Are You Down with PPO? Thinking Health Insurance? Think Again

Ever wonder why food allergies are on the rise not to mention autoimmunity such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis, where our immune response and cells made to protect us turn against? If you were to take a poll comprised of baby boomers as chief participants, now 77.5 million people strong, results [by overwhelming majority] would conclude that once upon a time peanut allergies were unheard of, or known cases having been few and far between. In fact, peanut butter was once a staple in their diet, whether spread between two slices of bread smothered in jam, or mixed in mom’s famous chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

Fast forward to today, and it’s quite a different story with nut allergies responsible for severe and sometimes life threatening immune response prompting warnings on food labels to signs posted in school cafeterias, place of worship, local business establishments, and dining menus.

But is the nut itself the ‘real’ culprit…….or is something else to blame unbeknownst to the vast majority of the general public? Curiosity led to further investigations and discovery of sterilization techniques not widely advertised to consumers, or retailers for that matter.

CONSUMERS BEWARE, in September of 2007 the USDA ordered mandatory “sterilization” of raw almonds, one of nature’s so-called super foods, by U.S. producers using one of several methods dubbed as “pasteurization”. Methods of which include, a burst of steam, irradiation involving a controversial ionization process, and most commonly, fumigation using a highly toxic and flammable chemical compound called propylene oxide (“PPO”).

PPO, once used as racing fuel, has since been banned by the US National Hot Rod Association as well as the European Union and many other developed countries for safety reasons. It has also been classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. PPO belongs to the so called “radiomimetic” genotoxic chemicals group as it induces similar biological end points as ionizing radiation. The chemical’s effects on food include gene mutation, DNA strand breaks, and neoplastic cell transformation.

The new mandate has also paved the way to deceptive labeling in the U.S. Almonds that have undergone chemical treatments for pasteurization are still labeled “raw” with no label requirements on the horizon in the transparency of pasteurization treatments used among those approved. Consumers who purchase raw almonds could very well be victims of smoke and mirror tactics in that what they believe to be raw and therefore unprocessed is a prefabricated metaphor of deception through improper labeling.

There have been enough eyebrows raised that our neighbors to the north have enhanced their surveillance on the levels of PPO in non-starchy foods potentially treated with fumigant, including cocoa, nutmeats, dried herbs, dried fruit, and spices. Although not approved for domestic use, Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (the “PMRA”), under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act in 2009, established a maximum residue limit (“MRL”) of 300 parts per million (ppm) for PPO in raw almonds to permit the import and sale of almonds from the U.S. that may contain this residue.

Pasteurization by PPO treatment may indeed be carcinogenic yet the USDA appears more interested in protecting almond producers from lawsuits rather than protecting the long term health of consumers not to mention a sense of “pro-choice” through proper labeling in the transparency of pasteurization treatments. Thousands of consumers and retailers, many of them outraged after learning of the new mandate, have since voiced their concerns directly to the USDA on this issue.

The good news is you can still find unpasteurized raw organic almonds at farmers markets, buy online, or at your nearest Whole Foods Market [from Italy] near the bulk section.

But more importantly and the message I’m trying to drive home is, what foods will be next on the list of mandatory sterilization, heat treatment, or irradiation without proper labeling or consumer awareness? Could this be the first step in a slippery slope toward a sterile food environment that protects processors from lawsuits and facilitates industrial-scale food processing and distribution while offering few food choices to consumers who prefer truly raw and unprocessed foods?

As consumers, are we once again getting the shaft by big business out for profit only? Send a message to both the USDA and food producers of growing consumer awareness and advocacy for whole and unprocessed foods, through responsible food labeling and transparency, in evoking judgment and wisdom by the general public to discern for themselves what is valid and worthy in making informed decisions about their own health and food choices.

If you are disturbed by this news, you can help in the movement towards transparency in labeling by spreading the word. Tell a friend, neighbor, extended family member, or ingenious stranger you befriend to send comments to the USDA and Almond Growers Board of growing consumer awareness and advocacy for whole and unpasteurized foods through transparency in food labeling.

As consumers we have the ultimate buying power and influence to drive change through power in numbers. I invite you to join me on the campaign trail. Let your voice be heard today.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack United States Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave SW Whitten Building – Suite 200A Washington, D.C. 20250 Email: agsec@usda.gov

Kurt J. Kimmel Regional Manager, California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102B Fresno, CA 93721 Email: Kurt.Kimmel@usda.gov

Journal Source: http://www.cornucopia.org/almond/Almond_Fact_Sheet.pdf http://www.anh-usa.org/raw-and-organic-almonds-lawsuit-scores-its-first-major-victory/ http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/chemical-residues-microbiology/chemical-residues/propylene-oxide/eng/1351917937884/1351918123486