Thanks in advance for your response,

you have to take the above replys serious. It is really true. My daughter suffers from a difficult dermatitis since she's a baby, now she's 9...because of the pollution and the clor in the water to wash.
If you can afford it you can buy water to drink (1,5 per bottle). I cannot afford it, feel sick day after day to drink foulish water with clortaste.
About the food you have good solutions. There are some 'Sekem-shops' in Cairo, they sale fruits and vegetables, many basic food, frozen meat, cheese, even clothes and toys , all grown or made without poison or chemicals. But it's really expensive.
All supermarkets close the freezers over night to keep the high cost of electricity, even the expensive ones like alfa etc. If you go in the morning you find still the alu-covers up-and the whole food soft.
You can find eggs with date on each one in the biggest markets for a much higher prices.
You can buy clean bread like 'Rich bake'in supermarkets which is not touched by humanhands(also expensive)froma 'normal' baker you find easily dirty things insidebaked like ashes from cigarettes, flights, papers, stones, etc. The people who make bred don't know anything about hygiene and they self use to live like that..If you buy bred from a governmentbakery (wholecornbred) you will have even bigger surprises, so as worms and a zoo of small animals ..and the workers sweat...
I think the government doesn't care much about the foodhealth. Once I saw by my own eyes how someone prepared the sauce of ,Koscherie': He stood on the pavement with a big box, lokked like a hand-mixer from 60 years ago, very dirty. He had several 'boxes' of dirty sandy tomatoes.This boy and his hands was even dirtier. He took one after one, passed them trough that mashine included the greens..and flights.
I live in egypt since more then 10 years, but I still get sick seeing this things.
You can buy fresh slaughtered chicken if you don't like the salmonellchicken of the supermarkets;
but - can you do that: choice a chicken, look in it's eyes and say: this one please..then you have to sit down for a couple of minutes, while you can enjoy to imagen how they just now cut it's neck, ecpecially for you...Then they give you the chicken in a small thin plasticbag....with it's still warm body inside...bon appetit.
About medicin.Someoneworks in this place told us, that expired medicine is replaced in new packets and sachets.
I swear it's not for me and surely not for you.
Believe me, you already live in 'heaven', you cannot get it better.

Thank you,

Khalid

quote:

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Originally posted by Khalid66:
First let me say hello to everyone, I just joined today. I am a native Egyptian, but I grew up and continue to live in the U.S. I am considering moving permanently to Egypt because my wife and I love the country and would prefer to raise our children their so that they can learn their culture and religion, but I do have some concerns. One of my main concerns is the quality and safety of food. We eat only organic food in the US so that we can eat a diet free of chemicals, hormones and other unhealthy additives. I constantly hear that cheese and milk in Egypt contain Formaline or Formaldehyde as a preservative. This is a chemical known to cause cancer. Can anyone tell me if this is true and if so, are there safe alternatives in Egypt? Secondly, what other foods should one be concerned about and for that matter what other health and safety issues do we need to at least be aware of and how can they be avoided. The pollution is Cairo is something we are obviously aware of and will live with, but beyond that any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We miss Egypt very much and are eager to return permanently.

Thanks in advance for your response,

Khalid

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Back home I buy mostly organic dairy products and bread, but I've never found any of that here, but then I haven't checked out any of the Sekem stores, so as Sara mentioned they might have organic cheese and meet.

I guess there's not really a market for that kind of thing and the general public awareness about toxines in food seems to be very low - not surprisingly so in a country where many can hardly afford to feed themselves and their families at all.

About formaldehyde in milk - it wouldn't surprise me, but I would thoroughly check out if it's not just another urban legend.

]http://organic.com.au/news/2003.02.01/

http://www.sekem.com/

Here's an excerpt from one of the links that you might find interesting:

Most Egyptians are unaware of the dangers lurking in their food. Pesticide residues linger on fruit, chemical fertilizers leach into leafy vegetables and controversial genetically modified organisms - the kind that Americans refuse to eat - crop up in biscuits. Farmers trying to make ends meet are using science to increase productivity, pumping livestock with antibiotics and hormones to fatten them for slaughter. Meanwhile, producers are infusing products with fungicides and preservatives to extend shelf life.

By the time it reaches the consumer, a food product might contain enough traces of biological and chemical additives to pique the interest of U.N. arms inspectors. While quantities of the individual toxins may be low, the cumulative long-term effect is a frightening unknown. Many of these chemicals are banned in the United States and Europe, and are linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer.

Despite substantial reductions over the past 15 years, farmers still use pesticides the way they use sugar in their tea. Malathion, a chemical cousin to deadly sarin gas, is sprinkled on Sinai herb crops. Cypermethrin, a carcinogen that impairs nerve signals, blankets vegetable fields in the Delta. Atrazine, a powerful weed-killer that turns frogs hermaphroditic, glistens on sugar cane stalks in Upper Egypt.

However, when it comes to the average salad, things are not as bad as they might seem, asserts Dr. Salwa Dogheim, director of the Central Laboratory for Residue Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Foods.

The government-run lab screens food products destined for both the domestic and export markets, testing 20,000 samples a year for residues of 82 commonly-used pesticides. Results are compared to maximum residue levels (MRLs) set in the FAO/WHO international health guidelines.

"You can feel safe," says Dogheim. "Most fruits and vegetables in Egypt are within acceptable limits."

Fruit samples tested in 2002 showed 64.9 percent free of any measurable pesticide residues, 33 percent with residues below the MRL, and only 2.1 percent in excess. Results for vegetables were even better. Nearly 85 percent were free of pesticides, 12.3 percent had residues below MRLs and 2.78 percent were in violation.

quote:

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Originally posted by Stacia:
Juhayna milk is suppose to be 100% natural and free from chemicals--says so on the bottle, but wouldn't bet money on it.

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Once, I was visiting my regular corner shop to get my daily groceries and there, before my very eyes, was a cheeky little mouse audaciously nibbling the cheeses in the glass cabinet, oblivious to my rantings at the shopkeeper who just shrugged it off.

I continue to be amazed that this topic isn't of central importance to people. I understand that organic foods are more expensive and that organic farming is more challenging for farmers. Most farmers find it much easier to spray chemicals on their crops to kill pests or to inject hormones in their animals to fatten them up rather than farming in a chemical-free, additive-free environment. The truth is that organic farming has proven to be as cost effective as "conventional" farming, but it is simply easier to take shortcuts and spray chemicals. People need to demand better from their farmers and their government if they care about their health and the health of their children.

I'll use my experience as an example to illustrate my point. I am a 38 year old male. I was born in Egypt and emmigrated with my family to the U.S. when I was five years old. I have always taken good care of my health and my body. I played sports throughout my youth and until the past couple of years I ran six miles (10 km) per day and lifted weights three to four times per week. I do not smoke or drink and have always eaten healthy foods. In fact, my friends call me a "health nut". Furthermore, my family is healthy with no history of cancer. However, during the past two years I have battled cancer and spent more than $200,000 for my medical care. I have medical insurance, but I have spent thousands out of my own pocket nonetheless. The type of cancer I have is not curable nor is it known what causes it. It is likely from something in the environment, meaning something in the air I breath or in the food I eat. The most likely case is that it has more to do with the food I have eaten from farmers who would rather spray chemicals on crops or cheat by putting formaline in milk or inject hormones in animals to fatten them up and increase their profit margin, etc. But, ultimately I submit that Allahu a'lam and Alhamdulillah. This has actually been a blessing in my life because it has brought me closer to Allah and my family and anything that brings me closer to Allah and my family is, indeed, blessed and welcome in my life.

I mention my experience to make a point. What is more expensive? Do I pay 1 LE for a kilo of tomatoes that are sprayed with chemicals rather than 4 LE for organic tomatoes? If I purchase all of my groceries as organic my monthly food bill might triple. But that is still less expensive over my lifetime than spending $100,000 per year for medical care. Furthermore, if one does not survive the illness, how can you put a price on a person's life?

I am not stating that everyone should begin to buy organic foods. However, I am stating that it is time we begin to demand more from our government and from our farmers. Egypt is a wonderful country with a rich history and the kindest people in the world. And the people of Egypt deserve foods for themselves and their children that aren't going to ultimately harm them. I doubt that anyone would knowingly harm their own child to save money, but that is basically what we are doing if we do not demand more.

Wassalam,

Khalid

how you think is completly right. Also my father has been very sick; about 12 years ago. It had be his end. My parents became even vegetarien, bought everything from Shops like "sekem". In germany are too many differend and safe products offered which are chemicalfree and absolutely biological. Sekem is even supervised, how I know, from such a german company.
I feel so happy, because you came nearer to Allah, he is the only one can help. Once I read in the net a page about "loving Allah", it was written in german; I learned there, that we have signs that Allah love us - one of it is, some will not believe it, getting very sick. It makes you remember death, and so hell and garden.
So, you are going to work for it, because you are good, Allah remembered you.
Allah can give your health back, if you please him and he knows the right time .
Egypt is a wonderful place to practice islam, but I just remember when there was thrown poison against the locusts from the plane...this is just one example; the pollution is not good for you.
Or maybe you could live on the beach, marsa martruh , where the air is still clean..but there you can't find sekem-shops...
Pray Doae, Allah will make this answers easy for you.Inschaallah.

Wish the very best for your family
Sara

quote:

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Originally posted by germansara:
In germany are too many differend and safe products offered which are chemicalfree and absolutely biological. Sekem is even supervised, how I know, from such a german company.

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I agree with you, Khalid, that in the long run people - no matter in which country - would benefit if we stopped ruining our own food and the soil that produces it ...

http://impressions-ba.com/features.php?id_feature=10277