Fresh food farce

Fresh food farce
I think bloggers will be shocked by this…it would be the same in the UK and the US and anywhere where there are giant supermarkets. In NSW there are 27,000 registered people suffering with full-blown Chronic Fatigue syndrome and it is no joke…the real thing is a total devastation of ones life…

Most are younger people…there is an endemic of young people with all sorts of cancers these days but our Gov health departments and AMA would have the nutritional understanding of a frog.

Then the frog probably would know what was good for it.

When vegetables are constantly eaten that are not allowed to slightly ripen before harvesting, they do not produce the enzymes necessary for the good health of those who consume them…when this happens for a generation or two, then the human race is weakened and youngsters are weakened and ill and fight just to have a reasonable life.

I knew supermarket veges were shit, but I had no idea just how shit they were read on…
Fresh food farce - The Daily Telegraph (Australia 7/1/06)
By DARREN BEHAR
January 07, 2006

THE "fresh" fruit and vegetables you buy from major supermarkets and even your local greengrocer are sometimes up to a year old.
Stores are selling produce months – and even seasons – after it is harvested, raising concerns about quality and taste.
The Saturday Daily Telegraph can reveal today advances in technology mean apples can even be placed on the shelves up to 12 months after being picked – dubbed "birthday apples" by the industry.
Research commissioned by The Saturday Daily Telegraph found apples up to nine months old, pears three months old, grapes three weeks old and cherries two weeks old, all on the shelves of a major supermarket.
The fruit was purchased on Thursday from a city Woolworths store and tested by Sydney Postharvest Laboratory, which also found the fruit was of extremely mixed quality. Strawberries, apples and peaches all came back showing they were low in sugar.
Woolworths yesterday confirmed it sold apples which were stored for months at a time but said it endeavoured to get the freshest produce possible into its stores.
It is not just Woolworths with fruit this old on sale, experts say. Retailers
across the country are selling fruit and vegetables bought from growers who store it for months.
"Many consumers will not be aware just how long the fruit and veg they eat has been sitting in the supermarket and on shelves," Australian Consumers Association food policy officer Clare Hughes said.
Growers treat products in a variety of ways.
The shelf-life of apples can be extended by up to a year by treating the air in their storage environment with a gas.
The chemical, known as SmartFresh and introduced to Australia in the past 18 months, stops the fruit from producing ethylene, a natural ripening agent.
The product is also licenced for use on other fruits.
The products are mainly fruits which are not grown all year round in Australia.
Bananas, which are picked and transported while still green to prolong their life, are treated with ethylene to bring on the ripening process just before going on shelves. Grapes can be kept for a month by packing with sulphur dioxide pads which delay ripening.
Sydney Postharvest Laboratory, industry consultants, growers, regulators and supermarkets confirmed the use of various techniques. Woolworths sells apples stored in controlled environments for up to 10 months while Coles also admitted its apples may be stored.
Experts say that the processes are commonly used and allow people to eat produce out of season, benefiting the consumer. The fruit and veg is still safe to eat.
"If we want apples to eat all year round then this is necessary. And the product is still good for you," Apple & Pear Australia business manager Tony Russell said.
But there are suggestions vital nutrients and minerals decline.
And the quality can drop.
Sydney Postharvest Laboratory director Dr Stephen Morris said: "The taste can drop off after a long period.
"And Vitamin C and Vitamin E, as well as anti-oxidant levels, which can be cancer preventing can decline."
A Woolworths spokeswoman said: "We try to get produce into stores as soon as possible and as fresh as possible."
Scott Whiffin at Coles said: "The absolute focus with our fresh offer is just that, freshness."