Take it with a pinch of sugar!

Noel Farrugia, the opposition spokesman on food, agriculture and rural affairs, does not surprise me with his rather extraordinary response to my last letter (October 9). I have clashed with him before and his reaction was quite predictable. Mr Farrugia does not appreciate that what he writes is immediately suspect and open to criticism for the reason that he stands on a political platform.

Whenever he contributes a piece to the media he propagates a cause on behalf of the Labour Party or against the policies of the government or otherwise to embarrass the Nationalist Party in government. He is of course entitled to that and to give it an appropriate stance and colour or even to leave out facts detrimental to his argument. Accordingly, what he states is not necessarily persuasive to all and persons like myself will see his opinions in a different light.

Mr Farrugia states that he welcomes debate and free speech. His words and his actions do not gel with the sentiments expressed. His fist paragraph is loaded with undiluted sarcasm; he reverts to insults and he makes unsubstantiated assumptions about me that I am a "diehard Nationalist". That smacks of the discredited slogan very much touted by the MLP in forgettable times of "who is not with us is against us".

He goes on in suspicious vein to call me a Nationalist Party stooge or that someone has put me up to it. It is clear that my free speech is not easily tolerated by Mr Farrugia. I need not prove or disprove anything but I am not a member of the PN, never have been or will be. That also includes other political parties.

I do wish the PN general secretary or a responsible person would assure him that my writing disagreeing with him has no connection with the party and that I am in no way involved with them in any capacity serving the interests of the party. From previous confrontations with him in the media I have grown used to his sarcasm and insults but I am not prepared to accept his conducting inquiries as to my whereabouts. I am not listed in the phone book but that is irrelevant. It is only what I say and not who I am or where I live that is important.

I find his seeking me out to be quite disturbing. His action carries the implied message that free speech has limited borders of thought and expression.

I impute no sinister motives on Mr Farrugia's part and would like to think he has allowed his thinking that there may be blues under the beds to run counter to his normal reason and logic. If there are any plots against him, I am certainly not part of them. I await Mr Farrugia's apology.

Reverting to the subject matter of sugar prices and associated issues, Mr Farrugia is not entirely convincing on the points he made. For brevity's sake, I will restrict myself to two points. I come from a family of bakers in Qormi and Tarxien. I worked for a short time in these as well as at the Queen's Grocers bakery at Fortnum and Mason, Piccadilly London.

I have never known sugar to be used as a preservative. It may well be that it is probably used as a flavour enhancer but not as a preservative. Anyone buying a Maltese loaf without any scientific exploration of its contents will tell you that its freshness like a French baguette is of very short duration and its shelf life less than 10 hours.

That fact indicates that sugar as a preservative does not apply to a Maltese loaf and Mr Farrugia should as a service make known to the public the names of bakers he is certain use sugar as preservative. I am also not impressed by his reference to the amount of syrup content in soft drinks production.

I am well aware that two well known soft drinks are made from a treacle-like brown concentrate of sucrose and other ingredients which unless kept within certain temperature parameters could develop into large vats of bacteria culture. His 13:1 ratio, presumably a mix of this concentrate with carbonated water, makes that an eight per cent sugar content. This treacle-like substance has more sweetening potency than refined beet or cane sugar. His figures do not allow for fermentation in or temperature changes in its finished and drinkable form. A proper measurement should be taken when a bottle is opened. Proper analysis will show that my assertion will be vindicated. I did not pluck that figure of eight teaspoons of sugar from mid-air.

A bit less scientific but just as notable is the sugar encrustation that can be noticed in some bottles of these popular soft drinks. I am not certain if these occur because the bottles have not been washed properly or because the encrustation has developed as a result of a long shelf life. Whatever the cause, they act as a breeding ground for bacteria and are therefore potentially harmful.

Mr Farrugia has a right to criticise the government for not getting a good deal on sugar prices and quotas, as he states, but if better terms were obtained, as Mr Farrugia expects, than sugar consumption and use would be increased with resultant consequences to the health of the nation. Sugar lacks the nutrient properties essential to the human body such as protein, vitamins and mineral elements. It is well known in scientific circles that sugar is only empty calories and adds nothing to the health of the nation and in the quantities consumed by our people is indeed a serious threat to the nation's health.

Finally, I would like to say to Mr Farrugia that I am better informed than he thinks. My information is obtained from objective sources and not from those with a vested interest to provide me with the information they think I should have.