An alternative term for daminozide, a plant growth regulator applied to crops to manage vegetative growth and improve fruit quality, colour and storage behaviour. By restraining excessive shoot growth it steers the plant’s energy toward fruit development — the horticultural logic behind many synthetic growth regulators. Residues of daminozide and its breakdown products on treated produce have faced regulatory scrutiny, with maximum limits set to keep dietary exposure within safe bounds. Alar is best known from the controversies such scrutiny produced, a case study in how growth-regulator residues become public issues.