Neither do I! However, at least I know to avoid some Chinese products when I go shopping when they label the countries of origins. Then again, the contaminated peanut butter didn't come from China. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
--- On Thu, 2/26/09, Mike McGrath <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mike McGrath <[email protected]> Subject: NYT blog: Organic Inspectors Are Told to ReportHealth Problems To: [email protected], [email protected] Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009, 10:19 AM This has actually happened--and it should have saved lives. One of the contaminated spinach problems that occurred years ago was on a supposedly organic farm that met technical NOSB requirements, but was so obviously dirty that the certifier used his (or her) discretion and revoked their right to use the organic label. "Certification denied." Unfortunately, the USDA allows companies to use up their old packaging in such circumstances, and the spinach that made people sick came from such a package. To me, the important part was that the certifier was looking at EVERYTHING and tried to stop dirty food from getting out under an organic label. On a side note, I would not trust any kind of labeling on any Chinese product right now..... ---McG ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Liu" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:09 PM Subject: [Community_garden] NYT blog: Organic Inspectors Are Told to ReportHealth Problems Not sure how this may impact the local growers and distributors. I don't think much. Do they have organic inspectors for produce coming from other countries? 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The", "metaData": { "visible": "true" } }, "lw_1235671541_10": { "text": "pest management practice", "extended": 0, "startchar": 2140, "endchar": 2163, "start": 2152, "end": 2175, "extendedFrom": "", "predictedCategory": "", "predictionProbability": "0", "weight": 0.582133, "relScore": 6.36674, "type": ["shortcuts:/concept"], "category": ["CONCEPT"], "wikiId": "", "relatedWikiIds": [], "relatedEntities": [], "showOnClick": [], "context": "these regulations if the operation fails to comply with the pest management practice standard", "metaData": { "visible": "false" } } }; YAHOO.Shortcuts.headerID = "35d29ce41ab9580d46076cb0eb4cd344"; http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/organic-inspectors-are-told-to-report-health-problems/?hp letter here: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5075516&acct=nopgeninfo Organic Inspectors Are Told to Report Health Problems By Kim Severson The United States agriculture department, obviously concerned that some of the peanuts and peanut products recalled from salmonella-contaminated plants in Georgia and Texashad been certified organic, has told inspectors for the National Organic Program (NOP) that they must report health or safety violations to local, state of federal health officials. The program establishes the criteria for food growers and manufacturers to call their products organic and to use the agriculture department’s organic seal. It oversees inspections, mostly by private certifying agences or state officials. In a notice released on Wednesday,Barbara C. Robinson, acting director of the program, wrote, “Organic certification shall not be granted or continued when current health or safety inspections have not been granted or renewed for the facility.” A plant owned by the Peanut Corporation of America, whose salmonella-tainted products have been tied to hundreds of illnesses and nine deaths, was certified for organic production by an inspector for the Texas Department of Agriculture. Health inspectors found evidence of rodent infestation and other health probelms. The inspector for the organic program was fired earlier this month. In her notice, Ms. Robinson warned inspectors to look for evidence of rodents and other pests that can carry salmonella. “While the N.O.P. is not a health or safety program,” she said, “no operation can demonstrate compliance with these regulations if the operation fails to comply with the pest management practice standard.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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