If the unthinkable occurs

In response to an earlier post about USDA preparedness for the Avian Influenza, I received an email from a representative of www.pandemic101.com. The company has preparedness kits for both families and corporations.
I'm sure there other companies out there doing the same thing, but they may be voices in the wilderness. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet very few, if any, produce suppliers and retailers have invested in preparedness for a pandemic scenario. Today there is much angst - and deservedly so - for a foodborne illness outbreak that may sicken 200 and kill two. Imagine what would happen if history were to repeat. The Spanish flu of 1918-1919 infected 20% of the world, and ten times more Americans died of influenza than were killed in World War I.

TK: Perhaps the world can continue to avoid another massive pandemic, for that is the only future we have prepared for.

Add 30 days

There appears to be little doubt that citrus leaders in California, Texas and Arizona will ask for another 30 days to examine the USDA rule on Florida fresh citrus shipments from growing areas known to have citrus canker. Right now the deadline for comments is July 23. I have a call into APHIS, and one my questions will be whether such an extension will be considered. Given the fact that the USDA must respond to the highly technical comments in the rulemaking process, it calls into question whether the agency can issue the final or interim final rule in time for the start of Florida's season.

"It looks to be a lessening of protection, and we want to have that evaluated," one citrus leader told me.

TK: There have to be some rules in place this fall for Florida citrus. No matter how technical the science, or how faulty the conclusions, something has to be in place by this fall. Pushing the deadline to Aug. 23 may be impossible for the USDA.

Raving raw almond fan

TK: This was left as a comment in the previous almond pasteurization post, but the comment link at the bottom still showed zero, so I post it here. From Heidi:


Tom,

You are correct in saying that most consumers are not interested in fumigants in their almonds.The biggest issue with the almond pasteurization situation is that the Almond Board is simply over reacting.They are worried about some potential lawsuit in the future where one person gets sick from salmonella...and the only way they get sick with salmonella is from contaminated almonds from almond farms near factory meat farms.There is a group of consumers that are raving fans about raw almonds. Sadly, the Almond Board doesn't want them as customers anymore.And I am one of those raving fans for raw almonds. Yet I am hopeful, that the Almond Board will see a dramatic drop in sales of fumigated almonds, and will quietly announce raw almonds once again.Looking hopefully to the future

Heidi

Farmers market: safer than the supermarket?

Probably not, but there is no accounting for public opinion. Here is a story passed along by K-State's food safety network that cites statistics from a Food Marketing Institute survey of consumers noting a decline in the total confidence consumers have in food sold at supermarkets. Here is the link to the article "Where the food is fresh" published in the Sioux City Journal.

From the story:
According to an online poll conducted by the Food Marketing Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based outfit that does research and public relations for its 1,500 member food retailers and wholesalers, of the 2,307 shoppers surveyed, the number of consumers "completely confident" or "somewhat confident" in the safety of supermarket food has decreased from 82 percent last year to 66 percent.

Later...

Earlina Huffman and James Black of Sioux City visited the Floyd Boulevard Local Foods Market's farmers market for the first time on Saturday.Huffman said freshness and foodborne illnesses are a concern for her and Black when shopping at the supermarket."He wouldn't let me get spinach for a while," she said of Black. "Here, you know where it's coming from."

TK: Down is up and black is white. And farmers markets are safer than supermarkets. If I ran a supermarket, I would be none too happy that my consumers believe my produce is less safe than the mud-caked potatoes at the farmers market.

Vidalia onions

One major onion shipper in Vidalia said supplies are anticipated through the end of August, with expectations that prices will strengthen into the mid to high $20s for 40-pound cartons as the deal progresses. I noted the USDA reported prices of organic Vidalia onions this year, and the shipper said that organic Vidalia onions are expected to stay near $30 per carton through the balance of the deal, which also extends into August.

Headlines for 6/27

R-Calf criticizes American Meat Institute over Roll Call ad COOL PR war heats up

Royal roots rejected A row over rejected carrots in England and if local produce is possible for UK multiples

Consumer food safety breakthrough? Activated Oxygen technology touted for home use


Wal-Mart's Chinese imports cost 200,000 America jobs, think tank says

Immigration and the GOP The Wall Street Journal looks at what is at stake for GOP if immigration fails

Pushback on almond pasteurization

This link from K-State"s food safety network picks up on a post from http://www.localharvest.org/. The author, Erin Barnett, is the director of Local Harvest.
She writes:

In 2001 and 2004 two outbreaks of salmonella poisoning were traced back to almonds. According to the Center for Disease Control's documents, a total of 33 people were hospitalized; no one died. (For perspective, the federal government estimates that about 1.4 million people get salmonella poisoning every year, approximately 15,000 of whom are hospitalized.)
For the almond industry, it was undoubtedly a big deal. Millions of pounds of almonds were recalled. The potential for future incidents spelled trouble, and industry leaders were savvy enough to know that another recall could have major long term consequences for a crop they spend millions each year promoting as "the healthiest specialty crop in the world."
The industry's federal marketing order, the Almond Board of California (ABC), took action immediately after the 2004 outbreak. Under zero pressure from the public (and about as much input) they voluntarily created, and then asked the USDA to mandate, an action plan that goes into effect on September 1, 2007.
The new protocols require all raw almonds sold in North America to be pasteurized, thereby killing off any wayward bacteria. How? By quick-steaming the nuts, or spraying them with propylene oxide (PPO), a chemical so nasty that it was banned by both the National Hot Rod and American Motorcycle Racing Associations, where it had been used as a fuel before being deemed too dangerous. PPO is also a carcinogen. For these and other reasons, most countries, including the EU, ban imported nuts treated with PPO. (The ABC is actively working to change that.)
I like to avoid ingesting post-harvest fumigants when I can. Especially hot-rod fuel. Trouble is, the almond industry is not going to be advising the public which nuts got the steam treatment and which ones got the PPO. I, for one, would like to know. A little moist hot air is one thing; a cancer causing has-been motorcycle fuel is another.
Now, of course, those who prefer steam can fork over the considerable cash for organic almonds, which in my neighborhood are going for $17.79/pound. Thanks to the national organic standards, those pearls are guaranteed to be PPO-free. But that's the only way to know you are getting steam-pasteurized nuts.
One of the funkiest things about this whole situation is the lack of options. Growers are not allowed to opt out of the pasteurization program, regardless of how they market their nuts. Even almonds sold at farmers markets must be zapped beforehand. Nor are consumers allowed to make their own decisions regarding the relative risks of salmonella vs. PPO. Unpasteurized nuts are simply banned from the market. And since the ABC claims that pasteurized nuts retain all the qualities of rawness, the nuts will continue to be labeled simply as "raw almonds." Most people won't even know there has been a significant change in the product.
This issue has gotten virtually no press outside of the "raw food" world, where people are understandably upset. Almonds are a mainstay for people who eat only raw food, where the nutritional paradigm calls for avoiding any foods whose enzymes have been altered by high heat. For them, steam-pasteurized nuts are as bad as roasted ones.
That consumers were not asking for greater protections misses the point. The absurdity of an industry actively promoting the use of a dangerous chemical, which is four to five times more costly than its alternative, is similarly off track. Given the incredibly low odds of almonds getting caught up in a major salmonella outbreak, even public health is not what this is about.
It's convoluted, I know, but follow me on this next part: this is a perceived public perception issue. The Almond Board is so concerned that consumers may turn their backs on almonds that it is willing to use a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito. See the following statement from the ABC's Action Plan for pasteurization: "Pasteurization fulfills the industry's vision to produce the world's healthiest specialty crop, protects the multi-million dollar investment the industry has made in the nutritional benefits of California almonds, and protects the favorable image consumers have about California almonds."
Unfortunately for the almond industry, in trying to protect their image, they have gone too far and will end up losing some of us who have dutifully and happily been eating our "can a week," like the old commercials asked. This consumer would far prefer to see the ABC press its growers and processors to implement the agricultural practices that prevent bacteria problems. If that is too much to ask, I'd like to see the Almond Board offer the market a choice: give us both pasteurized and unpasteurized nuts, properly labeled, and allow us to decide which goes down better with our tea and toast.

TK: No good deed goes unpunished, and the Almond Board of California finds a critic in Barnett. There is exposure for ABC if the fumigant treatment is perceived worse than the risk of salmonella. I would assume that most marketers will prefer the steam treatment over the the option of PPO when the mandate goes into effect Sept. 1.

Beet it

Kansas City area produce managers may wonder why beets are flying off the shelf today, and then they will look at the KC Star Food section. The lede to the story "Grown-ups keep the beets" reads thus:
"The difference between a girl and a woman, a boy and a man? Beets."

That about sums it up right there, no doubt. The author does make fresh beets sound much more appealing than the pickled variety. Another food section feature highlights raspberry sorbet with fresh blueberries, and no sell job is required for that.

Armand Lobato, retail columnist for The Packer, notes food section coverage does influence movement at store level. If a store sells three cartons of leeks in a day instead of one per week, perhaps a recipe for the world's greatest leek soup just got front page treatment in the food section.