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More food preservatives for thought

post #1 of 6
11/4/08 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 
1-MCP ????? What is it and whats it for..
How would you like to have Banannas that dont turn dark? or apples and pears that do not rot and stay crisp..?
It is called 1-MCP and it is short for Methllcyclopropene. A tablespoon of which dissolved in water and put into a room will preserve 1000 Pounds of apples or other fruit. It also comes in a spray.
From my research it does not have to be listed as an ingredient. T rade name Smart-Fresh made by a Dutch company named Agro-fresh inc. Approved by our ever on vigil FDA and USDA as well as British authorities. Again time will tell, or our grandchildren will. :D:D
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post #2 of 6
11/4/08 at 1:20pm
<msg deleted>

delete reason: oops. did not notice this was in the professional conspiracy section only.
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post #3 of 6
11/4/08 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 
A lot of people have computers !:talk:
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post #4 of 6
11/4/08 at 1:42pm
Chef Ed, Im not sure if you were aware but MCP has been used for years as a way to quick ripen Banana's and other tree fruits that are picked early and sent to market to make maximum shelf life.
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post #5 of 6
11/5/08 at 5:14am
Thread Starter 
chefhow
I was aware of this, in fact it has been used and registered since 2005. My big point is that it does not have to be listed as an ingredient, even though it is used. My objection to all of this is not that I am a health nut, and buy all natural or organic, but by reading a label at least I have a choice as to what I consume.
The question of alergies also pops up, what if someone were allergic to the chemical, yet they dont even know it is there.
A study was done in Florida about 3 years ago, on holding Tomatoes with Nitrogen. People who were supposed to be allergic to tomatoes were given them ,both Nitro treated and non Nitro treated, as well as placebo testing. The ones with nitro treatment were still alergic, the others showed a 78% drop.
Again the almighty dollar comes into play. The manufacturers and growers make more with less waste, if product last longer and has longer shelf life.
Since 1 MCP is an ethylene inhibitor, how can they use it to speed ripeining??:lips:
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post #6 of 6
11/5/08 at 5:22am
Chef, As far as labeling there are several ingredients that DONT have to be labeled as long as they are used as processing aids. Allergens is a whole seperate issue. I only label what is called the "Big 8", but there are 14 known and recognized allergens so the other 6 which are considered "minor" are not necessary. The company I work for is under a full disclosure policy with our customers. We follow the law to the letter and actually do a lot to clean up and fix our competitors labels. Technically its impossible to label every allergen as everyone is different so we label what are considered to be the most dangerous, Peanuts, Treenuts, Dairy, Egg, Soybean, Wheat, Shellfish and Finfish.
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