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Checkout Line Iffy pop (http://green.msn.com/Green-Living/Food-&-Entertaining/Checkout-Line-Iffy-pop/?GT1=45002 - broken link)
Quote:
The problems with conventional popcorn start in in the corn field.
The popcorn you find at the movie theater and in microwave boxes is likely to have been raised with the aid of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and fumigants.
For a less-than-soothing bedtime read on this delightful subject, download the Popcorn Agri Chemical Handbook (http://www.popcorn.org/handbook/handbook.cfm#handbook - broken link). This chemo-phobe's horror story includes a section on "tolerances" -- that is, details on just how much pesticide the EPA will accept in your movie-time snack. If you don't have time to curl up with this PDF, let me cut to the chase: The list of acceptable chemical residues is long and includes malathion, a nasty organophosphate.
The past two to three years, I've eaten more popcorn than I did when I was a kid (I mostly ate it when we went to the movies). I used to eat microwavable popcorn about twice a week and when I worked at a movie theater...I actually ate quite a bit (but then eventually got burnt out).
My girlfriend bought me a popcorn maker so I feel it's a bit healthier for me than the microwavable popcorn with the extra "butter."
Anyone rethought their microwavable popcorn after reading that article?
I'm already looking to buy some organic popcorn seeds.
Malathion is used for the immediate killing of small mites and other insects and their eggs that damage plants by sucking their sap. It can be washed off of food products. No, it probably isn't thoroughly washed off of your popcorn seed before processing - or anything else it is used on. That list is long and includes everything from roses through vegetables to fruits. The US has specific limits on what and how much pesticides can be used on food products - unfortunately, those grapes in the store from Chile or any fruits, nuts, or food products grown anywhere else and sold in your store may not have the same restrictions.
Malathion has a prescription use as a topical treatment for head lice. Again, this is a minimal concentration and is meant for topical treatment only.
I have used Malathion in the past as a quick knock-down for a pest infestation; but only according to MSDS recommended mixtures (or, less) and only up to 5 days before harvest. I also wash (usually, scrub with a soft brush!) all fresh vegetables and fruits thoroughly before processing or eating. There are specific rules for US gardeners and farmers for the uses of these chemical pesticides. I do try to use organic methods now, but if you are counting on a particular harvest that is about to be decimated by an infestation, you can still use such a product responsibly.
Again, any time you buy any processed food, or any fresh fruit or vegetables that are imported, you do not know what you are getting, especially if it came from out of the country. The melaine in the milk and wheat products should have shown everyone that - unfortunately, it didn't.
I'll be happy when I can grow all of my own food...you really can't trust anything you buy in the big stores anymore, only thing I trust that I buy is stuff from nearby farmers/growers, who I know and know what goes into what they grow/raise...
Uhhhhhhhh, you do remember that corn sits in a husk? That Malathion spray (great stuff, have used it a lot in my life) ends up on the husk and not the corn kernel. The husk gets tossed. If you were eating real Mexican tacos and scarfing down the husk, then maybe there might be an issue.
You really don't want to be eating most corn rusts, smut, or squash bugs, or the other corn pests and diseases.
I havent' read the link yet, but I've known for sometime that non-organic popcorn is going to come from Monsanto made round-up ready corn. (Monsanto owns the rights to most of the world's seed supply, so you can almost be guaranteed your eating Monsanto's gmo corn in your corn syrupy candy bars.) Its' dna is encoded to withstand the effects of the heavy pesticides that it will be doused with in the fields. It's also going to be from a gmo source which we still don't know what the effects that gmo's have on our bodies.
Not only that, the popcorn bag is usually laced with some material to make Teflon and can be a contaminant in water supply... although "no" health problems have been connected to this material.. a lot of Teflon manufacturers don't "use" it anymore... even though I know all this... I think I still eat popcorn...
We buy our popcorn in bulk - certified organic. We pop it ourselves in a big pot on the stove. Sometimes we mix a bit of organic sugar and organic canola oil and heat that up in the pot first, then add the organic popcorn.... keep it moving as it pops... and what you get is organic kettle corn! The kids and hubby love it.
READ the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" for more on the problems with conventionally grown corn and the bad ways it's being used... google monsanto, too... and then maybe look into HFCS... don't believe those commercials you see on TV. HFCS is bad bad bad.
Uhhhhhhhh, you do remember that corn sits in a husk? That Malathion spray (great stuff, have used it a lot in my life) ends up on the husk and not the corn kernel. The husk gets tossed. If you were eating real Mexican tacos and scarfing down the husk, then maybe there might be an issue.
You really don't want to be eating most corn rusts, smut, or squash bugs, or the other corn pests and diseases.
The chemicals go into the soil, as well... and the plant is supposed to be drawing it's water and nutrients from the soil... the chemicals do end up within the product itself - not just on the outside. And aside from eating products full of chemicals now, they also wash off into our streams and rivers and pollute our air and make wildlife (and the agricultural workers who work those fields) sick, and kill beneficial insects in the areas sprayed as well. Organic methods are the way to go.
We buy our popcorn in bulk - certified organic. We pop it ourselves in a big pot on the stove. Sometimes we mix a bit of organic sugar and organic canola oil and heat that up in the pot first, then add the organic popcorn.... keep it moving as it pops... and what you get is organic kettle corn! The kids and hubby love it.
READ the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" for more on the problems with conventionally grown corn and the bad ways it's being used... google monsanto, too... and then maybe look into HFCS... don't believe those commercials you see on TV. HFCS is bad bad bad.
Do you buy it online?
I just heard about a grocery store here and it sells organic and/or locally grown food and I plan to see if they would have popcorn seeds. I'm not knowledgeable about what climates are agreeable to popcorn.
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Most popcorn is CRAP
