Sunscreens, SPF 50

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Much excitement in Australia this week with the granting of permission to sell SPF 50 sunscreens.

Got to be 66% better than all those SPF 30 ones, mustn't they?

Well, hold you horses. Could it just be marketing hype?

To get the SPF factor, you divide 100 by 100 minus the percent of the UV radiation blocked.

So if a sunscreen blocks 90% of the UV light, its SPF is 100/(100-90) = SPF 10.

95% = SPF 20

97% = SPF 30+

98% = SPF 50.

So paying the extra money for an SPF 50 sunscreen will increase your protection by just 1%.

If (IF!) it is re-applied regularly and applied at the same thickness as is used in the test (0.1mm).

T-shirts and a hat have a higher SPF factor.
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Smells dead, must be dead.

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Chairman Bill asked: "How about trassi? I've heard some hideous stories about it, although I've eaten plenty of it in my time (both as a Dutchman and when in Indonesia/Malaysia)"

This is an amazing fermented dried shrimp paste that smells awful but tastes wonderful.

The big thing is that this is a traditional food; a pretty reliable sign of a good track record for safety.

And the traditional way of cooking it is to stir-fry in a very hot wok. This will kill any bacteria that may be in it. Deviate from traditional cooking processes at your peril.

It must also be remembered that it is usually a dried product and so lacks the available water needed for bacterial growth.
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