Re: Finally Food Rules: Labels Must Now Give Origin
whuds...@gmail.com
> (As for me, I ain't eating NOTHIN grown in Mexico and Central America)
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5959494&page=1
>
> Food Rules: Labels Must Now Give Origin
> Stricter Rules for Labeling Follow Series of Contamination Scandals
> By ELIZABETH LEAMY and KRISTEN RED-HORSE
> Oct. 5, 2008
>
> New regulations at U.S. supermarkets are giving consumers the
> knowledge they have been asking for—where the fresh food they buy
> originates.
>
> A sticker shows the country of origin of an avocado in San Rafael,
> California.
>
> Recent food contaminations have made headlines across the globe
> causing deaths, illness and overall unease. Most recently melamine has
> tainted dairy from China, salmonella was found in peppers in Mexico,
> there were cases of E. coli infected spinach from California and beef
> originating in Omaha.
>
> The country of origin labels will now be on beef, pork, lamb, chicken,
> goat meat, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans,
> ginseng, and macadamia nuts. The labeling will provide a sense of
> safety and accountability to concerned consumers.
>
> For safety advocates it is a huge step forward. "It's vitally
> important to ensure that products coming in from other countries as
> well as ones growing here are quickly identified in an outbreak," says
> Caroline Smith DeWaal, Director of Food and Safety Center for Science
> in the Public Interest.
>
> But some food safety advocates say country of origin labeling is not
> specific enough. They want to see labels containing bar codes that can
> automatically trace foods all the way back to the farm.
>
> The tomato industry was furious with the Food and Drug Administration
> when their crop was wrongly targeted this past summer in one of the
> nation's largest salmonella outbreaks. Better labeling, and especially
> the use of barcodes in labels, could have streamlined the
> investigation and saved millions of dollars when perfectly good
> tomatoes were left to rot.
>
> The labeling law passed in 2002, but food producers fought it until
> now because of the cost and burden.
>
> "The industry has fought labeling tooth and nail because if you have
> labeling… people could decide whether they wanted to eat this food or
> not," says Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food." There are
> worries that though peppers from Mexico are safe now, as is spinach
> from California, consumers might not be interested in buying these
> foods from these locations.
>
> There are loopholes in this new labeling system. Foods produced in the
> United States but packed in Mexico can still be labeled "product of
> USA." This common practice hindered government investigators when they
> were searching for tainted tomatoes. If a product like hamburger meat
> contains ground beef from the U.S. and another country, both will be
> listed but there won't be specific indication of what percentage comes
> from each country.
>
> Processed foods like bacon need no labeling; nor do foods used as
> ingredients in other products. For instance, lettuce must now be
> labeled, but salad mixes containing lettuce and carrots will not be.
> Raw shrimp requires a label but if the store adds spices, it then
> becomes unnecessary. "We need to go much farther to have a system of
> traceability that consumers can really trust," says DeWaal.
>
> Food producers have up to six months to comply with the new law. After
> that they could face fines up to $1,000.
>
> Besides being a better way to track meats and produce the law could
> make people more aware of their actions. Buying locally grown products
> could infuse the local economy. It also lessens the food's carbon
> imprint since the trip from the farm to the market is shorter
Come now, you must savor diversity including biologicals i.e.
salmonella, etc.
Walter Hudson
be...@smithfarms.com
>On Oct 6, 1:36 pm, r...@iheartbarneyfrank.org wrote:
>> (As for me, I ain't eating NOTHIN grown in Mexico and Central America)
>>
>> http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5959494&page=1
>>
>> Food Rules: Labels Must Now Give Origin
>> Stricter Rules for Labeling Follow Series of Contamination Scandals
>> By ELIZABETH LEAMY and KRISTEN RED-HORSE
>> Oct. 5, 2008
>>
>> New regulations at U.S. supermarkets are giving consumers the
>> knowledge they have been asking for—where the fresh food they buy
>> originates.
>>
face fines up to $1,000.
>>
>> Besides being a better way to track meats and produce the law could
>> make people more aware of their actions. Buying locally grown products
>> could infuse the local economy. It also lessens the food's carbon
>> imprint since the trip from the farm to the market is shorter
>
>Come now, you must savor diversity including biologicals i.e.
>salmonella, etc.
>
>Walter Hudson
And not all foods are listed. Coffee for example that may be a blend
of several sources, does not have to acknowledge all the sources, so
although you'll know in Hawaii that a Kona Blend needs to contain 10%
REAL Kona, it has no bearing elsewhere and of course, we never have to
say EVER what 90% of the bag ever is- in Hawaii. COOL is a good first
step but not THE answer.
aloha,
beans- a coffee grower....
roast beans to kona to email
farmers of Pure Kona
professorgunz
Seems like a government-imposed, silly waste of time and money to me.
And what does it have to do w/ tx.guns?
Al Bundy
professorgunz wrote:
>
>
> Seems like a government-imposed, silly waste of time and money to me.
> And what does it have to do w/ tx.guns?
A few months ago I noticed that the local Dollar Tree was selling
fruit from China in thick glass jars. It was the thick glass jars that
caught my attention as everything else around here is packaged in
cans. I was glad it stated the country of origin. That made my
decision not to purchase. That fruit must be very cheap if they can
afford to ship it here in heavy jars and still make money.
clams_casino
>
>
> A few months ago I noticed that the local Dollar Tree was selling
>
>fruit from China in thick glass jars. It was the thick glass jars that
>caught my attention as everything else around here is packaged in
>cans. I was glad it stated the country of origin. That made my
>decision not to purchase. That fruit must be very cheap if they can
>afford to ship it here in heavy jars and still make money.
>
>
Aldi's carries a 24-oz jarred fruit from China that sells for about
$2.25 in a light syrup (peaches, pears, pineapple & maraschino
cherries). The quality is actually quite excellent and IMO, better than
a similar product by Dole that typically sells for $3.99 in the major
grocers around here. It's about 75 cents more than their canned pears
or peaches, but better quality than either with a convenient variety
of fruit, although I've been known to mix a can of their peaches with a
can of pears and a few maraschino cherries (also from Aldies at about $1
for a small jar) with a freshly cut apple, etc for a quick, more frugal
fruit cup.
Vic Smith
<PeterG...@DrunkinClam.com> wrote:
>
>Aldi's carries a 24-oz jarred fruit from China that sells for about
>$2.25 in a light syrup (peaches, pears, pineapple & maraschino
>cherries). The quality is actually quite excellent and IMO, better than
>a similar product by Dole that typically sells for $3.99 in the major
>grocers around here.
Maybe the human excrement fertilizer works toward that.
Or maybe some kind of carcinogenic or hallucinative chemical.
I avoid Chinese food like the plague - when I can tell.
--Vic
professorgunz
When I was a kid, lots of stuff was sold in thick glass jars. Whether
it still is probably depends on the local availability and price of
plastic vs. glass.
a) what's so bad about someone provideng produce at a low price?
b) what does that have to do w/ tx.guns?
Al Bundy
A) Nothing wrong with a low price. Everything wrong with me eating
possibly tainted food from China. If their cheap wrench or VOM goes
bad, I don't get hurt as much. I can't tell what's in that food.
B) You'd have to have a gun to my head to make me eat food from China.