From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!alice!rabbit!wolit
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Title: Re: chemicals on salad bars?
Article-I.D.: rabbit.1235
Posted: Wed Mar 16 13:24:10 1983
Received: Wed Mar 23 01:21:54 1983


	Someone told me that restuarants often put some sort of chemicals
	on their salad bars to keep the vegetables in better shape.
	Has any one heard of this, if so what chemical is it?  I've
	heard some grocery stores spray their produce with some sort of
	sulfide derivative to keep the vegetables looking fresher.  
	Any info would be appreciated.

A few weeks ago, "60 Minutes" (I think it was) ran a story on this.
It seems that the food service and retailing industries use an
anti-oxidant (sodium sulfite, if memory serves) to keep food attractive.
The FDA classifies this stuff as safe, but some people are
hypersensitive to it, and develop allergic-type reactions that are
potentially very dangerous.  Some groups are trying to get the FDA to
force users of these chemicals to inform their patrons and customers
that they are doing so.  Naturally, the industry is fighting this.
My personal feeling is that the customers do have a right to know if
their health is being threatened (even if this only affects a very
small fraction of the population).  My guess is that the industry's
insurers will probably force them either to give up the practice or
post warnings, since they are otherwise open to liability claims by
anyone who eats there and has a bad reaction.

	Jan Wolitzky