A new force has joined us in the fight against the fear entrepreneurs. Surf over to Safe Fruits and Veggies.com, and read some common sense, which should help counteract the nonsense disseminated on a daily basis by the inaptly named Environmental Working Group. (I call it "inapt" unless they're talking about working on the environment of your wallet.)
A favorite (and unfortunately effective) technique of EWG and other bottom-feeders is to simply create a list of chemicals that might be present in a particular food or personal care item. Then, they try to scare you about it, but more importantly try to convince you to send them money.
Forget about the actual concentrations of these chemicals, or the first rule of toxicology "The dose makes the poison." Forget also, that if you were to run assays on "organically grown" crops, you would still find naturally-present chemicals such as formaldehyde. Moreover, even if you were going to get concerned over such matters, the analytical methods of EWG have often been criticized—that is, when they are even disclosed.
One the many good points made on the site is:
An analysis conducted by a panel of experts recently found that the often cited "dirty" lists of produce items are misleading to consumers, that there is no evidence that the pesticide levels found pose any health risk, and that these lists should not be used to guide purchasing decisions for fruits and vegetables.
Apparently, the EWG has already backed off from some of its initial propaganda, based on data presented on the Safe Fruits and Veggies site, and its Expert Panel Report. (pdf download)
Comments