard to weed.

📚 Footnotes

1. ABC News: Surge in berry consumption prompts dimethoate review

2. APVMA: Proposed suspension of dimethoate products

3. EPA NSW: Pesticide regulation overview

4. FSANZ: Monitoring the safety of our food supply

5. DAFF: Residue and residue testing

6. ABC News: Banned chemical found in supermarket berries