Pasteurized Almonds?
Yes, you read that right.
It seems that all almonds shipped and sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be pasteurized. This new regulation is set to take effect September 1, 2007.
Why is this happening?
After salmonella outbreaks in 2001 and 2004 that were traced to raw almonds, the Almond Board of California rallied for a federal rule requiring all almonds in the state to be pasteurized.
But really… It’s all about money!
California almond growers, who grow about 80% of the world’s almonds, feel that pasteurization will expand their market.
Here is a quote from Richard Waycott,the president and c.e.o. of the almond board, which is nothing more than a marketing arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We consider it unacceptable to continue shipping a product that could contain a microorganism that could make somebody sick.”
Remember this quote while reading the remainder of this post.
Note: Some of the above excerpts were taken from a july 2, 2007 article in the Associated Press
This ruling has major underlying implications.
Let’s first take a look at what happened:
In 2001 and 2004 some people got sick from salmonella, which was traced to raw almonds.
Notice that some people got sick, but no one died.
Also, notice that the outbreaks were isolated to two non-concurrent years. Two separate years; that’s it!
Now, let’s take a look at food borne illness on a yearly basis:
There are between 6.5 million and 81 million cases of foodborne illness every year in the United States alone.
The major sources are Salmonella, E coli 0157:H7, Campylobacter, and Listeria the majority of which are traced to beef, chicken, and fish.
Here is the shocker: More than 9,000 deaths are reported annually, most of which are attributable to meat.
In June of this year, more than 75 million pounds of beef were recalled due to bacterial contamination.
Here is the point of the whole story:
I don’t think that the government is pasteurizing the almonds for our benefit. I think that the government is merely taking its first step towards hardcore regulation of our raw produce. They have already scared most of America into thinking that raw spinach is too dangerous to eat. What’s next?
What can you do?
I like raw almonds, as do millions of other people both in the U.S. and around the world.
After September 1st, the only way to get raw almonds will be to go directly to farmers on their farms, at farm stands, or farmer’s markets.
I hope you found this of interest to you.
Yours in health,
Alexander Morentin, C.E.S.
Holistic Fitness Coach
My Fit Life