02/02/05 Alar sixteen years later

It may not seem like it but it has been about sixteen years, February 1989, that the Northwest apple industry braced itself for a news report of which the effects are still felt through this day. BRADLEY: The most potent cancer causing agent in our food supply is a substance sprayed on apples to keep them on the trees longer and make them look better. That's the conclusion of a number of scientific experts. That's Ed Bradley telling the nation on CBS's "60 Minutes" in 1989, about Alar, and how it posed a significant health risk to children. According to grower Marvin Sundquist, Alar was not a pesticide. It was used by the fruit industry as a growth regulator to help improve storage time and appearance for apples. SUNDQUIST: I was well sold on it, and I can't understand why everybody bought the idea that it was dangerous. Well, it was a media hoax, is what it was. It was later proven that Alar's effects on human health were minimal, even non existent, and that the findings by the so called scientific experts were not based on sound science. The apple industry sued CBS but later had its claim dismissed. But the damage caused by the media had been done. But this series is not about how the apple industry has suffered over the last decade and a half. Instead, it will focus on what the industry has done to strengthen itself in light of the Alar scare. Some of the positive developments resulting from the Alar scare will be discussed in our next program.