issues

Food Safety

Preserve Your Right to Eat Fresh Leafy Greens from Family Farmers | Veggie Booty Snack Recall | MaraNatha Sesame Tahini Recall | FDA Gives Tentative Approval to Food From Cloned Animals | Food Safety Laws Threatened | Mad Cow Disease | Food Irradiation

Preserve Your Right to Eat Fresh Leafy Greens from Family Farmers

Last year’s tragic E. coli 0157:H7 processed, bagged salad outbreaks led the leafy greens industry to design a set of rules that implements “Good Agricultural Practices” to reduce the risk of food contamination. The industry’s goal is to lead the effort to prevent future leafy greens outbreaks due to its history of food safety problems. While all growers should use safe farming practices, the “one size fits all” approach of the rules does not work for family farms. If these rules become mandatory, they will hurt family farms and undermine efforts to farm in an environmentally responsible manner.

Community Alliance with Family Farmers is working to collect thousands of letters from consumers who want to preserve their right to eat fresh leafy greens from family farmers. The letters will be mailed to California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Board en masse.

You can help to keep your access to traditional, fresh leafy greens from local California growers by signing the sample letter.

Copies of this letter will also be available at Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and can be left at the informational table near the demo counter or can be mailed directly to CAFF at:

Community Alliance with Family Farmers
1735 Woodland Ave., #51
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Attn: Kira Pascoe, Family Farm Food Safety Coordinator

For more information:

Go to www.caff.org to find out more about the rules, why these rules are not appropriate for all farms and what you can do to support the issue.

Download the informative guide Food Safety - Get the Facts

Download Reasons to Buy Local Leafy Greens

Veggie Booty Snack Recall

Robert’s American Gourmet Food, Inc. is recalling all lots and sizes of Veggie Booty Snack Food because of potential salmonella contamination. There have been 51 documented cases of salmonella across 17 states, predominately in children age 3 or younger.

Please discard the contents of any Veggie Booty product you may have at home, and contact Robert’s American Gourmet at (800) 626-7557 for reimbursement of your purchase, or if you have any questions regarding the situation.

MaraNatha Sesame Tahini Recall

MaraNatha is voluntarily recalling MaraNatha Sesame Tahini 16 oz. with a Use By Date of 4/11/08 or earlier, and MaraNatha Sesame Tahini 15 lb. and 32 lb. sizes with an expiration date of 1/5/08 or earlier, because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No other MaraNatha products are affected by this action. Potential salmonella contamination was discovered during routine, random sample testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. There have been no confirmed cases of illness to date.

None of the products currently on the Co-op's shelves are affected by this recall. Customers who have recently purchased MaraNatha Sesame Tahini should check the Use By Date and return any product that meets the above criteria.

Consumers who have purchased MaraNatha Sesame Tahini are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-883-8312.

FDA Gives Tentative Approval to Food from Cloned Animals

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that food and meat from cloned animals “is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day.”  The FDA’s determination is contained in its Draft Animal Cloning Risk Assessment report released near the end of 2006.  But public interest groups, and many consumers, are concerned that risks to the public have not fully been examined.

To take action and make your voice heard, please see Action Alerts. To find out more about this issue, read the article below. (The file is downloadable in PDF format with Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you may download a free copy from Adobe.)

• Tentative FDA Approval to Food from Cloned Animals

Food Safety Laws Threatened

Congress is getting ready to pass a bill that will take away our right to know what is in our food. Visit the link below to find out what you can do to protect California's food labeling laws:

• Organic Consumers Association Action Center

Mad Cow Disease/BSE

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, belongs to a group of related brain-wasting diseases known as "transmissible spongiform encephalopathies" (TSEs). Although these diseases can occur spontaneously, these diseases can spread through a herd of cattle very quickly when infected nervous system tissue is fed to other animals. Humans are at risk of contracting a human version of mad cow disease when they consume contaminated beef products.

The Co-op only carries beef that is humanely raised and fed only certified organic feed with no animal by-products, assuring our customers that the beef they are buying from the Co-op is safe and pure.

For more information about the beef that the Co-op sells, please visit the Web site of one of our main beef suppliers, Prather Ranch.

For more information and to find what you can do to take action against mad cow disease, please visit the following Web sites:

• Center for Food Safety
• Organic Consumers Association

Food Irradiation

According to the Center for Food Safety, “Most people naturally understand that food and radiation should never meet. But irradiated food is already on our supermarket shelves and may even be in your refrigerator. Most consumers are probably unaware that a growing portion of their food supply is at risk of exposure to potentially harmful sources of radiation, or that irradiated meat has been approved for the National School Lunch Program."

"Food irradiation uses high-energy gamma rays, electron beams, or X-rays to break apart bacteria and insects that can hide in meat, grains, and other foods. Instead of addressing the unsanitary conditions of factory farms that cause many food-borne illnesses, the food industry sees this technology as a quick fix for the negative consequences of industrial livestock production. Moreover, the influence of the food industry on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has led to the legalization of several irradiated food items, including spices, produce, and meats.”

To find out what is currently happening with food irradiation and to find out what you can do to take action again it, visit the following Web sites:

• Center for Food Safety
• Organic Consumers Association

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