FDA urges stronger safeguards for spices

ORChick

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
2,525
Reaction score
3
Points
195
Safety is all very well, but is this really the best that they can do?

The bits I put in bold remind me of the GMO issue - they won't buy it if we label, therefore we should be allowed not to label. This argument comes up so often, and just stuns me every time.



"Jeff Farrar, the FDA's associate commissioner for food safety, said the government wants the spice industry to do more to prevent contamination. That would include use of one of three methods to rid spices of bacteria: irradiation, steam heating or fumigation with ethylene oxide, a pesticide."

"No retail spice company uses irradiation because federal law requires disclosure of irradiation on the label, and the industry thinks consumers will not buy those products.

"If the labeling issue would go away, I think there would be a high interest to go to irradiation," Markus said, adding that irradiation is the cheapest and most effective method to decontaminate spices."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/13/AR2010031301111.html?hpid=topnews
 

gettinaclue

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
1,357
Reaction score
0
Points
114
Location
Spotsylvania, Virginia
The longer I'm here on this forum, the more I learn about food, and the more scared/worried/concerned/ and just plain GROSSED OUT I become. :sick

Nothing like a little radiation to make that cake taste great.

Yum. :sick
 

freemotion

Food Guru
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
10,817
Reaction score
90
Points
317
Location
Southwick, MA
Yep, I am growing more and more of my own herbs, and moving more towards whole spices and grating them myself. Exactly WHAT is it that they are trying to kill on dry spices????
 

Wifezilla

Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
8,928
Reaction score
16
Points
270
Location
Colorado
No kidding!!

I grow my own basil, oregano, thyme and sage. I use duck poo to fertilize and I still can't think of anything so bad I could get on those herbs that I would need to irradiate it!
 

FarmerDenise

Out to pasture
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
4,163
Reaction score
4
Points
184
Location
Northern California
Wifezilla said:
No kidding!!

I grow my own basil, oregano, thyme and sage. I use duck poo to fertilize and I still can't think of anything so bad I could get on those herbs that I would need to irradiate it!
:thumbsup :lol:
 

Occamstazer

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
690
Reaction score
0
Points
108
Location
Prattville, Alabama
FarmerDenise said:
Wifezilla said:
No kidding!!

I grow my own basil, oregano, thyme and sage. I use duck poo to fertilize and I still can't think of anything so bad I could get on those herbs that I would need to irradiate it!
:thumbsup :lol:
Yeah! If they need to irradiate herbs, they're doing it wrong.

ETA: Dear FDA,
1338_doing_it_wrong.jpg
 

ORChick

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
2,525
Reaction score
3
Points
195
I am growing my own herbs, but the spices from the tropics are something else again. I guess I need to check my supplies, and order again soon. Whole spices keep a whole lot longer than we are often led to believe, if kept cool, dry, and dark. At worst, one just needs to use a bit more. One begins to see how fortunes were won and lost on the availability of pepper or nutmeg.
Apparently, according to the article, retail spice sellers at present are not irradiating their products. I know that Penzeys is not, as I wrote and asked. Penzeys is a bit pricey, but their quality is good. I buy many of my spices from an Indian market; what I can't get there I usually order from Penzey. For organic I go to Mountain Rose.
 

Kim_NC

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Messages
195
Reaction score
0
Points
64
Location
Mt Airy, NC
Reminds me of last summer when irradiating lettuce became a big topic. Another vendor at our local market put a sign in her booth - "Radiation Free Lettuce" LOL

The purpose of irradiation is supposed to be for killing bacteria like e. coli, salmonella, etc. But the real problem lies in commercial growing practices, unsanitary employee practices in the field, and soaking/washing pratices in commercial processing that spread the bacteria.

ETA: Occamstazer, love that pic!
 

sylvie

Recycled Spunk
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
1,881
Reaction score
3
Points
123
I admit that I was ignorant about salmonella lurking and being viable for years on dried products.
Why haven't most of us gotten ill from these dried spices up until now? What suddenly changed?
 

hoosier

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
729
Reaction score
1
Points
125
I guess I missed the news story about masses of people dying from contaminated spices. . .
Seriously - has anyone ever heard of a problem with them?
 
Top