As I’m sure you know, Oprah Winfrey won her civil suit last week, when a Texas jury decided she has the right to speak her mind on the subject of beef. The cattlemen’s lawsuit was initially brought under the auspices of the Texas “veggie libel” law. News stories about the Oprah trial noted “veggie libel” laws were passed by several states in the wake of what the newspapers called “the Alar scare of 1989.”
Oprah won her verdict on February 26, the ninth anniversary of the “60 Minutes” report on pesticides that touched off the so-called “Alar scare.” In those nine years, American chemical companies have spent millions of dollars trying to convince us that “60 Minutes” and the Natural Resources Defense Council cooked up a hysterical hoax about a harmless chemical called Alar. Let’s spend a few minutes looking at Alar to see if “veggie libel” laws could have applied even in that case.
The first common misconception about Alar is that it is a pesticide. It is not. Alar is a growth regulator and by spraying it on apples, growers produced a crop that was redder, firmer, stayed on the tree longer, resisted bruising and had a longer shelf life in stores. In short, Alar was used for cosmetic purposes only.
Alar is created by reacting succinic anhydride with 1,1-dimethylhydrazine. Dimethylhydrazine is a toxic chemical, also used to make rocket fuel. It was this component of Alar that caused all the fuss.
Alar first came on the market in 1968, when its use was approved for apples and peanuts. By 1973, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed dimethylhydrazine causes cancer in mice. In 1977, two more studies, one with mice, one with hamsters, showed dimethylhydrazine causing cancer.
By 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency was studying the risk of cancer in humans posed by Alar. In 1985, EPA began the long process of taking Alar off the market. In one week in 1986, both the National Food Processors Association and Gerber Baby Foods announced they had found Alar in apple sauce and apple juice. Ironically, one week later, EPA announced it would not try to remove Alar from the market, only reduce its use. Later that year, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged the EPA to ban Alar.
Also in 1986, the states of Massachusetts and Maine passed laws to phase out the use of Alar, the Washington State Apple Commission – Washington produces more than half of America’s apples – asked its growers to stop using Alar and even Uniroyal – Alar’s manufacturer – sent out an advisory recommending that Alar-treated apples not be used for apple sauce.
By the next year – 1987 – six major supermarket chains and nine food manufacturers refused to purchase apples treated with Alar.
All the events on the tedious list above took place more than a year before the Natural Resources Defense Council or “60 Minutes” ever mentioned Alar.
What happened that evening on “60 Minutes” was not a scare, it was not a hoax, it was an expose and it had been a long time coming. Alar is a dangerous chemical and it can cause cancer. Uniroyal pulled Alar off the American market in November of 1989 and ever since, the chemical industry has tried very hard to convince us that we were unreasonably “scared.” But the facts are there for those with desire to see and as the old saying goes, you could look it up.
Oh, and one more fact about Alar: Uniroyal only took it off the American market. It’s still in use in 71 countries around the world.
You Could Look It Up
As I’m sure you know, Oprah Winfrey won her civil suit last week, when a Texas jury decided she has the right to speak her mind on the subject of beef. The cattlemen’s lawsuit was initially brought under the auspices of the Texas “veggie libel” law. News stories about the Oprah trial noted “veggie libel” laws were passed by several states in the wake of what the newspapers called “the Alar scare of 1989.”
Oprah won her verdict on February 26, the ninth anniversary of the “60 Minutes” report on pesticides that touched off the so-called “Alar scare.” In those nine years, American chemical companies have spent millions of dollars trying to convince us that “60 Minutes” and the Natural Resources Defense Council cooked up a hysterical hoax about a harmless chemical called Alar. Let’s spend a few minutes looking at Alar to see if “veggie libel” laws could have applied even in that case.
The first common misconception about Alar is that it is a pesticide. It is not. Alar is a growth regulator and by spraying it on apples, growers produced a crop that was redder, firmer, stayed on the tree longer, resisted bruising and had a longer shelf life in stores. In short, Alar was used for cosmetic purposes only.
Alar is created by reacting succinic anhydride with 1,1-dimethylhydrazine. Dimethylhydrazine is a toxic chemical, also used to make rocket fuel. It was this component of Alar that caused all the fuss.
Alar first came on the market in 1968, when its use was approved for apples and peanuts. By 1973, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed dimethylhydrazine causes cancer in mice. In 1977, two more studies, one with mice, one with hamsters, showed dimethylhydrazine causing cancer.
By 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency was studying the risk of cancer in humans posed by Alar. In 1985, EPA began the long process of taking Alar off the market. In one week in 1986, both the National Food Processors Association and Gerber Baby Foods announced they had found Alar in apple sauce and apple juice. Ironically, one week later, EPA announced it would not try to remove Alar from the market, only reduce its use. Later that year, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged the EPA to ban Alar.
Also in 1986, the states of Massachusetts and Maine passed laws to phase out the use of Alar, the Washington State Apple Commission – Washington produces more than half of America’s apples – asked its growers to stop using Alar and even Uniroyal – Alar’s manufacturer – sent out an advisory recommending that Alar-treated apples not be used for apple sauce.
By the next year – 1987 – six major supermarket chains and nine food manufacturers refused to purchase apples treated with Alar.
All the events on the tedious list above took place more than a year before the Natural Resources Defense Council or “60 Minutes” ever mentioned Alar.
What happened that evening on “60 Minutes” was not a scare, it was not a hoax, it was an expose and it had been a long time coming. Alar is a dangerous chemical and it can cause cancer. Uniroyal pulled Alar off the American market in November of 1989 and ever since, the chemical industry has tried very hard to convince us that we were unreasonably “scared.” But the facts are there for those with desire to see and as the old saying goes, you could look it up.
Oh, and one more fact about Alar: Uniroyal only took it off the American market. It’s still in use in 71 countries around the world.