Are you ready for pasteurizing your almonds? And then what -- all other
nuts too? This rule itself is nutty! Our BEST, Drs. Dan & Joe
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Tuesday, August 7, 2007 (AP)
Calif. Almond Growers Seek Delay of Rule
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer

   (08-07) 02:54 PDT Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

   The largest organization of almond growers is asking the government for a
six-month delay before enforcing a new rule requiring all California
almonds to be pasteurized, saying farmers can't adjust in time to meet the
original deadline.

   In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would require
virtually all almonds to be pasteurized by Sept. 1, following Salmonella
outbreaks in 2001 and 2004 that were traced to raw almonds.

   Now the California Almond Board wants to push back the implementation date
to March 1, 2008, to give pasteurization facilities time to validate their
processes and machinery and avoid interrupting the flow of nuts to the
market.

   Almonds have become increasingly lucrative as they've gained popularity
with health-conscious consumers. California's 6,000 almond farmers expect
to harvest a $1.4-billion-plus bumper crop this year from a flat strip of
farmland sandwiched between the Pacific coast and the Sierra Nevada
mountains.

   Board officials said that without enough pasteurizing capacity, the
industry can't move forward.

   "The pasteurization rule from the outset was subject to having enough
pasteurization capacity available," said Richard Waycott, president and
CEO of the California Almond Board. "We're almost there, but there wasn't
quite enough capacity. It was a situation we felt wasn't fair to consumers
or to the industry."

   USDA officials said Monday they would be mulling over the Almond Board of
California's request for a delay in the next few weeks, but said the
pasteurization rule itself would not be changed.

   In pasteurization — a process also used for milk, juice and eggs
— the shelled and hulled nuts typically are laid out on a conveyor
belt that passes them through a moist burst of steam to heat the kernels'
surface to about 200 degrees, killing any pathogens present.

   Followers of the restrictive raw foods diet and shoppers who prefer
unprocessed, organic nuts protested the government's pasteurization
decision, and organized a national letter-writing campaign this spring
asking the USDA to reconsider the rule.

   "We think it's important that if we're talking about food and something
that people are putting in their mouths, decisions need to have a full and
fair review," said Will Fantle, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research
group that opposes almond pasteurization. "The board's request to delay is
more evidence that this was a rushed decision."

   Once the state board submits a document justifying the new timetable, the
USDA will consider the request and draft a final decision to be published
in the Federal Register by Sept. 1, said Michael Durando, chief for the
agency's marketing order administration branch.

   ___

   On the Net:

   Almond Board of California:

   ___

   HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State officials have declared a drought watch
across most of Pennsylvania, and asked residents to curtail water use
while the dryness continues.

   While they say reservoirs appear to be in good shape, farm officials
warned that the state's corn crop could sustain significant damage, and
weather forecasters said the dry spell should stretch through August.

   "For the next month in general, conditions don't look overly good for a
wet pattern," said National Weather Service hydrologist Peter Jung in
State College.

   In declaring the drought watch, the state Department of Environmental
Protection on Monday cited declining groundwater levels and stream flows
after a two-month dry stretch that has left many counties more than 4
inches below average rainfall levels.

   Only nine of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, all in the southeast, escaped a
drought watch designation: Bucks, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster,
Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia.

   Dryness has persisted on the East Coast for several months, with the worst
spots in the deep south, according to the National Drought Mitigation
Center. More recently, it has spread north to Pennsylvania.

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