Letter: In brief

Sir: I take exception to the following in "The good (and bad) food guide" (8 September): "Apples sprayed with Alar, a cancer-causing pesticide, worry some." Alar has not been used on English apples since 1982. After an American scare it has been banned here.

I would also like to reassure your readers that present crop-assurance safeguards mean that no pesticides are used for a period starting well before the fruit is harvested.

DEREK PRICE

Taunton, Somerset