16-05-2012, 07:13 AM
Karen,
I don't want to hi-jack Isabelle's thread, but the 'safety' of unknown and unknowable possible contaminants is an endless and ultimately pointless argument, IMO. Nobody ever knows for sure what might or might not be in anything they consume, from water onwards and whether it grows in their own garden or comes from an unknown jungle on the far side of the world. All we can do is place a certain amount of faith in suppliers and make our own best guess as to whether the possible benefits outweigh the possible risks. certainly no point in getting paranoid about it.
Many years ago when the furore about 'E numbers' first started there was an article in the Journal of the Royal Institute of Food Science and Technology here in the UK. It was written by a very respected food scientist at the time warning of the dangers of even approved food additives and it concluded by pointing out that of all the things we consume, food is by far the most dangerous. Food is so dangerous that no government in the world has published RDI figures. Food is so dangerous that there is no safe minimum dose, even people who haven't eaten for weeks will die. Food is in fact so dangerous that anyone who has ever eaten anything at all, still dies!!
I don't want to hi-jack Isabelle's thread, but the 'safety' of unknown and unknowable possible contaminants is an endless and ultimately pointless argument, IMO. Nobody ever knows for sure what might or might not be in anything they consume, from water onwards and whether it grows in their own garden or comes from an unknown jungle on the far side of the world. All we can do is place a certain amount of faith in suppliers and make our own best guess as to whether the possible benefits outweigh the possible risks. certainly no point in getting paranoid about it.
Many years ago when the furore about 'E numbers' first started there was an article in the Journal of the Royal Institute of Food Science and Technology here in the UK. It was written by a very respected food scientist at the time warning of the dangers of even approved food additives and it concluded by pointing out that of all the things we consume, food is by far the most dangerous. Food is so dangerous that no government in the world has published RDI figures. Food is so dangerous that there is no safe minimum dose, even people who haven't eaten for weeks will die. Food is in fact so dangerous that anyone who has ever eaten anything at all, still dies!!