Hold The Turpentine, Please

[MikeB]

From the front page of today's Cebu Sun Star:

"THE Cebu City Council wants the City Health Department (CHD) to thoroughly inspect paint brushes in the city that are used as “basting brushes” in restaurants, food stalls and barbecue stalls along the road.

The call came after two environment groups detected high levels of lead in paint brushes, making their use for food applications unsafe.

The Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc. (PEJC) and EcoWaste Coalition, after conducting the third in a series of toxic chemicals testing in Cebu City, found that barbecue vendors in Carbon and Larsian use paint brushes on the food that they sell.

Paint brushes, they said, are not the right tools for basting sauce on meat because they contain a high amount of the toxic chemical called lead. The groups tested 19 paint brushes for toxic chemicals as part of their effort to prove that those sold in Cebu contain a safe amount of lead. The brushes sold in six hardware stores in Cebu City cost between P5 and P119. The result of the tests showed that of the 19 brushes, 16 were found to contain lead. The lead content of these brushes reached between 309 ppm (parts per million) and 10,500 ppm, which the groups said are way above the US limit of 90 ppm for lead in paint and surface coatings.

 

Forget Carbon but I used to live close to Larcian and have eaten there a few times. It's something to experience but I found the sanitary conditions lacking. A friend described it as being "good but not clean". My thoughts, "if it's not clean, it's not good".

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/26/paint-brushes-used-bbq-294470

[Call me bubba]

gives more meaning to

"ITS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES"   :kidding:

[robert k]

I don't think I would let it bother me too much. Lead is bad, but testing the brushes is not the same as testing the food that the brushes basted, how much lead actually transferred? If you are worried about lead, do not lick the painted anything :no:  and take your vitamins. The mineral zinc is especially important because if your body does not have the required zinc it will store what metal it can find, lead, cadmium or something else that is worse.

[MikeB]

The subtlety of the online article doesn't do justice to the actual headline story on the front of the paper, " Paint brushes used on bbq?  in large, bold letters. When I saw the headline I assumed that they were using actual paintbrushes that had been used to paint which was probably the intention. Definitely worked. What bothers me more is that this is typical of the "use whatever" attitude. I've seen some outrageous sanitary practices even in "1st class" restaurants, imagine what goes on in the back of the lesser ones. I was a restaurant manager many years ago, I doubt a single one would pass a standard western health inspection. 

[robert k]

Can they really be said to have a standard if they are selling Pag Pag {sp}, food retrieved from trash that people have already thrown out, cooked and served again? I presume the people selling the grilled roadkill on a skewer have a higher clientele.

[Old55]

There is no road kill in Philippines, double dead, used food or hot meat and so on. :th_thbarbaque:

[gapotwo]

There is no road kill in Philippines, double dead, used food or hot meat and so on. :th_thbarbaque:

Yum Yum..... ill have mine medium RARE please.... :dance:   :th_thbarbaque:  :13_4_10[1]: