Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

@Philippa, not all produce here yet, I don’t think. Tesco and Asda have been using it apparently. I think consumers should be allowed to know what they are unwittingly ingesting. If you buy food with 30 ingredients listed, you know what you are letting yourself in for. If you buy something that appears to be fresh produce, you should be told about any “treatments”.

 

Are they putting this stuff on the parts you eat?

 

But … bear in mind it will be consumed daily for decades. No one knows if that will be safe. Take Citric acid. This is added to multiple foods. Technically, it and all the other acids used to improve shelf live of ultra processed foods are safe to consume. But over-exposure can harm the oesophagus, causing silent reflux symptoms in some people, which in time can become more serious. These acids were approved for food use back in the 1980s and it is only now the problems with them are becoming apparent.

 

Yes, it gets sprayed on apples, etc.

 

I've always been wary of those shiny red apples, but waxed citrus is pretty normal and avocados, well anyone who likes them has to have been effected by food additives already.

 

I would worry if it was used on things like grapes, as their size means you eat a relatively large surface area of skin.

I was trying to find out what strawberries are sprayed with to increase shelf life as, whatever it is, it leaves a funny chemical smell in the fridge.

 

Do youi remember when they wanted to sell Irradiated strawberries, what happened to that Idea?
It made them last weeks if I remember correctly.

 

Citric acid is basically lemon juice. Apples contain maleic acid and so on.
Most things contain traces of heavy metals, simply because analytical techniques are now very very sensitive.
Nobody knows what parts per trillion of a heavy metal or even parts per billion will do to you, becuse it is is impossible to do the testing.
The precautionary principle means that many people are frightened of everything described as a "chemical" that has not been proven to be safe.
Take it too far and you'd starve to death before any ill effects from eating a balanced diet would harm you.

 

Citric acid can be made from a number of fruits etc, true, and we ingest it within a balanced diet, of course. But adding it to many processed foods means (a) the average person consumes a great deal of it and (b) our diets become much more acidic. This is not a huge problem for the stomach, which is basically a highly acidic bag, but it has to get to the stomach via a narrow tube with a delicate lining that is not designed to be constantly bathed in acid.

I have no objection to the use of food preserving methods provided these (a) are transparent, (b) are not being foisted on us simply so a few large companies can massively increase profits, (c) do not become so widespread alternatives are not available, (d) are reversible if any harms to human health are suspected, and (e) are removable from the food chain if need be (ie are not sprayed on crops before harvest, getting into the soil and water courses from which they can never be eradicated).

I truly don’t think that is a lot to ask.

 

People probably do themselves more harm worrying about what food additives might do than the food additives actually do.
If people are concerned then they should grow their own or only buy organic, wash everything and peel all fruit. Prepare all their own dishes, never eat out and stick to a very basic and simple balanced diet.
Not quite sure how to square concerns about citric acid with the increasing consumption of pickled and fermented food (often flagged as super foods), people even drink pickle juice or vinegar.

 

I would like to say about some Organic wheat that came into this country, it was treated with some nasty chemicles to kill the bugs, caned put up the name of chemicle because GCHQ will then be looking at this, the chemicle was not on the lists to use for organic but the paper work said CO2 but lots of workers were not well, so someone got someone out to tested it, it was the nasty chemicle, this was a long time ago

 

How concerned or not a person is about food production impacting health may depend on whether they have been blessed with a well-functioning digestive system. If you can eat freely without paying a price in terms of pain, etc, you are probably more relaxed about it than if you have spent a lifetime struggling with really ordinary, simple meals.

Those of us in constant discomfort may envy those of you able to eat and forget.

 

My moan today is relatives who ask you for gardening advice then ignore you and go off to a garden centre where they buy a totally unsuitable plant for the described situation and expect you to give full approval . OK, I've said it now, let's move on .

 

Or people you give plants to only to find its been thrown out after a few months, if questioned the usual reply is, well it wasn’t doing very well, so I've bought something else.
Has happened with neighbours, never again.