Speaking of minority health disparities...

but in the UK, lead is regarded as a definite no-no, especially for kids.

This was established about a decade ago by tests on children living in areas of high lead pollution from car fumes, with areas proximate to "Spaghetti junction" - a convoluted motorway interchange - being the primary site for these tests. It was also established that lead is drawn down into soil (mainly by rain) and that one should not grow any vegetables in inner-city gardens as these would also imbibe the lead.

The medical effects to my recollection were as quoted in Dave's linked article - i.e. effect on the brain.

As to lead in candies, isn't that what your FDA is meant to take care of? Maybe there is not enough power or money behind the complaint? We in the UK write to our Member of Parliament to try to get things done about these transgressions of the little people. I don't pretend that this produces an instant solution (or one at all), but just wonder what your US alternative is if the FDA doesn't act?

Regards
Mo

Mo,

Of course lead is a know toxin. This has been established to one degree or another for generations. You'll find it in Dickens so it was well established then.

I was being facetious.

Dan

answer to my question would be still interesting to me, if no-one else, i.e. how else do US people complain?

Sorry to have misread your post, but the Forum is so serious at the moment one way or another, that I hope you'll excuse me for reading your post with the same frown that seems to attach from reading many others.

Regards
Mo

I'm shocked that several governmental bodies haven't jumped in here.

People could be complaining to state officials who could order the stuff off the shelves. Or to the distributor who could issue a recall. Or to the FDA if they wanted to bring the feds in. I don't know why none of these, and more that I haven't come up with, haven't pulled the trigger on this. It usually makes them look good with all the rushing to defend the food supply and all that.

Dan

A related issue - almost ... We have lots of fields growing rape seed for oil. According to US websites, this is "very bad" if the oil is for human consumption, as it was never intended to be so, with people and animals showing allergic reactions. Does this view have any credence in the US (i.e. aside from those who might have vested interests)?

Having read the websites about rapeseed oils, I cannot help but notice that the oil appears in many of our foods and is used by "top chefs" in our TV cooking programmes.

Just wonder what US people think about this one.

Regards
Mo

I'm not up on rape seed oil, but it has been common in cooking oil.

I avoid cotton seed oil because of the outlandish quantities of poisons they use on this supposedly non-food crop.

Sorry I can't shed more light on this.

Dan

these things are reported to the media that one does further research on the validity of the cause celebre and indeed the media can be the best way to get things done.

The cotton seed oil consideration is a new one to me.

Rape seed oil is a primary ingredient in even the best of margarines here, though I can get one comprising mainly sunflower, palm and coconut oil. (Can't have butter.) Just posting this for general info.

PS Thank you for info on consumer options.

Regards
Mo

The rape seed/Canola oil scare is not valid. The basic info is at http://www.snopes.com/toxins/canola.htm

That stuff smokes like crazy in a frying pan, and at low temps too! I can't stand the smoke that comes off that oil, clogs my head up something terrible. The only use we might make of it would be added to salads or vegetables, never for frying anything in. The smoke is unbelievably irritating and acrid.

I never used it myself, on the occassions I deep fry something like beginets or french fries, I use peanut oil. With normal cooking or sandwiches, I use butter not only for the taste, but I need all the calories that I can get. (grin)

This is recommended by many Chinese chefs on our cookery programmes, because it has a higher temperature to make things crispy, faster, but more particularly that it doesn't leave the kitchen smelling of oil.

OTOH grapeseed oil is meant to be very good because it has max anti-oxidants.

Could spend some time on this, but extra virgin olive oil figures prominently in my cupboard.

Regards
Mo

I also was quite into Chineese cooking. I recommend getting a cast iron wok (try a Chinatown). Well worth getting, but it helps to have a good heat source. I'm a "loony tune" with a Vulcan restraunt range in a 100 year old farm house. Need you ask, I got the range cheap. (grin).

which is one of the main ones that caused me to post about rape seed. Please go down to Section 5, Dangerous Foods.

http://center-for-mankind-foundation.com/research.html#lies

The site is something of a mish-mash IMO being scientific opinion on the one hand and comment (possibly profit-motivated) on the other, and a bit of scare-mongering to boot.

I guess you have to take it as you find it, but as regards rape seed, I'm personally happy to take that one (and hydrogenated fats as another) out of my shopping list.

Not the only site BTW.

What do you reckon? If I'm not mistaken, you have a farming background (notwithstanding your tv/electronics engineering background that is).

Regards
Mo

I live on a farm, but you wouldn't say that I have a farming background. I like elbow room, and the price of the farm was cheap. You can't push electrons all the time, so I had great fun with the land growing things in my free time. When I overdid it, I dumped the excess at the local farmer's market. BTW, I also kept bees, also a fun experiment.

because you are knowledgeable also about bees (Arghh!! I hear you say) why my supermarket sells jars of honey with a bit of the honeycomb still in the jar. It is more expensive of course, though it would be, being of original source rather than blended honey, but why have the honeycomb in the jar? Is this for a "honey reason" or only as a sales gimmick?

It is sheer coincidence BTW that I noticed this today, and your post came this evening. So, it's not my fault - really - blame Mr Coincidence.

PS I recall an earlier post, having the memory of an elephant. Do you still live on the farm, is it remote and did you get one of those pager things I referred to?

Best regards
Mo

Beats me, some people like it. I just fooled around with bees for fun.
I still live on the farm, but it's not as remote as it once was, They put in a big mall 10 minutes down the road a while back and the satelites followed as usually happens. Even before that, I liked it, I could catch the commuter train 15 minutes away and be in the D.C. train station in about an hour and ten minutes. I commuted to work that way. Never got a pager.

When I was a kid we liked cutting the comb up and chewing it till nothing but dry wax was left.

Moved out to the suburbs for 10 years or so, and moved "back in" about two years ago. Ain't no bad thing IMO to have shops "just down the road" and hope you see this as a benefit also - (it's certainly cheaper on petrol here).

We get the early morning bird-song "dawn chorus" at this time of year even being in town. I miss the countryside but we are closer to school and with better transport accessibility, I guess one can't have it all ways round. I don't have a cooking "range" like you, but I can warm up our soup with tea-lights quite well

Regards
Mo

Believe it or not, it was cheaper to buy this farm than to pay rent closer in to D.C.
The range gathers dust, in any case, I can't get to it. I'm a "hot plate artist" in my room. Thank heavens for Mr. Coffee (grin).

Hope you have a microwave nearby too. Is there any chance your health will improve?

Yes on the microwave, it was manufactured in 1990 and is still chugging along. I figure if it works, why get another.
On the health, maybe after a fashion if I can gain some weight and correct other physical things (I'm working on both.)

Olive, Corn, mostly, but also Peanut, Sunflower and Safflower. I have nothing against Vegetable (soybean) oil other than flavor. To me it has a "fishy" kind of taste to it. I would eat or cook with it if nothing else was available, but prefer one of the other oils. Corn oil probably gets the most use around here with Olive oil coming in second. Peanunt oil is great for frying, but a little more expensive than the Corn oil.

I decided to see what safflower oil was and was suprised to find it's not too different in composition from Olive Oil, having a large amount of oleic acid oil in it. The page has links to the compositions of the other commonly used oils too.

http://www.essentialoils.co.za/analysis_safflower.htm

Dear James

I would love to say that this site was interesting, but I'm not sufficiently well versed to know what relevance the chemical constituents have, primarily, by my reading, the proportion of oleic to linoleic (the others being of minor significance) seems to run throughout.

What is the difference please, oleic / linoleic?

Thanks and regards
Mo

Dear James,

Thanks for the reference site. The primary difference between the oils seems to be the ratio of oleic : linoleic. What is the relevance of this please?

Thank you
Regards
Mo

Linoleic acid oil is the same oil that comes from flax also called linseed oil and used for furniture here in the USA. While looking around I see that Europeans actually use the oil in food too.

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/inflin.shtm

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Linseed_oil.html

Found this in the dictionary.

linoleic

\Li*no"le*ic\ (l*n[=o]"l[-e]*k), a. Pertaining to, or derived from, linoleum, or linseed oil; specifically (Chem.), designating an organic acid, a thin yellow oil, found combined as a salt of glycerin in oils of linseed, poppy, hemp, and certain nuts.

Since mankind has used olives and flax seed for millenia, I guess it was natural to name the predominant oil within each after the plant name. Both types oil however are found in other plants and often in combination, although the percentages differ between the various plants.

.

It was around here.

Dan