Hello Beautiful!

It looks like you're new to The Community. If you'd like to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Almonds will be pasteurized

JoescJoesc Raw Master

This is just in case everyone didn’t see the information in the cashew discussion.

Almonds will be pasteurized starting August 2007 due to two outbreaks of salmonella. What I find interesting is chances are there was salmonella due to the conditions of the location. How sanitary the location is and the people. Read the article to get more information.

Comments

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    As I just said on another topic, I read the info and according to that the California almonds will still be available direct from the grower.I guess the big raw food companies will be selling us truly raw almonds when the time comes. It is crazy though, I mean how come chicken, beef, pork and eggs are still legal bearing in mind the thousands of fatal cases of food poisoning and other awful diseases like C.J.D aka mad cows disease they cause? The world has gone bonkers!

  • It’s all about the big business factory farms who have billions of dollars and high paid lobbyists. They are keeping the people sick and stuffed with animal foods. We few who have seen through this are able to see the truth behind it all. It is truly sad how big business is able to control even government and therefore the people. If there is a large enough number of healthy raw food people who can show by example that they don’t get these terrible degenerative illnesses, maybe it will encourage others to give it a try.

    You are correct, almonds that are not labeled ‘unpasteurized’ will always be pasteurized, so look for the unpasteurized label when buying almonds.

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    I am not sure if you read the action plan also. But it states that almonds can be shipped untreated to california to a DV. The almonds would be labled unpasteurized so they can track the shipment. The DV would then process the almonds. All almonds will be subjected to a minimum of 4 log reduction. So you won’t get really raw almonds unless you are a DV which every DV will have a Dv code, it is in the action plan itself. Which is seperate.

    I also do agree that they have meat, chicken, beef etc that have salmonella poisoning and they sell it raw. But at the same time they do somewhat boil chicken to get all the feathers off. Either way they are tougher on raw food vegetables than on meat. It doesn’t show that they even researched to see what may have caused the almonds to be infected if it were the people or the location.

    I strongly believe it’s because the industry makes more money when we are sick.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Thanks Josec, I was having a moment of wishful thinking there I reckon! The whole thing is very confusing. I don’t even live in the USA so I really shouldn’t get involved:)

    Over here ‘they’ are trying to ban Goji berries, can you belive it? Because of some bizarre European Law that states that anything that wasn’t generally consumed in a large quantity before 1997 is considered a ‘novel food’ and therefore illegal and taken off the shelves. I guess ‘they’ll’ ban raw cacao and all the other superfoods under the same law in time. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe it really is all a conspiracy?

  • Ban foods not largely consumed before 1997? WTF?? That is just strange to me!

    So, how exactly can you get raw, unpasteurized almonds if you’re just a regular joe?

    And I have a question – I bought “Raw Almond Butter” in a jar yesterday by a brand named “Woodstock Farms.” Is it really raw?

  • To quote Bill Hicks, “Ban nature? Doesn’t that seem a little….paranoid to anyone else?” :o)

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    Zoe I agree it is bizarre to ban Goji berries. I had wishful thinking with the Almonds also, I made sure to read everything just in case they may say that they will allow the consumer to make the choice but it didn’t happen. You have a right to be involved because at least you know that any almonds coming from the u.s. is not raw.

    Skyespice I don’t know if that company has truly raw items. One thing you can do to check is usually on the bottles there will be a number that you can call. I would call and ask if they heat it and at what temperature. Sometimes customer service is a pain though. Also banning nature, does sound paranoid.

  • I have started a thread on this subject on another board – http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=25070

    There are lots of ideas there on what to do. Personally I have emailed all of the contacts in the post as well as the FDA. Lets get our voices out there!!

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    Okay everyone, I did e-mail the almond board.

    When you say the almonds will be subject to a minimum 4 log reduction, about what is the minimum heat requirement to achieve that requirement. Also if the almonds will be subject to heat will you still label the almonds raw? If they will be labeled raw will the package state that it has been pasteurized? Will there be a public announcement on TV?

    THERE RESPONSE IS:

    Dear Ms. Cudjoe,

    We appreciate your comments and suggestions about the pasteurization of raw almonds.

    The almond industry strives to provide consumers with a product that they can enjoy, that is safe, and that can benefit health. With consumers’ health and safety as its number one priority, the Almond Board of California worked with the United States Department of Agriculture to institute the pasteurization program. The purpose of this program is to ensure consumers are provided with safe, wholesome food products free from potentially harmful levels of unsafe bacteria.

    You can be assured that pasteurized almonds are as nutritious and delicious as unpasteurized almonds. The almond industry invested in independent nutritional lab analyses of pasteurized versus unpasteurized almonds. Those tests did not reveal any degradation of the taste, quality or nutritional value of treated almonds. Pasteurized almonds are still nutrient dense, a good source of protein and fiber, an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium, and still help maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

    As is the case with many other foods treated for safety, raw almonds that have been pasteurized do not differ in any significant way from untreated raw almonds, and therefore are still sold as “raw” under federal labeling regulations.

    We hope you will continue to enjoy almonds knowing that they are the same wholesome food that you have enjoyed for so long.

    Sincerely,

    The Almond Board of California

    • In other words they didn’t answer all my question and they know the almonds are not the same. Talk about suger coating a bad thing. There isn’t a huge difference but there is one. I feel they should inform the public and give an estimated temperature of the heat that will be used.
  • Agreed Joesc! I’m wondering who we need to talk to over at FDA to remedy the false labeling? Standards are another thing. Who decides? The gears are turning now…

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    After I resonded to the almond board, Damzfly I went to the thread and send another e-mail following the tips. It states: I find it unethical to label the pasteurized almonds as “raw” because they are not raw. The public is requesting the package to be labeled clearly stating that the product has been pasteurized. Not clearly labeling is misleading the customer. We should have the choice to determine if we want to have raw almonds that was not pasteurized or pasteurized almonds. There are hundreds of food born illness related to chicken but it’s still sold raw. The proposed marketing order denies consumers of freedom to identify and choose whole unprocessed foods.

    • I just sent it and will come back with a response.
  • Very interesting – thanks for sharing your email correspondence with us. It’s interesting to see what they say when asked directly.

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    I have sent a comment to rawguru.com and an e-mail to Alissa Cohen. I hope they will inform the public and put labels stating the almonds are pasteurized.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    ‘They’ can blither on all they like about how the almonds aren’t damaged by pasteurisation, but the truth that WE all know is that if it won’t sprout then it isn’t raw, and something has been damaged.

    My question to ‘them’ would be, can you sprout a pasteurised almond?

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    It’s funny you say that. I saw on the website damzfly mention where it states that the almond board said it will sprout.

    MANDATORY ALMOND PASTEURIZATION

    All Almonds will be Pasteurized starting 2007!

    No label allowing “truly raw almonds” Almonds labeled as “Raw Almonds” will still have been pasteurized! A big lie and fraud!! You are about to be denied your food freedom choices!

    Did you know that starting in the fall of 2007, truly raw almonds will not be available in the USA or Canada? See link below for the pasteurization plan.

    http://www.almondboard.com/Programs/...ItemNumber=450

    The FDA, USDA and the California Almond Board has developed a marketing order which mandates that all almonds must be pasteurized. This came about because ” two outbreaks of salmonella, associated with conventional farms several years ago”. Industry has now overreacted in grand fashion and they do not even know it yet.

    No outbreaks have been associated with raw organic almonds to date that we are aware of.

    This has everything to do with lack of biodiversity and the sterile farming methods used on conventional farms. On these farms few weeds or grasses grow on the floors and little sunlight reaches the floors. To the contrary, Organic farms support and encourage biodiversity with green floors in the orchards and this discourages pathogen growth. Unfortunately, organic almonds are shelled and bagged on the same production facilities as conventional and are being subjected to the same rules.

    There is an even bigger issue. The FDA has decided not to tell the consumer the truth about this processing step. The almonds you will buy in Wholefoods this fall may still say “raw almonds but they will have been subjected to high heat and a five log kill step…that they are calling Pasteurization”. This lie is being permitted by the marketing order!!

    The FDA in association with the USDA and the Almond Board is in fact denying you the information required to make informed choices when you buy food. You will not be able to identify a pasteurized almond from a truly raw whole, enzyme rich, unprocessed almond.

    The almond board claims that the almonds will still sprout ( still some life in them ) and that the flavor does not change. But yet no research has been performed to see what kind of opportunistic bacteria will take over when the almond has been sterilized. It is not a whole natural food anymore. It will now be a processed food. Millions of dollars are being invested to install expensive pasteurization machines in all Almond plants in order to follow this “sterile foods are better foods edict”.

    Demand that your source of organic raw almonds be exempted from this short sighted food safety debacle.

    Demand that a label be permitted that identifies “truly raw almonds” and if required even put a warning label on them. Also demand that pasteurized almonds be identified as well. It seems that every time a government warning is applied to a food, that in itself becomes a certification that that is the food you should eat.

    It is very clear that the FDA does not understand the origins of the massive immune depression epidemic in America. A sterilized diet makes for a weakened immune system. FDA website http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/795_antibio.html explains antibiotic resistance quite well, but ignorantly and blindly never mentions pro-biotics which prevent disease and infections. Whole unprocessed living foods are in this category of foods.

    Weakened immune systems are associated directly with cancer, osteoporosis, asthma, allergies, Crohns, IBS, Colitis, GERD, chronic disease ,infections, antibiotic use and resistance and human death, Ulcers and the list goes on and on.

    Raw almonds are a wonder food just as they are. Let consumers make the informed choice and be responsible for the consequences.

    The almond farmers do not even know what they have been led into by the FDA. This consumer choice option will surely increase almond sales.

    Denial of a choice will be a marketing disaster.

    Freedom is lost gradually… bit by bit and bite by bite… with the great assistance of passive unconscious in activism and sheepish.

    You are conscious and aware of this path. Lets fight today and send a message. We must have unprocessed food choices.

    These are the people to contact….please fax, call or email them and demand: 1. A true almond label that states clearly that ” almonds have been pasteurized” 2. A second consumer choice label that warns that the “almonds are raw and unprocessed”. 3. That you will not tolerate the pasteurization of your almonds and having them still labeled as a “raw almond”. That this is a fraud and a lie. 4. Tell them that the proposed marketing order denies consumers of freedom to identify and choose whole unprocessed foods.

    Marketing Committee Members Scott Hunter, Chairman Hunter Farms 12237 Rose Avenue Livingston, CA 95334 Work: (209) 564-9991 Fax: (209) 394-8007 Email: scotthunter@nextel.blackberry.net

    Dan Cummings, Vice Chairman Cummings-Violich, Inc. 1750 Dayton Road Chico, CA 95928 Work: (530) 894-5494 Fax: (530) 891-4946 E-mail: dcummings@cvinc.ws

    Stacey Humble, Associate Director, Global Marketing www.shumble@almondboard.com

    John O’Shaughnessy Blue Diamond Growers 1802 C Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Work: (916) 446-8576 Fax: (916) 446-8461 Email: joshaughnessy@bdgrowers.com

    The e-mail address above returned

    Susan Brauner Blue Diamond Growers 1802 C Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Work: (916) 446-8354 Fax: (916) 325-2880 E-mail: sbrauner@bdgrowers.com

    Board of Directors of the California Almond Board

    Chairman David Phippen 13909 Leroy Ave. Ripon, CA 95366 (209) 599-6111 (209) 599-4008 fax

    Vice Chair Doug Youngdahl Blue Diamond Growers P.O. Box 1768 Sacramento, CA 95812 (916) 446-8595 (916) 329-3320 fax

    Member Susan Brauner Blue Diamond Growers P.O. Box 1768 Sacramento, CA 95812 (916) 446-8354 (916) 325-2880 fax

    Member Wil Hunter Hunter Farms 1621 N. Lincoln Livingston, CA 95334 (209) 277-5840 (209) 394-8007 fax

    Member Christine Long Hilltop Ranch, Inc. 13890 Looney Rd. Ballico, CA 95303 (209) 874-1875 (209) 874-1877 fax

    Member Mike Mason Panoche Creek Packing 15810 Arabella Ave. Bakersfield, CA 93312 (661) 746-7877 (661) 746-7875 fax

    Member Dean Nelson Sierra Valley Almonds, LLC 12800 W. Shields Ave. Kerman, CA 93630 (559) 280-2148 (559) 843-9010 fax

    Member Dan Cummings Cummings-Violich, Inc. 1750 Dayton Road Chico, CA 95928 (530) 894-5494 (530) 891-4946 fax

    Member Rick Kindle Gold Hills Nut Co., Inc. 11805 Newport Rd. Ballico, CA 95303 (209) 634-2022 (209) 634-0407 fax

    Member Doug Wells 16508 W. River Rd. Livingston, CA 95334 (209) 394-7246

Sign In or Register to comment.