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  • SlimSharonSlim
    SlimSharonSlim Posts: 85 Member
    @meganpettigrew86 Nope i'm afraid there really aren't any wine tours in the UK........i could book a trip to venture onto a wine tasting weekend etc but i think if i were to book something like that it would be driving fast cars on a race track as that would interest me a hell of a lot more..............so megan my quest for sulphur free wine continues lol :D
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    Old_Cat_Lady wrote: »
    Gosh, now I wonder why sulfur in wine is bad... great.....

    I've heard it's what causes the headaches many people get after drinking red wine even when not over-consuming.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Your health is more at risk from contracting salmonella from the individual who picks your organic food, packs your organic food in 100% recycled packages, and ships it in a 100% renewable-powered vehicle to your local neighborhood organic farmer's market than from any pesticide residues that may exist on mass-market stuff from fields planted and sprayed exclusively with Monsanto products.

    Actually conventional food carries a higher risk of contamination than organic. Remember the big salmonella outbreak in California amongst the spinach growers? It claimed the lives of several children. Well all the spinach was recalled that tested positive for salmonella and the only brands not affected were the organic ones.

    There have been recalls on organic produce though, including spinach for salmonella. I don't think there is a big difference in the risk between organic and non-organic contamination.
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
    Macy9336 wrote: »

    The seeds were slowly removed over time via cross breeding, not through GE technology. Two different methods.
    Cross breeding is still alive and well today. In fact most of the advances in developing drought resistant crops has been without the use of GE.

    Which ones? Genuinely curious, I'm not aware of any drought resistant crops result of cross breeding. I imagine it's been unnecessarily time consuming though.
  • meganpettigrew86
    meganpettigrew86 Posts: 349 Member
    SlimSharonSlim wrote: »
    @meganpettigrew86 Nope i'm afraid there really aren't any wine tours in the UK........i could book a trip to venture onto a wine tasting weekend etc but i think if i were to book something like that it would be driving fast cars on a race track as that would interest me a hell of a lot more..............so megan my quest for sulphur free wine continues lol :D

    See driving fast cars not my thing, although I did like kart racing recently. I bet the sulphur free stuff does not taste any good or they just use a different chemical instead.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »

    The seeds were slowly removed over time via cross breeding, not through GE technology. Two different methods.
    Cross breeding is still alive and well today. In fact most of the advances in developing drought resistant crops has been without the use of GE.

    Which ones? Genuinely curious, I'm not aware of any drought resistant crops result of cross breeding. I imagine it's been unnecessarily time consuming though.

    http://www.burpee.com/heat-tolerant/
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    meganpettigrew86 wrote: »
    SlimSharonSlim wrote: »
    @meganpettigrew86 Nope i'm afraid there really aren't any wine tours in the UK........i could book a trip to venture onto a wine tasting weekend etc but i think if i were to book something like that it would be driving fast cars on a race track as that would interest me a hell of a lot more..............so megan my quest for sulphur free wine continues lol :D

    See driving fast cars not my thing, although I did like kart racing recently. I bet the sulphur free stuff does not taste any good or they just use a different chemical instead.

    Not really. Fermenting plants and such naturally produce SO2. Winemakers just add a little more for preservation. My guess would be that the sulfite-free varietals don't have as long of a shelf life.

    Apparently, if you decant your wine, the sulphur dioxide will escape before you drink it. So really there's nothing to worry about.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I don't buy organic. I DO buy as close to the grower as possible for produce and meat. This means staying away from the big national chain grocery stores and buying my meat and produce from locally owned independents who buy locally grown meat and produce, as well as farmers Markets and roadside farmstands.
  • meganpettigrew86
    meganpettigrew86 Posts: 349 Member
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    meganpettigrew86 wrote: »
    SlimSharonSlim wrote: »
    @meganpettigrew86 Nope i'm afraid there really aren't any wine tours in the UK........i could book a trip to venture onto a wine tasting weekend etc but i think if i were to book something like that it would be driving fast cars on a race track as that would interest me a hell of a lot more..............so megan my quest for sulphur free wine continues lol :D

    See driving fast cars not my thing, although I did like kart racing recently. I bet the sulphur free stuff does not taste any good or they just use a different chemical instead.

    Not really. Fermenting plants and such naturally produce SO2. Winemakers just add a little more for preservation. My guess would be that the sulfite-free varietals don't have as long of a shelf life.

    Apparently, if you decant your wine, the sulphur dioxide will escape before you drink it. So really there's nothing to worry about.

    That makes sense, our cider only turns into vinegar if left exposed to air and it is simply, yeast, apple/quince juice, water, and sugar.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited September 2017
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    meganpettigrew86 wrote: »
    SlimSharonSlim wrote: »
    @meganpettigrew86 Nope i'm afraid there really aren't any wine tours in the UK........i could book a trip to venture onto a wine tasting weekend etc but i think if i were to book something like that it would be driving fast cars on a race track as that would interest me a hell of a lot more..............so megan my quest for sulphur free wine continues lol :D

    See driving fast cars not my thing, although I did like kart racing recently. I bet the sulphur free stuff does not taste any good or they just use a different chemical instead.


    Apparently, if you decant your wine, the sulphur dioxide will escape before you drink it. So really there's nothing to worry about.

    That is actually an urban myth. There ARE products on the market that use hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the sulfites. 2SO2GO ($25 for 100 uses) and Just the Wine ($6 for 25 uses).

    The only other option is to drink a young, low sulfite wine.

  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Ethylene is naturally given off by tomatoes as they're ripening, so I'm thinking your chart is scaremongering.

    I would agree on the 'toxic' part being a scare tactic. However, while ethylene gas is naturally occurring, there is a manmade ethylene gas that is typically used to ripen produce in the USA. It is usually only allowed on conventional produce, excepting bananas that have a, well, basically a waiver to use the gas even on organic bananas (they take MONTHS to ripen, sometimes, if the gas is not used).

    This gas CAN cause problems for some folks, however. I know a few people with an allergy to some of the ingredients used to create the man made version of the gas and they react to any produce it is used on (it penetrates peel and gets into the flesh).
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    edited September 2017
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    They aren't GMO meaning modified in a lab, but yes ALL plants have been genetically modified in that they've been selectively bred for several thousand of years by humans.

    That's actually a misunderstanding of the term as it has been defined, scientifically. Plants have genetically CHANGED over time, due to natural breeding or mutation, or due to selective breeding by humans.

    Genetic modification involves alterations in genes that have never, and CAN never, occur in nature, basically. Like, as an example, combining fish DNA with plant DNA (which has been done). You're never going to have a fish and a tomato getting it on, you know? ;-)

    If it can occur in nature, even if that nature is helped a little by humans being a cheering section, or introducing similar species, then the changes are not considered genetic modifications, but simply genetic changes.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    re: the op's question.

    Yes, there are differences in organic produce, but only because of the practices used. With you being in the UK, obviously avoiding GMO's and cost issues are not going to really be prevalent. So pesticide residues and WHICH chemicals you are trying to avoid seems the most common differences. I have noticed no real improvement in taste or anything.

    I honestly do not know how these affect regular folks, but here's my experience.

    I have a very rare disorder, and because of this, I actually react to a lot of chemicals, and I've gotten to learn a LOT of things that are on or in our produce that you would't expect, because when my disorder triggered, suddenly I could hardly find a single thing to eat without making me vilely ill. As an example, there can be ripening sprays, ripening gases, anti-sprouting agents, waxes and coatings, anti-fungals, anti-bacterials, preserving agents, etc...

    Anything you eat that is out of season? Something was done to it to get it that way, whether that's to preserve it so it can be shipped from far away, or something to help store it for longer so you can have it out of season, or sometimes, a green house. Anytime you have greens that don't have little bite marks in them, something was done to the leaves to protect them. And so on.

    Some things can be washed off, but more frequently, the chemicals will make it inside the flesh of the produce itself so you can't get it off.

    It's up to you to decide if you think the chemicals are a problem. Personally, from what I've seen, for very, very healthy people...it's not that big a deal. BUT, for anyone who has auto-immune disorders in the family, or anyone who might have any slight mutations in how their body can process certain substances or chemicals, or has not-as-healthy organs (especially those that filter some toxins that can be in chemicals, like the liver), then more chemicals CAN have an impact.

    Sometimes it's small, but for me and much of my family, there was a HUGE decrease in arthritis pain, in headaches, and even an improvement for thyroid problems and immune system protection from illness. So for me, and mine, avoiding chemicals and eating organic made a massive difference in quality of life. But again, I think that's because we all have some issues with processing some of the chemicals that are involved in pesticides and such (especially because some organic approved chemicals cause us issues, too).

    Personally, if you have any health issues, I think it can be worth exploring a bit, see if it helps. If not, you can not worry about it, you know?

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Old_Cat_Lady wrote: »
    Gosh, now I wonder why sulfur in wine is bad... great.....

    Sulfites including sulfur dioxide. A few people are allergic or sensitive to them and get headaches after imbibing. Like most allergies/sensitivities is is a tiny minority.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    They aren't GMO meaning modified in a lab, but yes ALL plants have been genetically modified in that they've been selectively bred for several thousand of years by humans.

    That's actually a misunderstanding of the term as it has been defined, scientifically. Plants have genetically CHANGED over time, due to natural breeding or mutation, or due to selective breeding by humans.

    Genetic modification involves alterations in genes that have never, and CAN never, occur in nature, basically. Like, as an example, combining fish DNA with plant DNA (which has been done). You're never going to have a fish and a tomato getting it on, you know? ;-)

    If it can occur in nature, even if that nature is helped a little by humans being a cheering section, or introducing similar species, then the changes are not considered genetic modifications, but simply genetic changes.

    Thank you! People do not have an understanding of what GMO actually is (as defined by science). Selective breeding and hybridization are NOT Genetically Modified.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    re: sulfites in wine.

    If you are looking for very low sulfite/sulphur wine...you might want to explore non-grape wine. The issue actually more complicated than many talk about.

    Grapes are susceptible to certain types of fungal infections, so sulfites are frequently used on grapes BEFORE they are even harvested. It gets into the soil, and into the grapes. And then of course there is the added sulfites to the wine itself. And the fact that grapes are naturally higher in sulphur to begin with (one of a few types of foods that are).

    Wines that are truly 'sulfite free' actually have to take OUT sulfites, even if they didn't add any in, just due to the field sulfite issues, in my experience. I react to sulfites, myself, and I can't even have grapes at the store because of the sulfite issue. :-( It's low level, mind you, but still present.
  • SlimSharonSlim
    SlimSharonSlim Posts: 85 Member
    Thank you so much everyone..............really interesting read.........and i've read all your comments! :)

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