I cannot believe what they are doing now:[www.bloomberg.com]

Please forgive my language, but this incenses me! First it was almonds and now spices? They either want to irradiate them, zap them with heat, or poison them "for our safety..." I am sorry, but I DO smell a conspiracy. It's usually vegetarian items these days instead of animal products, if you notice. Last week it was hydrolyzed vegetable protein. But salmonella and e coli can only come from contact with some kind of animal!



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2010 01:50AM by banana who.

Chill, Winston . . . the company whose spices were implicated is a subsidiary of Frontier(which is why it's financial news--could influence their trading value). Unlike Frontier, Mincing Spices whatever whatever LLC distributes non-organic spices to meat product manufacturers. It's true that the FDA is looking at how those spices are processed, but if you don't eat salami or Toronto Steak from a package, you shouldn't be alarmed. Well, tell other people who eat these things to be alarmed, of course . . .

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chill, Winston . . . the company whose spices were
> implicated is a subsidiary of Frontier(which is
> why it's financial news--could influence their
> trading value). Unlike Frontier, Mincing Spices
> whatever whatever LLC distributes non-organic
> spices to meat product manufacturers. It's true
> that the FDA is looking at how those spices are
> processed, but if you don't eat salami or Toronto
> Steak from a package, you shouldn't be alarmed.
> Well, tell other people who eat these things to be
> alarmed, of course . . .

No, I am pissed off. This isn't nothing. Don't you get it? When the spinach "contamination" recall happened several years ago, Earthbound Farms was the "culprit." There have been systematic recalls of vegetarian items in recent years that I never remember happening before. I don't know how old you are, but I recall during the '80s in Chicago that there was a huge salmonella outbreak. Before then it was commonplace to eat raw cookie dough and not even think twice about it but now most people wouldn't dare. It was probably when factory farms came into existence and crowded conditions/cross-contamination began to occur. Notice how the sausage itself is fine and dandy; it's those "dirty: spices? And turmeric is a miracle spice. It has recently been touted for curing/preventing all sorts of stuff. They want to HEAT it?! Hell to the no! But I have just discovered that one of my produce markets carries fresh turmeric root, so perhaps that is even better We cannot just sit here and accept everything at face value. I remain fairly certain that the almond debacle has something to do with how special almonds are to health: only alkaline nut, contains B17 (laetrile), which is made into an ANTI-CANCER drug!

I wonder how progress is going on irradiating all animal products? It seem like contaminated animal products present the largest health risk to the mainstream public.

bananawho,

I am just saying that this has been going on for ages and apart from writing letters to one's Congresspersons[I do], little can be done about it except to exert the power of your purse. This is not a crackdown on Frontier Naturals; if it were, I'd be up in arms. It's a crackdown on an importer of non-organic spices from god knows where, for which I am thankful. I do not believe regulators are targeting vegetarian foods specifically; rather, they go for the easiest target, which is not Purdue or Hormel, alas.

It is true that it sometimes appears this way, as with the spinach "Incident", but generally the facts come to light, albeit briefly. With the spinach, there was a bit of a fracas, and then the major news orgs reported that the problem was runoff from cattle paddocks or something, so the culprit ended up being meatist after all. Thousands of people are sickened with listeria every year from pasteurised lunchmeat, etc. and the CDC is noting this--hence the irradiation of meats, which was begun over a decade ago.

My concern about this tends more toward making sure that produce farmers get what they deserve in the latest farm bill, and to agitate for the elimination of CAFOs, as these things, if accomplished, would truly make a difference to the nation's health and our perception of food.

Spinach, green peppers, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, spices... every time I hear about another healthy food being added to the no-longer-beneficial pile it chills me through. I am seriously thinking about that backyard garden this year.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Spinach, green peppers, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts,
> almonds, spices... every time I hear about another
> healthy food being added to the
> no-longer-beneficial pile it chills me through. I
> am seriously thinking about that backyard garden
> this year.


If you have a backyard, then I would totally go for it! I think we need to start saving heirloom seeds, too. "They" (Monsatan) and their GMOs seem to be trying to control the actual ability to grown one's own food and sustain ourselves. I always console myself and say that at least I have some organic clover seeds in the cupboard...