Today, Monday, August 20, 2007 many Almond Farmers attended a meeting in Modesto, California that sealed the future of Almond crops everywhere. What food will be next?

Description/History -

Starting in August or September of 2007, raw almonds available in the USA, Canada and Mexico, will no longer be "truly raw" due to a mandate passed by the USDA, FDA and the California Almond Board, announcing that all almonds including organic must be pasteurized. This means that the Almond farmer will have to truck thousands of pounds of almonds to one of the five facilities that are already set up for the pasteurization process and then truck them back again to the processing plant. Besides having a vital part of our food supply pasteurized--against our will, it will now have a huge cost attached to it. Information is available at the following link:

http://www.almondboard.com/Programs/content.cfm
?ItemNumber=890&snItemNumber=450

Action Plan and Pasteurization - Frequently Asked Questions

The problem is the law has been passed with little public input (if any) or notification whatsoever.

In addition, all pasteurized almonds available in the marketplace will still be labeled as raw almonds. Can this be considered fraudulence or an outright lie? Are you willing to give up your food freedom choices?

The primary reasons for passing this law are two isolated outbreaks of salmonella, in conjunction with conventional almond farms a few years ago. To the best of our knowledge no salmonella outbreaks have EVER been associated with organic almonds.

Within the past 10 years tomatoes, spinach, green onions, peanuts, grapes, melons, lettuce, and sprouts have all been linked to salmonella outbreaks. Does that mean we should eliminate all fresh produce? Absolutely not!!! But they are going to try.

Almonds, the heartbeat of all nuts, literally, have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease, a rich source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, protein, fiber and antioxidants to name a few . These amazing and life enhancing health benefits, will be devastatingly reduced if not completely eliminated in the pasteurization process.

Three of the potential suggested methods of pasteurization are:

- Propylene Oxide (PPO) Fumigation (propylene oxide was also used as an insecticidal fumigant till 1988 when its registration was terminated. California Prop.65 rates PPO as a CARCINOGEN. (Cited from www.mbow.org)

- High Heat (which degrades the integrity of the nuts and enzyme structure).

- Steam Pasteurization (will also further devalue the nutrients, enzyme activity and antioxidants.)

This is a call to all those who care about their health, we need to join forces by bringing this to the attention of everyone from the mass media to the common consumer before it goes any further than almonds! It is our basic right to choose unprocessed foods! We have created a petition that we will present to the California Almond Board, the FDA and the USDA. Go to <http://www.livingnutz.com>www.livingnutz.com and click on the almond pasteurization petition link on the front of our page and sign your name as well as your state, town, and zipcode. E-mail us at <mailto:info@livingnutz.com>info@livingnutz.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with any other questions, media relations, ideas or information you may have relevant to this cause.

Just say NO. Shout it, write it, Do not put up with this crime against humanity!