Will that be a little pesticide with your bordeaux Monsieur

In a few years some have forecasted that China will become the second largest producer of wine in the world. An article today in The Shanghai Daily sure helped me decide if I should be one of the consumers helping to grow their market share.

Seems a report was published last week that indicated some Chinese red wine on the market contained excessive levels of harmful chemicals. The Securities Market Weekly said 10 samples of red wine from three domestic wine makers, including China's leading Changyu winery, contained excessive levels of two pesticide residues, carbendazim and metalaxyl.

But not to be concerned - The Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday that in fact pesticide residue in wine manufactured here in China is below the country's limits so we should all stop worrying and continue to drink Chinese red wine.

Yan Weixing, a researcher with the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, said pesticide residue, which he believed was unavoidable in a modernized world, would pose no threat to humans if it was controlled and its risks fully assessed before use. What can I say - no problem if it is controlled and all the risks fully assessed.

"A certain amount of pesticide within the limits set by national standards will not pose a threat to health because pesticide residue is unavoidable in food," Yan said yesterday. A friend sent me a note a few weeks ago that said "get out before they kill you".

We aren't leaving but there will be no Chinese wine entering our bodies.