THERE’S nothing like a good health scare for stirring the apathetic out of
their armchairs. Some health scares definitely save lives, such as the one about
eating too much salt. Others may be misplaced, but still draw attention, for
example, to a pesticide which although doesn’t cause cancer as its opponents
say, is damaging wildlife.
So, into which category does that old chestnut the nitrate scare fall? I mean
the idea that nitrate from fertilisers gets into our food and drinking water
causing stomach cancer and turning babies blue. People tend to forget that tiny
amounts of nitrate are often…
