MexConnect.com Forums: Specific Focus: Mexican Kitchen: Post deleted by ET

Forums > Specific Focus > Mexican Kitchen

Apr 25, 2004, 11:05 AM

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TomG

Apr 25, 2004, 7:59 PM

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Re: [ET] Dulces con Plomo

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Thanks so much for your attentive informing, ET. Keep me posted inch by inch.

My question is: if lead is getting into the candy, what is so special about candy? What is the difference between candy and anything else? Nada mas que the kid factor, I'll bet. So where else is it?

Apr 25, 2004, 10:24 PM

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TomG

Apr 26, 2004, 6:11 AM

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Re: [ET] Dulces con Plomo

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the chile which means there's the possibility of a lot of other potentially contaminated foodstuffs

I haven't gotten over there to read the Monday installment, but coupling this with the December chapuline lead discussion (which followed my chowing down by a mere few days) I'm really worried about what I might read. What if my wife goes back to Midwestern soul food: meat, potatoes and gravy: it would be like eating in a church basement for the rest of my life.

Carron

Apr 26, 2004, 6:33 AM

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Re: [TomG] Dulces con Plomo

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Not to worry! I just read in a book on Japanese cooking the following dictum: "each time you eat something you have never tried before, you add 75 days to your life".

Ergo, I must assume that simply by living in Mexico I must be adding months, if not years even, to my life.

TomG

Apr 26, 2004, 7:17 PM

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Re: [ET] Dulces con Plomo

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Today's chili issue didn't make us real happy.

The chili fields were OK.

The chilis aren't sun dried, they are blasting them with fuel oil burners. I wouldn't be fooled by a reporter calling a dryer a machine. That is a flattery to the dryer. My guess is we are dealing with the likes of old fuel oil furnace blowers, or those primitive tube burners they sell farmers to warm unoccupied spaces. #2 Fuel oil + coloring to identify road taxes paid = diesel fuel. "Natural gas" - read propane. All in all we’re really talking about the equivalent of hanging a chili behind the tailpipe of a municipal bus until it is dry.

Then the guy from Zacatecas stomps the dried chilis down into the bulto to fill it tight like you see it in the Mercado seco. But wait! Tough guys from Ojo Calientes, Zacatecas wear cowboy boots with raised heels – about 1.5 to 2 inches. Remember all those dogs in the streets. Those raised boot heels leave a darned nice gap to collect stuff. The sophisticated California bunch was only looking for and testing for lead. What about pinworms? I’m washing my chilis in detergent.

And then some are throwing rocks, nails, and lead battery terminals into the bags to up the weight before they sell to the grinding mills. It’s the battery terminals I object to.

Can I grind my own hand-washed chilis in my coffee bean grinder? Or what? A lot of things depend on this: my sweet corn, my popcorn……

jennifer rose

Apr 26, 2004, 7:35 PM

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Re: [TomG] Dulces con Plomo

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Today's chili issue didn't make us real happy. [snip]

Can I grind my own hand-washed chilis in my coffee bean grinder? Or what? A lot of things depend on this: my sweet corn, my popcorn……

Of course you can. Everyone's got to eat at least a kilo of dirt in a lifetime. And the air's pretty good about killing germs. Why, even the FDA in your country permits a reasonable amount of rodent parts in acceptable food items. Get used to it.

bournemouth

Apr 26, 2004, 9:13 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Dulces con Plomo

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"even the FDA in your country" makes me ask the question. Jennifer, have you given up US citizenship or have I misunderstood, and you've never been a US citizen - enquiring minds would like to know.

TomG

Apr 27, 2004, 7:36 AM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Leaded and Unleaded Candy

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In today’s issue of the 6 part Lead in Mexican Candy report:

http://www.ocregister.com/investigations/2004/lead/index.shtml

The Orange County Register (California) focused on candy production and candy wrappers. A lot of this happens in Michoacan. Tomorrows issue promises to be on pottery in its relationship to candy. I hope this provides a lot of information that logically extends beyond candy.

To his credit, the Governor of Michoacán took a less informal stance on the peoples' public health implying that all people, including Mexicans, deserve the benefit of the same quality standards enjoyed in my country (USA). That is, if I am reading him correctly. He seems even to be implying not only that candy should not be made in leaded and unleaded versions, but that other products should meet common (higher) standards. I am making this up when I say “higher”; I simply assumed that he means the higher standard and not the lower standard of the two countries when he says “the same quality standards”. I made that assumption based on my romantic feelings that he has the Mexican peoples' best interest at heart, as did his father and grandfather before him. I could be daft.

Here are the words as they appeared on my computer:

Quote

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

The Register asked stakeholders for their ideas about how to solve the problem of lead in candy.

Q: How can all candy be made to one standard?

LAZARO CARDENAS BATEL
Governor of Michoacán, one of the biggest candy-producing states in Mexico

A: First of all, that is ethically very wrong. In addition, Mexico and the U.S. have a commercial treaty and should use it as a basis for creating the same quality standards for products sold on both sides of the border.

(This post was edited by TomG on Apr 27, 2004, 7:38 AM)

TomG

Apr 28, 2004, 7:09 AM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Lead in Pottery Glazes

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Todays issue is on lead in pottery and packaging.

"Chili, salt, sugar, citric acid ... everything has lead," said Javier Arroyo, an official for popular Mexican candy company Grupo Lorena, who says the company works hard to keep ingredients and packaging below federal lead limits. "It's not easy," he said.

http://www.ocregister.com/...004/lead/index.shtml

Tomorrow looks to be dull border shipping/crossing/inspection/trade issues.

But on Friday they will publish the whole series in Spanish, which gives everyone an opportunity to print off a Spanish copy and pass it on to Mexican friends or aid organizations.

(This post was edited by TomG on Apr 28, 2004, 9:21 AM)