Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News
NaturalNews.com

Pasteurized Mandate Hurts Domestic Almond Growing Business

Saturday, September 19, 2009 by: Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
See all articles by this author
Email this author

Share/Save/Bookmark   Email this article to a friend Printable Version  FREE Email Newsletter

Articles Related to This Article:

The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health

Interview with "Kevala" Karen Parker, master raw foods chef

Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising


Support NaturalNews advertisers - Advertise with NaturalNews


Help support NaturalNews with health books and educational programs from Truth Publishing:

Swine Flu Advanced Preparedness
8 Weeks to Vibrant Health
Raw In Ten Minutes (recipes)
How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
... and much more.

(NaturalNews) On September 1, 2007, the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) in conjunction with the Almond Board of California (ABC) mandated that all California almonds, even those labeled and sold as raw on store shelves, must be pasteurized prior to being sold to consumers in North America. Following this mandate, a groundswell of opposition has ensued from concerned citizens over the elimination of truly raw almonds from the marketplace. This includes an outcry from besieged domestic almond growers who have witnessed the rapid disintegration of their raw almond markets in favor of untreated, unpasteurized imports.

In response to two alleged almond salmonella outbreaks in 2001 and 2004, ABC pushed to mandate fumigation or high-heat steam treatment for all almonds, including those that would be sold as raw, despite an absolute abyss of scientific justification and rational investigation into the cause of the outbreaks. Almond growers, particularly organic ones, have experienced tremendous financial burdens both in meeting requirements and in coping with a dwindling market for their forcefully mislabeled product which has caused most people seeking raw almonds to purchase from international growers whose products are truly raw and can legally be sold that way in stores.

Besides the fact that USDA and ABC have legislated the untruthful labeling of pasteurized almonds as raw, their approved methods of pasteurization complicate matters even further. Among steam processing, roasting, and blanching there is fumigation treatment with toxic propylene oxide (PPO), a known carcinogen that is highly flammable and hazardous to health. In fact, propylene oxide food treatment is banned in many countries including Canada, Mexico, and the entire European Union because it is recognized internationally as carcinogenic to humans. Even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified propylene oxide as a carcinogen responsible for neurological, gastrointestinal, immune system, respiratory, and liver disease, to name just a few.

While failing to investigate and address the root causes of food contamination, the regulatory bureaucracies have once again attacked the food rather than the food contaminator and, in this case, are recommending a treatment option that actually poisons food in the name of making it safer.

The Cornucopia Institute (CI), an advocate of sustainable and organic agriculture, has been leading the fight in repealing the nonsense almond pasteurization mandate. On September 9, 2008, 18 almond growers filed a federal lawsuit contesting the USDA final rule concerning almonds. Though the suit was dismissed in May of 2009 on technical grounds, new motions have been filed requesting a reconsideration by the judge due to technical errors on her part in assessing the case.

Though the judge had initially dismissed the case claiming that almond farmers have "no right" to have their substantive concerns heard in court, John Vetne, the attorney working on the almond appeal, successfully secured a ruling on a similar case in July that farmers indeed do have the right to contest market order regulations in federal court. In other words, based on precedent the almond growers' lawsuit is valid and there is a good possibility that the ruling can eventually be overturned.

Those concerned about protecting raw food from mandatory pasteurization, irradiation, or any other sort of manipulation should be very concerned with supporting organizations like the Cornucopia Institute that work to defend the free trade of unadulterated, natural, and organic food. Domestic almond growers continue to suffer a great loss due to unsubstantiated mandates on their products that are quelling both business and livelihood.

Wholesome, raw food is a valuable commodity that should not be taken for granted. The farmers and growers that provide us with it are in grave danger of going under due to excessive burdens, regulations, and mandates that punish them rather than the true culprits of food contamination. Like almonds, many other goods are threatened with extinction in their natural, unadulterated forms. Please consider supporting the advocacy groups that work to protect the free trade of clean, raw food.

Sources:

Almond Fact Sheet - Mandatory Sterilization of Raw Almonds

The Authentic Almond Project - Cornucopia Institute

Almond Pasteurization - Almond Board of California

Almond Pasteurization Lawsuit - Cornucopia Institute

Share

About the author

Ethan Huff is a freelance writer and health enthusiast who loves exploring the vast world of natural foods and health, digging deep to get to the truth. He runs an online health publication of his own at http://wholesomeherald.blogspot.com.



Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:


Related Articles:

The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health

Interview with "Kevala" Karen Parker, master raw foods chef

Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article:

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):



(FREE) Thursday evening, Dec. 3 at 6pm Pacific (9pm Eastern), call in to hear the NaturalNews Talk Hour with special guests Nick Stern, Sun Warrior Protein & KC Craichy, LivingFuel - "Super Foods, Optimal Health" - Register via email to receive call-in number:
Enter Your Email::
Support NaturalNews sponsors:
Advertise with NaturalNews...

Explore NaturalPedia.com, the internet's largest natural health encyclopedia of knowledge, covering over 50,000 topics. It's free!
Visit NaturalPedia.com.


FREE Report: The Five Best Anti-Viral Products to Beat Influenza, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and SARS

• Top anti-viral remedies
• Where to get them now
• Four things to avoid
• Become self-reliant
• Boost your family safety

Click here to read the FREE report now.

W.H.O. Declares Global Pandemic
Turn FEAR into Confidence!

Listen to the complete 3.5 hour recording on 4 audio CDs of the Health Ranger's Swine Flu Advanced Preparedness Course, covering natural anti-virals, family safety, infrastructure disruptions, quarantine, preparedness gear and much more.

Testimonials:

"Mike Adams' preparedness course turned our fears into confidence. This is POWERFUL information, coming from a trusted source. If you want to save yourself countless hours researching and getting prepared and if you want to do everything in your power to protect your family, I highly recommend the Health Ranger’s Advanced Preparedness Course."
- N. Nelson (Arizona)

"This is packed information no one should miss."
- T. Valenzuela

"Thanks Mike... during this class you covered prevention and preparedness from A to Z with integrity, brave honesty and outstanding knowledge! Thank you for your steadfast, thorough and cool-headed approach to well being. With deep gratitude for your service." - Bev

Available NOW for immediate shipping.
100% satisfaction guarantee

Click here to learn more...


NEW Product: Valley of Longevity Shampoo from the Health Ranger

• 98% Organic
• 100% Natural
• 100% Fragrance Free!
• No SLS
• No Parabens
• No synthetic chemicals
• FREE shipping in U.S. on orders over $75

Click here to read more...


What is this?


Enter your details to learn more:
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:

(Email privacy guaranteed.)

Breaking News Stories:

     See more breaking news...

Free Special Reports

How to Build Your Financial Safety Net
The 7 Principles of Mindful Wealth
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure

Recommended Products Related to This Article*:

Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies

The Weiss Method for Heart Disease
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol

Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free)
Free summary of book by Mike Adams
for learning censored natural health remedies

Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products
Free summary of this shocking book
for learning the truth about toxic products

Additional Products of Interest to All

Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds

Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters

How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes

Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)
Read the best book on disease mongering
for learning the truth about Big Pharma

The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
A free download of Biology of Belief
for learning about the mind-biology connection

The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church
A free, downloadable summary of this book
for learning about the biology of intention

Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source

* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger

☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews

Also on NaturalNews:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts


Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.