Thomas E. Billings wrote [snip]:

> I came across the below a few days ago and thought others might find it of
> interest. Cold storage is of considerable interest to growers and
> produce brokers, as it lengthens the season, and may allow entry
> of fruit into markets that are effectively closed at present by long
> refrigerated quarantine requirements (e.g., South Korea).

[...]

>       'Hass' avocado (Persea americana MU.) fruit were heat treated in
water at 38  degree C for 0 to 120 minutes, and stored at 0.5 degree C for up to 28
days. After  storage, fruit were ripened at 20 degree C and their quality evaluated...

I am a student of Dr. J. H. Tilden, who spent a 65 year medical career
fighting with the drug companies and the AMA.  His book, "Toxemia Explained" has been
posted at...

http://home.att.net/~JamesReagan/

...and I hope anyone who truly cares about  q u a l i t y  takes the time to
read it on screen.  His premise, maintained until his dying day, was that nature
builds health and only nature can cure sick people.  Drugs, or other abuse of the
organism can only ameliorate symptoms.  In other words, building quality into a
person renders them immune to "attack" from outside forces or organisms.

This, of course, is exactly opposite to the AMA scheme of trying to "fight"
disease.  Hell, we and they both know the money is in sickness, not health.

There is a similarity to food.  Nature tends to break down imperfectly
formed food---leaves, seeds, fruits, whatever.  Mold and rot are the primary
methods she uses.  Bacteria and insects are called in to help sometimes.  A true test of
"quality," as decreed by nature is that high quality apples, pears, grapes,
persimmons, lettuce, cabbage, or whatever will DEHYDRATE, BUT NOT ROT!  Low
quality, poorly mineralized food can't wait to rot.  It will rot on your counter and
it will rot in your refrigerator.

The vast mass of humanity tries to get the food they buy into their mouth
before it rots.  For instance, they will cut off a rotten part of a fruit and eat the
rest. To me that is stupid: they were given a clear signal that whole piece of
fruit was not fit to be eaten by man or beast.

The food adulterating industry knows this and feverishly works to get the
food in your mouth just before it rots.  Canning, whether in jars or cans, is one
way of mummifying food.  Most of the public has finally wised up that such food is
dead, dead, dead.  Freezing is another way to stall the inherent tendency of low
quality food to rot, but most people haven't caught on to that yet.

Tom has been kind enough to shine a light on this heat treating trickery
being adapted to the avocado industry.  Actually, the process has been used to
"fight" brown rot on peaches for years and years (surely you knew those
hard-as-a-rock tasteless peaches in the market were junk).

Those who bother to read the mentioned book and then work their brain a
little will begin to understand they really don't want to eat an avocado that nature was
trying to break down and that was saved by the shenanigans of some food
technologist who thinks industrially.

Unless of course health is not important to them.

Regards,
Rex Harrill

PS: I have one Brix chart that shows typical avocados measuring 8, but
excellent alligator pears from Central America ranging up to 22.  Wouldn't it be nice
if the people exerting all that effort to con the consumer would divert it instead
to growing higher quality fruit?