Text 16704, 68 rader
Skriven 2008-06-02 06:45:20 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 16553 av Björn Forsström (2:203/614.61)
Ärende: Misinformation
======================
Björn Forsström wrote to Robert Bashe on Sunday June 01 2008 at 10:27:

BF>>> Why is it then not allowed to clean chicken with it here?

RB>> Panic and ignorance, the same as with the CO2 hype, where you can
RB>> often read that the gas is "poisonous". Laypersons don't distinguish
RB>> between carbon _mon_oxide (poisonous) and carbon _di_oxide
RB>> (non-poisonous but not breathable, in the same sense as nitrogen).

BF> I hear you but I don't buy that to 100%.

Maybe it helps if I tell you my doctorate is in organic chemistry, and I have
around 15 years experience in toxicology through my translation work.

BF> An overdose of anything isn't good so why use it in food.

Why use water in food? Pests in grain are eliminated with methyl bromide,
ethylene oxide and other similarly unpleasant (for pests) chemicals. That
doesn't stop you eating bread, though, nor should it.

BF>>> Since we don't use chloorine there must be other ways of disinfect
BF>>> it from salmonella.

RB>> Either that, or there is no disinfection here.

BF> It isn't used here and we don't have salmonella...

And you know this personally how? I'm not talking about actual salmonella
infestations, but about the presence in the meat. Salmonella are killed if you
cook the meat properly and don't let the juice from thawed meat touch it.

BF> ... but I haven't a clue what we use instead.

As I wrote, maybe nothing. Nothing forces you to disinfect the meat except the
thought that someone could be incautious or ignorant enough to cook it
improperly (or not at all) before eating it. Then you really do have a case iof
salmonella infestation and that can be fatal in weak and/or aged persons.

RB>> Too much of _anything_ is not too good, to paraphrase a Disney song
RB>> of long ago. But panic and misinformation are bad advisors. Remember
RB>> "dihydrogen monoxide".

BF> Nope. I read about a guy in...England....who almost died from drinking
BF> too much water.

Such cases are seldom, but not as rare as you might think. They're reported
occasionally in the news, and only go to show that hysteria and hype about
"chemicals" (of which water is one) are often based on emotions rather than
facts.

RB>> Are you not aware of the fact that there is a difference between
RB>> chlorine gas and the dilute solutions of chlorine in water, for
RB>> example in swimming pools? I might also mention that a lot of city
RB>> drinking water is chlorinated as well. Doesn't taste that great, but
RB>> nobody has died from it yet.

BF> How many % is it? And how many % i the cleaning solution for chickens?

Chlorinated water to drink, a few ppm. In swimming pools a couple of percent.
The cleaning solution, I would guess something like 5%. But don't let the hype
blind you to the fact that a) the _surface_ is washed, the stuff isn't injected
into the meat and b) the meat is than washed with plain water. All in all, the
only organisms to suffer are the salmonella.

Cheers, Bob

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