Read more about Almond Nutrition and Facts
And now, Almonds will soon be a good source of Propylene Oxide, a possible human carcinogen and highly toxic flammable compound.
The nutrition of almonds, the vitamins, minerals, good fats and enzymes are heat sensitive.
Pasteurizing them kills them.
Pasteurization heats the fats and makes it rancid and promotes ill health.
Why does the USDA think that decreasing the nutritional value of the food will make it better for human consumption?
OrganicConsumers.org says this about the USDAs pasteurization of almonds
While the USDA generously describes the new almond treatments as pasteurization, the most common treatment method expected to be used fumigates almonds with propylene oxide. In lab experiments, the chemical leads to gene mutation, DNA strand breaks, and neoplastic cell transformation. The U.S. EPA has classified propylene oxide as a probable human carcinogen. Its use in treating food for human consumption is banned in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and most other countries.
So, the carcinogen is banned from the EU, Canada, Mexico and most other countries but theyre going to force the almond growers to sprinkle it generously on our Almonds. Nice. Whos in charge of this again?
Stop The Insanity
Organic Consumers has been leading a campaign to stop this stupidity. Ive participated as best I can and brought it to the attention of my readers.
It didnt work, but we may have an opportunity to reverse it for a small period of time
A recent alert from Organic Consumers
Despite a negative backlash from almond producers, retailers and consumers, the USDA has implemented its ruling to require that all raw almonds sold in stores must be pasteurized. The rule went into effect on September 1st, and since then, all retail outlets have been forced to remove true raw almonds from store shelves. Consumers will be misled by this action as there will still be almonds on store shelves labeled as "raw", but they will actually be pasteurized.
One of the FDA-recommended pasteurization methods requires the use of propylene oxide, which is classified as a "possible human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is banned in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.
Since the decision about the rule was made, Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, has stepped down. He is temporarily replaced by Chuck Conner. This may provide a new opportunity for reversal.
Please contact Conner today to ask that the rule be suspended for 6 months while the public comment period is re-opened.
Take Action Now
Why Pasteurization?
Unlike milk, eggs, and meats, for which real pasteurization or cooking offers an important protection from food-borne illness, no scientific evidence exists to show that almonds are an inherently risky food. In fact, Salmonella contamination of almonds can only occur when livestock manure or fecal matter is inadvertently transferred to the nuts through contaminated water, soil, or transportation and handling equipment. Almonds may also be infected by poor employee sanitation either on the farm or in processing facilities.
You may remember E. Coli tainted Spinach from 2006 that killed 3 people and sickened more than 200. That has now been linked to a Pig and Cattle farm.
Source of tainted Spinach linked to Pig and Cattle Farm
March 23, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - The likely source of an E. coli outbreak in spinach that killed three people and sickened more than 200 was a small cattle ranch about 30 miles from Californias central coastline, state and federal officials said Friday as they concluded their investigation. cite
Suzanne Nelson of the Cleveland Free Times puts it very well in her story Dont Eat That when she says
This is a story about a regulatory system increasingly friendly to the notion that consumers aren't smart enough or sufficiently informed to make the "right" choices
She adds
It's also a story about nomenclature. At some undetectable moment in recent history, modern food parlance parted ways with common standards of forthrightness and left us in an up-is-down world where food manufacturers may soon be able to subject food to ionizing radiation and call it "cold pasteurization," where "chocolate" may not have to actually contain cocoa, and where almonds labeled "raw" must be sprayed with a suspected human carcinogen.
Heres the deal from my perspective: The USDA is making choices for us because they think that we dont know how to wash our own fruits and vegetables. If youre not washing your fruits and vegetables to remove as much herbicide, pesticides, insects, insect eggs and any other wastes or debris, then you should begin now.
Sunrider produces a fantastic Fruit and Vegetable rinse for this exact purpose.
I can only imagine that the USDA is doing what they think is best, but from outside, their actions seem quite irresponsible and damaging to the public. Thats you and I. I feel that I am in charge of my life. I make the choices about what goes in my body, good or bad, but without an option here for raw Almonds, Im pretty much fucked. I wont put a known carcinogen into my body, so where does that leave me now?
I did some reading from the USDAs website and from what I understand, since this rule goes into effect, we wont be able to buy anything unpasteurized in the US or Canada, but almonds shipped anywhere else just have to be labeled "safe for human consumption, free of carcinogens and perfectly raw and organic" to warn the consumer that theyre not pasteurized. If we can get a hold of those Almonds somehow, were good to go.
We may have to resort to Almond smuggling. It could be that simple. Forget cigarette smuggling, lets get into Almond smuggling.
To be honest, the USDA says that Almonds shipped outside of the US have to be "clearly" labeled "unpasteurized" so that we know that theyre (in their words) "safe" for consumption.
So heres the current campaign that Organic Consumer is running.
Since the ruling Sept 1st, Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, has stepped down and has been temporarily replaced by Chuck Conner.
We have a chance for a reversal if our voice is heard.
Im Canadian and Im doing what I can do for this. If youre in the US, your voice may be more powerful than mine. Do what you can. Visit Organic Consumer and participate in sending this email to Chuck.
Ill see what I can do about getting a fax number so we can fax him as well.
Lets bombard him with emails and Faxs
Standing by quietly is not an option.
Further reading
Cornocopia Institute Authentic Almond Project
Organic Consumers Democracy in Action Campaign
Suzanne Nelson's Don't Eat That Article
Read More...
[Source: Former Fat Guy - Weight Loss Blog]
No comments:
Post a Comment