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Show DSbtutl NEWS, THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1973 IS tents, particularly in respect to vitamins and minerals. B; Dr. Jeaa Mayer 5 Consider the familiar Harbors University For too Song, the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables has been overlooked and neglected In this country. Unfortunately, the qualities selected in the breeding of improved" varieties has been entirely related to external appearance and to the convenience of harvesters, shippers, and processors. What is more, the harvesting and "ripening" practices show little regard for preserving the nutritional con (Hley j 'f tomato. Love apple" was Its first popular name, and in my youth the expression "she's quite a tomato" evoked an image of tender lushness. Dorothy Lamour and Lana Turner were "tomatoes." But the tomato, a whole new thing. 1973-styl- is Millions of dollars worth of research have been sucessfui-lapplied to produce what California nutritionist Audrey T. Gross has called "a clockwork tomato. y rs'" bafeol fthirohs In its perfection, it is hard, not iuiey: uniform in size and shape, not plump. And above all, it has to be tough enough to be picked by automatic harvesters, tumbled through a mechanized assembly line, and shipped thousands of miles all without a telltale bruise. As for the nutritional content, one tomato recently developed at Purdue University is being heralded as potentially a great commercial Success because of its particularly red color and its uniform shape yet, when ripe, it will at best contain approximately half the vitamin A content of the varie- - Ml ifs tisms yna Onadl a isami to call The problem comes, howev- er, with the fact that ethylene gas can turn a green tomato red and make it look ripe. Since a green tomato can be in any various states of ripeness, the practice of harvesting green tomatoes and red- dening them artificially creates a good chance that (TiflYER youll be getting ties of tomatoes presently on the market. But wait, there is worse to come. Most tomatoes we are eating now are not ripened on the vine but are being picked green in Southern climates, and artifically "ripened by spraying them with ethylene gas in special gas chambers! Both from the viewpoint of taste and that of nutrition, such a tomato is inferior to one that is ripened on the wine. a sizeable tomato got to be so red? ft Is to be hnpfd that the new .Ties for nutritional labeling will provide use economic incentive for food producers to seek more nutritious varieties and better harvesting and processing methods so fruits and vegetables are properly ripened when they reach our tables. . a Ail. f liVf M ftHt&V.C! b i ,1, - proportion of unripe fruit. "Consumer ReIndeed, in its January cites ports" issue a random survey conducted by University of Florida scientists who found that in of one shipment mature green Florida tomatoes, 40 percent were in fact unripe. In another shipment, 78 percent were not ripe! There used to be a widespread feeling among shoppers that color was tantamount to good nutrition. But, obviously, you can no longer count on it. It is true that ripeness and color are not completely synBesides the unnaturally red onymous. At least, certain varieties of tomatoes can be ma- tomato, it seems that there ture in terms of tast and are now apparently more colornutritional value before they ful carrots, too, which not, turn red. however, any richer in pure A naturally red tomato is vitamin A than the paler versions. certainly ripe. Even some be These are only two exgreen tomatoes also can own ripeness amples of the way consumers ripe. (Make your test by opening a tomato and have been repeatedly led to inexamining the seeds: If they crease their consumption of are white and you easily cut products that were poor in nuthem with a knife, the tomato trients. Without any informais not yet ripe.) tion, how can you tell how a ae Seat belts can save lives What is the leading cause of death among young people? If you say cancer, food poisoning, snakebite or Vietnam, forget it. But score one for your side if you answered the automobile, for traffic accidents are the biggest killer of people "between the ages of 1 and 34. Sadly, nine out of ten motorists have the cure for this epidemic at their fingertips. If 80 percent used the lap and shoulder belts in their automobiles, as many as 15,000 people might not be killed each year. But safety experts have yet to figure out why so many of disus risk disfigurement, memberment or death rather than buckle up. 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