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nafex - RE: [nafex] Re: Organics, was Cedar Rust Revisited

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  • From: "Bell, Richard" <rbell@afrs.ars.usda.gov>
  • To: "'nafex@egroups.com'" <nafex@egroups.com>
  • Subject: RE: [nafex] Re: Organics, was Cedar Rust Revisited
  • Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 13:41:52 -0400

Cryolite was used extensively on apples to control codling moth in the
Pacific Northwest. At that time the fluoride tolerance was 7 ppm, and
the residue was removed with a wash of dilute hydrochloric acid. It was
not used extensively in the midwest or east.

Richard L. Bell
Research Horticulturist
USDA, ARS
Appalachian Fruit Research Station
45 Wiltshire Road
Kearneysville, WV 25430-9425

Tel: 1-304-725-3451 Ext. 353
Fax: 1-304-728-2340


> ----------
> From: Kieran or Donna[SMTP:redherring@tnaccess.com]
> Reply To: nafex@egroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 12:19 PM
> To: nafex@egroups.com
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Re: Organics, was Cedar Rust Revisited
>
> Thank you Lon, for the information. That sounds much less noxious
> than I
> had expected. True it is a problem for some people, but at least it
> is a
> simple and relatively harmless chemical. While on the subject of
> pesticides
> on grapes, I'm curious about what you think about this:
> The March issue of ACRES USA has an interview on flouride with chemist
> Albert Burgstahler. I will quote him here: " I myself, with a
> student, did
> a study on...fluoride in California wines. We examined some 20 or so
> wines
> and found that certain wines were above the recommended max of 1 ppm.
> To
> ship outside the US, they're supposed to stay below 1 ppm fluoride,
> and
> Europe has banned the import of wines exceeding that level, but they
> have
> made a concession to let it go higher....I asked why this happened to
> the
> wines and was told that all the existing pesticides had lost their
> effectiveness on the leaf eating insect larvae of the vineyards, so
> they've
> had to turn to cryolite, or sodium hexafluoraluminate, which is also
> used in
> the aluminum industry to make the molten bath for the electrolysis of
> aluminum oxide. I asked why the larvae didn't develop a resistance to
> cryolite, and I was told that when the chemical gets into their
> stomachs, it
> releases hydrofluoric acid and chews the daylights out of their
> stomachs.
> He was pretty candid about this. Washing the grapes thoroughly would
> be a
> difficult problem. We also looked at raisins and found that certain
> varieties were high in fluoride."
> My comments: My son the chemistry grad student said the chemical
> they are
> using is really bad stuff. From what I understand of raisin drying,
> washing
> before drying is out of the question. In fact, did any of you see a
> miniseries years ago called "Fresno" about 2 rival raisin empires? It
> was a
> satire on several series popular at the time (Dallas, etc) In a
> horrifying
> scene the patriarch has received a call in the middle of the night
> saying
> there is trouble with the raisin dehydrator. We see him go into the
> dehydrating room, a hand slams the door and locks it, a scream issues
> from
> within, we are left to imagine the consequences....
> >From what I have read, a machine drives down the rows of grapevines
> laying
> down a strip of brown paper. Farmworkers clip the bunches and drop
> them
> onto the paper, where they dry in the sun. Then the machine comes
> along
> again and takes up the paper and raisins. The raisins are taken into
> the
> packing plant where the stems and ants are blown off them by
> compressed air.
> Knowing that made the TV version even funnier to me. Donna
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
> To: <nafex@egroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 5:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Re: Organics, was Cedar Rust Revisited
>
>
> > The material used in grapes is a pad containing sodium bisulfite.
> It
> breaks
> > down and releases sulfur dioxide to "fumigate" the grapes and keep
> them
> from
> > spoiling. It would obviously generate sulfites, which, of course,
> many
> > people are sensitive to.
> > ----------
> > >From: "Kieran or Donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>
> > >To: <nafex@egroups.com>
> > >Subject: Re: [nafex] Re: Organics, was Cedar Rust Revisited
> > >Date: Wed, May 24, 2000, 12:23 PM
> > >
> >
> > > And to bring the story around to fruit, in case you don't
> personally
> > >know anyone (I do) whose child has gone into convulsions after
> eating
> grapes
> > >on the way home from the grocery, there is some kind of fumigant
> used on
> > >grapes nowadays. The stores have instructions to open the boxes
> and let
> > >them stand open for 2 hours before putting them on display, but
> that
> doesn't
> > >always get done. My reaction to all this is, "But this is supposed
> to be
> > >FOOD."
> > > Donna
> > >
> > >
> >
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> >
> >
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