Once again, the American food supply chain has revealed itself to be less-than-totally safe, and once again nuts are at the heart of the problem. This time, it’s pistachios.
This latest recall, which follows closely on the heels of a peanut safety crisis that left hundreds ill across the country, is driven by fears of cross contamination—the unintentional intermingling of roasted (and therefore safe) pistachios and their dangerous unroasted brethren. While only two people have reported illness (said to be salmonella), that number is likely to increase in the days to come.
There’s a “bad news can be good news” spin on all this craziness: Any effort by the Obama administration to reform and tighten up the regulation of food and drink will now have broader and deeper public support behind it, which will be critical in terms of combating the inevitable industry PR campaign against “costly government interference.”
Speaking of “costly governmental interference”, here’s one for you:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h875/text
There’s a good roundup of the proposed law at:
http://www.naturalnews.com/025824.html
Bottom line, if this passes you may need to say ‘good bye’ to road side stands and farmer’s markets. And don’t even think about giving some of your home grown tomatoes to your Aunt Ruth the next time your in town for a visit. You’re operating as a “Food Production Facility”.
Here’s the latest on the pistacho recall:
The FDA’s precautionary voluntary recall is linked to Setton Pistachio and Setton International only. Only one processor is involved with the recall.
Most pistachios are safe. In fact, the FDA and California pistachio growers/ processors now have a new site -www.pistachiorecall.org -to help ease concerns about pistachio safety
The site lists processors not involved with the recall, as well as specific safe pistachio products and brands.
To view the FDA announcement, click on this link http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-04-2009/0005000912&EDATE= or go to http://www.fda.gov/pistachios.