I have been thinking about this recently, with some observations of food going off or not. For the past year I have lived in Northern Cyprus. Fresh produce here is seasonal*, while it is not organic, much has a "homegrown" feel to it. The produce is generally very good quality#. However, despite careful storage and refrigeration it rots in a few days... completely rotten, well on the way to decomposing!

For the first 6 months, I saw this as a bit of a pain since it means I have to shop about 3 times per week. Then are looked at it from the other way around since I know homegrown produce, despite coming straight from the garden, goes off quickly compared to supermarket produce.

Then I began to question what has been done to supermarket produce to stop this? My estranged wife is terrible at hoarding food... the salad crisper at the base of the fridge was effectively a compost heap...despite months of neglect and good conditions for festering, much of the produce only had a little surface rot.

So I share you point and thank you for posting.

However, as a science teacher, I have heard a counter argument. There is a solid evidence to show that the toxins produced as food rots are definitely harmful to human health. There is only suspicion that preservatives are harmful. However, as a counter-counter argument, I fear that the results from such research would be spun by the industry.

* I am in favour of seasonal food, in terms of air miles etc. However, I have to say that it is a bit of a shock... You just get used to insanely tasty whatevers at a bargain prices and they are gone again

# There are a few weeks at the end of the summer when things are all a bit sad and limp looking... I assume this is due to the very high temperatures at the end of this growing season coupled with crazy high temperatures in the shops

Cheers

Sean


Interesting angle, thanks for that Sean