Ground control
The recent scare with frozen berries containing hepatitis has brought food safety into the public eye, particularly with regard to fruit and vegetables.
So let’s take a look at it. When we buy our fruit and veg from the supermarket are they any more or less safe than those bought from a local farmers’ market, or indeed those that are labelled as organic? And do we have to, as my mother taught me as a boy, wash our fruit before we eat it?
Well, the short answer is that locally grown fruit is subject to extremely high standards of safety; higher than anywhere in the world that I am aware of. This is controlled by an organisation called the APVMA — the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Association. This body strictly controls the use of pesticides and herbicides in Australia and issues licences to farmers for their use.
In other words, farmers are not free simply to spray whatever chemicals they wish, whenever and wherever they want. Not only do they have to apply to use each individual chemical, they must spray only specified amounts, a specified number of times and at specified intervals. This includes a strict regulation of the withholding time — the time period between when the last spray is conducted and the fruit is picked.
And then the fruit is tested. The APVMA sends inspectors to the wholesalers and markets to pick fruit off the truck and take it to a lab for testing. Only a certain amount of pesticide is allowed to be found on the fruit; if it’s above certain levels, the fruit is traced back and the farmer given a “please explain”.
And here’s the point about this people need to understand; these tolerances are extremely conservative. They are too conservative in my opinion. They take epidemiological data and apply scaling factors that mean the levels being detected are at the very limit of what today’s ultra-sensitive scientific instruments are capable of measuring. Most times the results simply come back as zero.
This ultra-conservative approach has seen the elimination of several very effective (and very safe) insecticides from farms, the most recent of which has been fenthion.
The consequences of this are twofold. If it is locally grown produce (i.e. Australian) you can have absolute confidence it is pesticide and chemical-free (even if it’s not “organic”). You therefore don’t need to wash it. You may still choose to wash it in case it has been handled by other people but that’s a separate issue. Secondly, the amount of imported fruit and veg coming into this country is going to increase. The standards, and therefore quality, vary from country to country and product to product. The frozen berries that had the hepatitis, for example, were considered “low risk” and therefore were submitted only to modest testing regimes.
But there are probably others out there, and for this reason the argument in favour of paying a little extra for locally grown produce has never been stronger than it is now.
Dr Chemical recommends
It’s not often that I come across a product that works better than I had expected but I like being pleasantly surprised.
Such a product is theAir Wick Freshmatic ($10.99, from supermarkets). It’s a standalone device that delivers tiny puffs of fragrance at preset intervals, and it’s perfect for covering routine pet smells.
If you have an indoor cat, for example, a sensitive nose will pick up the smells emanating from even a fully enclosed litter box, or perhaps a bowl of food. But with a couple of these devices (the vanilla and cashmere fragrance is particularly effective) you won’t even know they are there.
I have floor-to-ceiling Laminex kitchen cupboards but struggle to keep them “clean”! I wipe them over with clean warm soapy water (dishwashing liquid) each week and try and spot-clean as required during the week but all without success. I have tried many other options in the past (vinegar, Spray n’ Wipe, just warm water etc). After wiping them down with the warm soapy water I have even tried drying them with a cloth — still without success. It is as though they have a “greasy” appearance to them together with a “streaky” appearance. Can you give me some advice on how I can get my cupboards looking nice and clean and shiny?
-Lyn Bennett, Canning Vale
Use Mr Sheen aerosol. The white spirit will remove any greasy residues and the silicone will give it a smooth, glossy appearance.
I would be grateful if you could help me with a cleaning question that has baffled even Bunnings. The rubber backing on the bathmat and the mat that surrounds the toilet in my house has transferred to the tiled floor due to dampness and although I’ve thrown away the offending mats I’m left with the rubber backing on the floor. I have tried all sorts of cleaning agents, including acetone, and the professionals at Bunnings have advised me that they have nothing that removes this substance; in fact one of the gentlemen there told me he had the same problem at home. Trying to scrape it off with a knife doesn’t work either as it remains obstinately sticky. Do you have any suggestions?
-Marilyn Rainier, Dianella
That would be because Bunnings doesn’t sell a product that can help you. Go to a Masters Home Improvement store and buy a product called Citristrip. Brush it on, leave it for half an hour, and the rubber marks will just wipe off.
Please can you help my son and our retirement village to clean the white marks off our glass pool fence. I guess it’s caused by the chlorine treatment in the water, my son’s pool fence was given a protective finish but the glass looks so unsightly it obviously hasn’t helped and to date he hasn’t had any success cleaning his pool fence. Hopefully you can advise my son and the guys in our village on the correct way to deal with the problem. Keep up the good work, we love reading your advice column.
-Trish Phillips, Gwelup
The white marks are mineral deposits from the water. Any acid cleaner will get them off, such as BAM Easy Off Power Cleaner Soap Scum and Shine. But if you have a large area to do, get some hydrochloric acid from the hardware store, dilute it about 1 part in 4, put it in a generic garden sprayer and just spray it on. You will see the white deposits fizz as the acid hits them. And don’t worry about overspray on to pavers or bricks — it won’t damage them.
Keep a can of oven cleaner handy. It’s not only good for cleaning ovens but also for any oily marks on your benchtops.
Use paper towels instead of sponges — you avoid bacteria build-up and get a streak-free finish.
Make up a 70 per cent metho solution in a spray bottle. It’s an excellent general-purpose cleaner and disinfectant.
Generic brand laundry pre-washes are good for getting food stains off hard surfaces.
Mr Sheen is an excellent cleaner for getting fingermarks off cupboard doors and handles.
