Comments on: Cheaper by the Dozen

By: 1spudnut

1spudnut — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:50:04 +0000

“Certified organic” only refers to a product’s compliance with standards that relate to pesticide use, hormone use, antibiotic use, or gentic modification. Period.

Food safety and security standards are a different matter. Yes, they need to be strengthened in many areas. But the USDA and FDA may well have less influence on food producers than third party auditors. And this isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. Oganizations such as the AIB and the NFPA are good examples.

Also, many of the biggest retailers and food producers who rely on outside suppliers are turning to international standards such as the SQF 2000. These companies are demanding that all of the products or ingredients supplied to them are produced in facilities that are certified to conform to these standards.

Yes, I admit that I have been wary of peanut products lately. But I am quite sure that PCA would not have been able to withstand the scrutiny of an SQF 2000 audit. If customers had demanded stringent supplier audits as a condition for PCA to do business with them the extent and severity of the recent salmonella outbreak.

AIB and SQF 2000 certified auditors are very well trained, and they spend the better part of a week to inspect a facility. Please don’t regard their organizations as second rate.

Total elimination of foodborne illnesses will never be a certainty in our world, but full scale adoption of comprehensive food standards with frequent inspections and audits are the keys to a safer and healthier public.

By: Cold Lightning

Cold Lightning — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:45:53 +0000

The adulterated “organic” standard came to us from the same bi-partisan idealogues who allowed the banking and investments industries regulate themselves. Our Department of Agriculture thinks any food product which does not contain excessive amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, and hormones is automatically a defective nutrition source, and represents only a marketing emphasis.

By: Sandy Fackler

Sandy Fackler — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:44:49 +0000

Yes, and the USDA began to adulterate “organic” as soon as it came under their roof. My red flag was all the big commercial dairy industry corporations who suddenly began snapping up small organic farms when the FDA stated it was organic if it contained only “certain percentages of organic certified product.” So now some of my organic labeled milk and cream can contain those antibiotics and hormones to which my system is so adverse.

I’ve gone off dairy 90% now, because of the further betrayal by the USDA’s FDA.