Organic kiwifruit growers face an anxious wait to find out if the use of a Bio-Gro certified product now found to contain chemical residues will affect the organic status of their orchards and fruit.

A small number of growers have been using a product called Citrox BioAlexin as an elicitor to help vines cope with the bacterial disease Psa-V, but recent testing by Zespri has shown some batches of the product contained traces of a chemical called antimicrobial Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride commonly used in sanitation products.

Organic kiwifruit earn a premium in the market for growers.

BioAlexin had been approved by both Bio-Gro and Kiwifruit Vine Health for use on organic orchards and yesterday around 60 organic growers met in Tauranga with both organisations and the Ministry for Primary Industries behind closed doors to learn about the implications of the residue discovery.

It takes three years to become a certified organic grower and organic kiwifruit earns a premium in the markets so growers are concerned about losing both their organic status and some of their income.

An initial response from both Bio-Gro and the Ministry for Primary Industries indicated that the unintended residues resulting from the use of the product may not affect the organic status of this season's fruit or the on-going organic status of orchards.

In a joint statement it says 'while a lack of detectable residue is not a definitive indicator that a contaminated product has not been used, for practical purposes the lack of detectable residues will be taken as sufficient to maintain organic status of crops”.

'The inadvertent (unintended) use of this contaminated product should not have implications for future years as long as the land, foliage and future crops are free from detectable residues of DDAC. Soil tests for DDAC may be used to confirm this. The regulators will be investigating retrospective application of this position.”

While most countries have set residue limits for DDAC, which is not considered a risk to human health, it is not acceptable in organic products.

Dr David Tanner Zespri's general manager of Psa innovation says no fruit from orchards found to have DDAC residues have been exported, and in many cases fruit hasn't been harvested yet.

Bio-Gro CEO Michele Glogau says the discovery of the residue in one of the few products available to help manage Psa has been stressful for organic growers.

'They are clearly concerned and many are already under a lot of stress because of Psa.”

Bio-Gro certified the product based on the listed ingredients supplied by the manufacturer, which did not include DDAC.

President of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc and an organic grower Neil Trebilco says not every organic grower has used the product, and not all batches of BioAlexin contained DDAC but for those who have, this is a worrying time.

'This issue has a way to go yet but any crop with detectable levels of this product cannot be sold as organic,” he says.

'Growers are concerned that they have applied inputs vetted by an independent organisation now found to have traces of a product which should not be there.”

Citrox Director NZ Dominic Young says the company was very surprised to learn that residues had been detected as its products are organic certified and manufactured from approved food ingredients at an accredited manufacturing facility.

'At this point we do not know the source of the DDAC contamination. However systematic investigation and testing of products and ingredients is currently in progress to identify the source. We do not believe the contamination occurred in New Zealand.

'We are committed to ensuring that all fruit is residue free and are very surprised at the recent turn of events regarding our products. We have invited growers to contact us if they have any concerns.”

Dominic says Citrox is working closely with Zespri, MPI and Bio-Gro to understand how its organic plant elicitor has tested for very low residues of the common sanitiser compound.

'Citrox NZ markets a range of certified organic products and at no point are any additives that contain DDAC used in their manufacturing process.”

Although the reported contamination of the Citrox products appeared to be very low, the company had immediately advised customers of the finding and initiated a product recall and replacement programme.

The company is continuing to test new batches of product that are supplied from the United Kingdom, and so far the residue levels of DDAC detected are random and limited to older stock, he says.

'The new stock of Citrox BioAlexin, that arrived in the country at the beginning of March has been tested clear of any residues and we are working with Zespri, MPI and Bio-Gro to ensure that growers have confidence in its testing and clearance procedures going forward.”

The problem was identified when traces of DDAC were found as part of Zespri's normal residue testing of fruit.

Initially it appeared the residues came from sanitizers used to clean picking buckets into which sample fruit were placed. Lining buckets with plastic bags eliminated that as a source and 95 per cent of re-tested fruit showed no signs of the chemical. However, some fruit still proved positive of DDAC and further investigations established a link with BioAlexin.

BioAlexin and another product also supplied by the same company, Citrox PWT which is used as sanitizer, are both produced from citrus peel and imported to New Zealand via the UK.

In the interim Bio-Gro has withdrawn certification of the BioAlexin.