At 7:16 PM -0400 6/20/1999, Katie Bretsch wrote:
>While I am ready personally to believe that wine and cheese were in the
>diet in a minor way for a long time before the dominance of organized
>agriculture,  I do doubt that foods like wine and cheese made up any
>_large_ portion of the diet for most individuals, anciently.  And, what
>was definitely _not_ around were all the additives you normally find in
>these kinds of foods as we get them commercially today.

<delurk>

once you move up a shelf or two from the boxed and 4-litre jug wines,
you'll find that the majority of premium wines have had nothing added to
them. Unfortunately, US laws do not require disclosure of any adulterants
used in winemaking, and some wineries will add various things to prevent
unwanted bacterial growth or to fix a "stuck" fermentation. Cheap wines
often have added sugar, colorings, and flavorings added to them.

the notation "contains sulfites" is required by US law. sulfites are a
normal by-product of fermentation, but it's still required to put a warning
on the label for people who are allergic to them.

natch, this doesn't account for pesticide and fertilizer residues, or
particulate fallout present on the fruit before it is crushed. the grapes
are never rinsed prior to crushing because it dilutes the juice. a number
of French producer, mostly in Bourgogne and Rhone, practice "biodynamique"
organic farming and the practice is becoming more popular in California
vintners.

PS if anyone lives in the Rochester NY area and knows of a reliable place
to buy unadulterated meats and such, please let me know. Stickers on the
beef I buy at the supermarket claim that it is  from Bossies raised without
hormones or antibiotics, but there's a little bit of a trust problem with
those claims, and the chicken and other meats do not have these stickers,
and god only knows what they're fed (I don't need to hear about the
grinding up of "downed" animals for feeds, thanks).

      ce n'est pas ma belle maison
                       ce n'est pas ma belle épouse
                                          où est cette grande automobile