i don't know if this is true ... if it is, I'm not sure if I can believe it!
Please read...


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.

[www.almondboard.com]

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 [www.fda.gov] 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

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

Freedom is lost gradually indeed.

i just sent emails.

here is my email
to


scotthunter@nextel.blackberry.net,
dcummings@cvinc.ws,
joshaughnessy@bdgrowers.com,
sbrauner@bdgrowers.com
date Mar 24, 2007 8:04 PM
subject almonds
mailed-by gmail.com

As a raw foodist I need my almonds raw and sproutable for my recipes and meals. I do not eat dead food at all, even drink pasteurized Orange juice. I have cured myself from diseases eating raw and vegan.

If its true about mandatory pasteurization of almonds, that is a death blow to me. I love almonds. I make cakes and mylks with them for recipes. How can I make my voice heard on this!!!
I will have to order from another country? are they going to be labeled??



There is my email I sent. Good job. This is crazy, of course they won't make it possible.
/

I am a fruitarian though and do not eat almonds but I think it is a crime indeed





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2007 12:07AM by coconutcream.

I want a choice!

when will the bureaucrats learn they just need 3 to 5 lbs of aerobic bacteria in their stomachs. that they need to talk to sandy

(inside joke)

Their site seems to suggest that it only applies to California almonds so I wrote my letter correspondingly. I haven't sent it yet though. I figured I'd post it here for re-writing by some more knowledgeable members. Hopefully someone will rewrite more on Point 2, or change it around if my understanding of it only being California is wrong. Seems like the contacts are all from California so I didn't add any info about FDA, USDA, etc.

Perhaps once it's final drafted it can be copied, pasted and edited for others to send.



Hello,

This letter is in regards to the "Action Plan and Pasteurization" the Almond Board of California is carrying out. As I understand it, the plan is to pasteurize all almonds while continuing to label them as raw. I see three regretful aspects to this plan.

1. Pasteurized almonds would not be truly raw and to label them so would be fraud. Without proper food labeling you are lying and taking away the choice of consumers. Your views on the effects of pasteurization are not important here, but rather the ability of consumers to choose what they buy and put into their bodies is. It is the right of consumers to know what they are purchasing and improper labeling takes away this right. The consumers are the only ones that can decide whether they want to ingest pasteurized products or not, and you are negligently and possibly purposefully taking away their right to decide. It is undeniable that your marketing order denies consumers of the freedom to identify and choose whole, unprocessed foods.

2. Though debated, it is the view of many health conscious people that pasteurization is less than an ideally, healthy practice. The process may kill harmful pathogens, but it also destroys beneficial bacteria, enzymes, nutrients, and other factors important for health and digestion. The Almond Board of California's website claims... "The ABC’s objective is that treatments must achieve a minimum 4-log reduction with no significant degradation of the sensory and quality characteristics of almonds, such as the flavor, color, texture, or skin integrity." It is not the sensory characteristics that health conscious people are concerned about, yet it seems to be the main concern of the board. However, it is mentioned that an analysis will take place to confirm no change in "nutritional benefits." I'm glad to see this action taking place, but I'm certain many in the health conscious arena will not be swayed to believe no benefit is lost, as pasteurization has been shown to destroy factors important to health and digestion.

3. Your efforts to make this plan legally mandatory once again tramples on the rights of others. Should it not be the right of the farmer or processor to decide whether they want to market a pasteurized or raw product? The site claims mandatory involvement is important to ensure that "California almonds are the safest, highest quality almonds in the marketplace." Firstly, two incidents within 5 years shows that unpasteurized almonds are already safe. Everyday life is filled with dangers, such as evidenced by the 2.5 million children that attend emergency rooms every year from falls. Your concern for safety is not inherently bad and perhaps even commendable. However, such a low rate of unsafe incidences does not seem to warrant all the negatives of your program. Secondly, I and many other health conscious Americans will not view California almonds as the highest quality. Instead, I will be viewing them as "not to be purchased" and fraudulent. If I see Raw and California on a package of almonds I will not trust them to be raw and I will most definitely not purchase them. It is of my view that once the health stores in my area that often cater to those concerned with foods being raw, will also no longer purchase mislabeled California almonds.


I'd hope that you could find a solution to these problems and perhaps these suggestions could help...

1. That all pasteurized almonds be labeled as such and that no attempt be made to label them as raw. It is clear that they are not raw, and to label them so is undeniably fraud. I don't mean to sound threatening as my actions will be simply to not purchase your products, but I'd imagine law suits would arise from what I view as blatant, unlawful, and fraudulent labeling. Taking the action to properly label your almonds as pasteurized and not raw, easily solves the grievance of mislabeling your product.

2. That you allow unpasteurized almonds to be sold with what you might consider a warning label. The label could clearly identify the contents to be raw, unprocessed, and unpasteurized and it will be left to the consumer to determine if they view that product to be safe. I feel this step would mostly solve criticisms 2 and 3 of your plan.

I could certainly write more, but those 3 points are the ones that stand out and disappoint me the most. It is assured that I will never purchase almonds from California until I can be 100% certain that the package is truthful and that the contents are indeed raw. For now, if I find almonds labeled Raw from California I will assume they are not and will not purchase them. In fact, I will be checking the sources of any almonds I buy to make sure they do not come from California. I will also notify the stores in my area of your untruthfulness if I find that they are selling mislabeled California almonds. Many of these stores cater to the highest standards of health, which often include the importance of Raw Foods, and will hopefully find a supplier of truly, raw almonds. For the health stores that I frequent that are also national chains, I will notify not only my local store but the national headquarters asking for redress. It is my belief that the members of the health conscious groups and internet communities I belong to, will do the same.

Thank you for your time,

I'm a bit confused by all this Almond Board hoopla. According to my past experience with them (they were a client of my photography studio partner), the California Almond Advisory Board is a member supported marketing organization. They are not a government regulatory or lawmaking body, though they have a quasi-governmental look and function. They are supported by a portion of the money received from the sale of each pound of their member's product and grants from public and private sources. Their prime directive is to sell more almonds.

It's also interesting that this action came about from 2 incidents outside of California, one in Canada and the other in Oregon. Is this about public safety or money? I'd say it is about money, since almonds are California's number one tree crop in monetary value. And you know these marketers won't give a rat's behind about protests from a handful of raw foodists.

The whole pasteurization debacle could be avoided if the almond processors who shell, dry, and ship the nuts in bulk cleaned up their act sanitation-wise to prevent the salmonella contamination in the first place. In the case of tainted mangos mentioned in another thread, the Salmonella and E.Coli contamination came from using open vessels of unpure cold water contaminated by bird droppings and other animals to cool the mangos after they had been put in a hot water bath to kill fruit fly eggs and larva. That's right, those lovely imported Altaulfo mangos I just ate were not truly raw (nor are my cashews, but that's another story).

The next big idea which will be foisted upon us will be irradiation in leiu of pasteurization. Pick your poison! Personally, I prefer the energy of my food not be messed with by any form of radiation which both methods are, just a difference in wavelengths. Kill the lifeforce of a so-called pest on food and you also kill the lifeforce of the food in my opinion. The number one benefit of food irradiation, according to my former sister-in-law who worked for the company who makes the irradiating equipment, is to prolong shelf life and increase profits lost to spoilage. Every time one of these contamination cases hits the news wire they jump in to try and sell their irradiating gizmos and schemes to a frightened public.

My suggestion is to not waste your energy protesting to the Almond Board. Use that energy to find and buy from an organic grower who shells their own crop, does not heat treat or irradiate their nuts, and markets directly to the consumer. You will be supporting a farmer, not a large cartel of corporate growers and processors like Blue Diamond. Here's an online seller I have contacted and asked about their 2007 crop and whether they are affilated with the California Almond Board. Their organic nuts are CCOF certified, which is the most stringent certification program in California. [www.almonds-from-california.com]. Here's what they say about themselves on their website

Quote

Wholesale-Almonds.com is the on-line presence of D&S Ranches in Selma, California. Our Farming Community is known world wide as the "Raisin Capital of the World", and is also the heart of the Almond growing region in the Central San Joaquin Valley, where the climate, soil conditions, and Mediterranean winds provide the perfect environment for Almonds and Pistachios. 80 percent of the worlds Almonds are grown right here in the Central Valley of California, and it is the largest export crop from California. Our Ranch is privately owned and tended with loving care by the owners family. There is no giant "diamond-shaped" co-operative or ruthless "for-profit" corporation calling the shots here! We walk the Orchard ourselves, and do what is best for the trees and nuts, without outside interference. You can count on us for quality!

i can live without almonds
but it is sad
i hope this doesn't become a pattern
when they start nukin veggie
that's when i'll go home
to mars

I am glad to see the discussion and interest around this issue. I have been researching this for the past year and talking with various almond farmers about it. There are many farmers that are really concerned about it as they recognize the necessity of maintaining a raw nut. Some processors are experimenting with the pastaurization techniques and are finding that they are able to maintain a sproutable almond. I have not yet verified this for myself.

Yeah, I'm not sure about the truth or impact of this on the sproutability.
All I know is that we don't need organizations deciding how our food will be processed and not saying so on their labelling. There is a big ongoing debate about pasteurization and apple cider here in Upstate New York. One local mill has been protesting and gather thousands of letters in support of consumer choice. In direct opposition to the new regulation, they sell their product unpastuerized with a warning label. And they do the best business in town.
So to me this is more a matter of consumer choice. I'd do more research to see where almonds come from where I buy them anyway. Local food is the best I believe, so whatever I can get locally I will...
Thanks for all the responses!

Guys,
This is what I've been talking about: America is the #1 force behind CODEX, and this is just a foretaste of what's coming: mandatory pasteruization and/or irradiation of things like produce and nuts, and lots of other nasty, nasty things you don't want to know, but you need to in order to get outraged and fight back. Yes it's horrible, but we've got to face it and DO SOMETHING!!! Please, don't just read about it and freak. Read it and go to the appropriate websites (google Codex Alimenatrius and/or Natural Solutions Foundation, etc.) and get involved as a citizen activist in educating your legislators and your neighbors so that maybe--- just maybe--- we can save our food supply.

This is all about global trade mandates and has nothing to do with trying to create healthier food. It's a crime in the making and if we don't get involved in working for a more positive outcome, who will?

It's not too late, but time is of the essence.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

I am coming with you, la veronique





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2007 02:56AM by coconutcream.

CC

bring all your fruit composts with you too
cuz we need to remineralize martian soil

anyone else?

space ship is leaving in exactly 16 : 00

i'll have to ask jose
to do some string theory configuration
to figue out exactly when is optimal time

and then sneak into a CODEX conference
and rewire their brains

so they can forget all about this food nuking business
genetically engineer their brain
after i put them into a durian stupor ( durian gas will do that to them)

then u can all come visit my home town
in mars land

just for fun
instead of to escape codex dumbdex

Hi Veronique,
Maybe I'll join you on Mars after I try to save Earth from CODEX-- I think it's worth a try.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

I've sent out over 100 emails in the past 24 hours, since hearing about this. I have been emailing with David Phippen <dsphip@msn.com>, chair of the Almond Board. If anyone wants to take him up on his offer of talking about this over the phone, here's his number <209-531-7380>. You can tell him your friend Gypsy shared his number with you. I refuse to talk with him on the phone, because he's most likely a fast talker and has his entire argument outlined. He told me to remember the spinach problem in his last email. I told him it was a nice try to use fear as a way of getting me to accept this ridiculous ruling, but it wasn't going to work. Jinjee said she's going to have her editor interview the people there at the Almond Board to see what's going on, as well. I don't think they realize there is a huge consumer population out here who only consumes truly raw almonds.

Anyway, I thought this ruling would apply to all US almond growers. Now that I read what Uti has written, I'm getting a little hopeful. I thought for certain I was going to spend an already greater fortune on raw, organic almonds to have them imported. So, is almond pasteurization only mandatory for the almond growers who are signed up under the almond board?

I look forward to hearing more about this.

Love,

Gypsy

I already live without almonds in my own life, but yesterday I went to a potluck where almonds were most definitely abundant in the dishes. Will we have to worry now that neophytes will not only bring maple syrup, tofu, and maranatha tahini in their dishes, but "raw" almonds? Will the makers of all sorts of commercial raw bars, crackers, and the like really avoid the almonds, or will they go on using the same supply without bothering to take note of it? If this does happen, how long will it take our movement to adjust to restaurants, potlucks, and daily life without almonds? Life Without Almonds sounds like a good name for a poem or song, though.

Force the change you want to see in the world through direct, socialist democracy!

[www.dreamingearth.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2007 02:38AM by dream earth.

Yet another good reason why I can't wait to get moved into the 20 acre farm we just bought and begin growing all of our own food. We move in a 2 weeks!

That's wonderful-- congratulations! I wish you all the best with your farm.

I live in the city on the east coast, but am getting a small plot in one of the local public gardens so that I can grow at least some of my own food, for reasons probably very similar to yours. (That plus the fact that we have probably just about the most expensive food prices in all of the U.S. here.) I can't keep paying $5 for medium-sized red peppers. I've looked into moving to other countries, as well-- I note a lot of raw foodists are moving to Costa Rica, for instance-- but it's not really feasable, so the logical next steps are to a) have my own garden, b) grow sprouts, c) learn to eat less and fast periodically and d) learn about all the great wild foods I can forage in my locale.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]