Great. I can't eat diary and corn in anything just makes me itch. Now I gotta give up beef and tuna?

Rusted

CharlieSeattle

Skiffer

DCGaymer

Oh wait, there are none near me, the next time I get near one they should be on a different supplier :-D

theblackdog

@Dooley: I hope you don't buy the pre-washed, pre-packaged stuff. Where are produce farms located? Often near livestock farms. Where do produce farms get their irrigation water from? Downstream from the livestock farms. Hence the Eschericha coli problems we've been seeing. I was a vegetarian for the first ~20 years of my life. It was a vegetarian dietican who finally had me eat meat b/c my body wasn't able to get enough protein from the veggies. Not a bad thing, meat tastes really good.

FLConsumer

leefur5

missbheave (is not convinced)

missbheave (is not convinced)

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here... you could be deliberately lying about the free market for some reason best known to yourself.

speedwell

elijah_dukes_mayonnaise

meeroom

Nice sentiment but pretty unrealistic. We eat food that is grown/raised/manufactured under an almost infinite variety of conditions/methodologies from all over the planet. Unless you grow/raise all your food yourself and get your water from a source you control, you can't really "know the source" of everything you eat.

The best you can do is use some general rules of thumb to keep yourself safer. Like "don't buy pre-made hamburger patties", or "if it comes from China, don't put it in your mouth."

bishophicks

Dooley

When US blocked the border, because Canada found mad cow in one cow, it makes me but wonder : how many mad cows slip **through** the cracks in USA. There is no strict system to test cows in USA + lack of actual inspectors. (Canada is much more strict in its inspections, and there are a lot of food inspectors who check different plants on a regular basis).

Meltdown

sixninezero

cunnij98

Sadly the govement thought these places were of higher risk yet that was never proven because most had more acountability as they lived in the comunity they served.

Now we face huge recalls of these sorts and when any sort of out break happens and insteed of being contained to smaller geographical aeras it now spreads acros the country.

armour

Oh yeah for the people above- small cattle is considered to be under 650 lbs and the current weighted avg per 100 lbs is ~$94 ...grade is also a determining factor in the cutout prices.

MeatInsider

HykCraft

danger the pirate ★ feels as though he should have a star and a preposterously long name mostly because all the cool kids are doing it, but also because he likes typing in third person, and finally, to see if you can max out a screen name. It would appear as though they let you go for a while...

veronykah

[www.organicconsumers.org]

USDA Allowing Bogus Organic Labels on Fish from Fish Farms

Organic label muddies the waters

Carol Ness, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

"Organic salmon" reads the sign stuck into pretty, deep-pink fillets in
Tower Market's fish case.

Same goes at Drewes market in Noe Valley. Ver Brugge's in Oakland's
Rockridge calls the salmon "organically fed." Up in Larkspur, Yankee Pier's
menu boasts "grilled organic chinook salmon."

At $8 to $10 a pound, sales of the fish have been climbing in the Bay Area
for the last few months. With wild salmon out of season for months at a
time, consumers alarmed by reports of PCBs, dioxin and other contaminants in
conventionally farmed salmon are snapping up this new alternative.

"Any time they see 'organic,' people are going crazy for it," says Don
Dacanay, behind the fish counter at Tower Market in San Francisco.

Even when the local wild salmon season opens May 1, fishmongers predict that
prices for wild king steaks and fillets will be so high this year that the
"organic" fish will keep selling well into summer.

There's just one catch: It's not organic. Fish can't be certified organic in
the United States, because federal rules governing organic foods don't cover
fish. They only apply to crops and animals raised on land. And these fish
aren't certified organic by any other country, either.

So what's going on?

The short answer is that the "organic" fish are farmed salmon, from British
Columbia and Scotland. Their producers say the salmon are being raised in a
cleaner environment with more room to swim than most farmed fish. They get
better food; some even eat certified organic feed. They're not given
antibiotics or hormones. Chemicals aren't used to clean their nets.

Yankee Pier chef Phil Conde says, "They're very similar to free-range
chickens."

Most of what's labeled organic in local stores and restaurants is farmed
king salmon raised in Clayoquot Sound, an inlet on the British Columbian
coast, by Creative Salmon Co. The feed isn't organic, and contains minimal
amounts of grain. Pigment is added. The fish contain some contaminants. But
their flesh is bright and firm, and the fish arrive looking healthier than
other farmed salmon, Conde says.

Scottish fish

Also sold locally, in some Whole Foods Markets, is the Black Pearl Natural
Choice brand. This Atlantic salmon is raised on feed that's certified
organic in Britain in lower-density pens off Scotland's Shetland Islands,
and sold through Boston-based Martin International. Whole Foods doesn't call
it organic, but clerks can tell customers about the fish's cleaner pedigree.

In many fish markets, the salmon has become an attractive alternative since
reports about contaminants in farmed salmon sent demand plummeting.

At Ver Brugge's meat and fish market, Jerry Ver Brugge says, "We're not even
using typical farmed salmon anymore. We stopped it. After this debacle, we
put in the organic fish for $1 a pound more. We're selling just as much, and
no more controversies."

Drewes market in San Francisco sells about 80 pounds of "organic salmon" a
day. Customer Michael Laird, buying a 1 1/4-pound fillet for dinner one
recent day, explains.

"I have kids, so I am concerned about hormones and diseases cropping up in
farm-raised salmon," he says. "And it's good."

It doesn't bother him that the fish isn't certified organic by anyone.
Organic is more a general concept to him, and once Drewes' owners Josh and
Isaac Epple explained how the fish was raised, he was satisfied.

Neither Creative Salmon nor Martin International labels their fish organic,
although Creative Salmon's laminated sign, posted at Tower and Ver Brugge,
says "organic certification pending." But both companies think their fish
should qualify as organic and are pushing their governments to set standards
for organic farmed fish.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which governs organic rules in this
country, is also under pressure from Alaska to allow wild-caught salmon to
be called organic. So far, the USDA hasn't waded in.

Yet, "organic" is what the salmon is being called by some wholesalers,
markets, restaurants, and the people eating it.

That's OK with the USDA, spokeswoman Joan Shaffer says, as long as signs or
labels don't display the USDA organic seal, or imply that the fish meets U.
S. national organic standards.

"Because there are not standards," Shaffer says.

This stance, clarified in a USDA statement April 13, begs the question of
whether the word "organic" alone carries an implication, since the USDA's
National Organic Program went into effect in October 2002. Shaffer says the
USDA controls use of the term "organic" for crops and critters raised on
land, but not for categories that aren't covered by the organic program,
including seafood and cosmetics.

"It's kind of consumer beware," says Brian Leahy, president of California
Certified Organic Farmers.

Whole Foods has chosen not to call any fish organic, even if it's certified
by another country that does have standards.

"We don't feel comfortable with some of the overseas certifiers," says
national seafood manager Dick Jones. And different countries have different
standards.

"It's very confusing to us when seafood is labeled organic because we don't
know just what that means," he says. "We think that until it's defined, it's
also confusing to the consumer."

Some Bay Area fishmongers are more direct.

"We find it to be a crock," says Tom Worthington at Monterey Fish, a
sustainably inclined San Francisco wholesaler with a retail market in
Berkeley. He's not selling the salmon.

Using organic feed and no antibiotics or hormones "are good things,"
Worthington says. "But the real problem is what happens to the environment."

Pollution from feed and feces, diseases and the problem of escaping fish
entering the wild gene pool are the other half of the equation, he adds.
That view is held by an environmental coalition that's fighting Creative
Salmon's operation in Clayoquot Sound.

At Berkeley Bowl, fish manager Ted Iijima agrees with Worthington. And he
says 9 out of 10 of his customers are "anti-farmed fish."

"For fish, who can truly say it's organic? And who sets the guidelines for
that? I get off the boat there."

With the opening of California wild salmon season just days away,
Worthington says, "Why would anyone want farmed king salmon when we're
entering the (wild) king salmon season soon, and it's already organic and
living on its own and doing what it does?"

Price problem

Price may be one reason. Both retail and wholesale fish sellers expect wild
salmon prices to take a big jump this year. Demand is phenomenal because of
the alarms about farmed salmon, along with the national health imperative to
eat more fish and the high-protein craze.

Right now, with only a few wild salmon coming in from Oregon and Alaska,
prices of $14-$16 a pound aren't unusual. As the California season gets into
full swing, prices should drop -- but not to last year's levels. Predictions
are that prices will be $2.50 to $3.50 a pound more this year.

For Jerry Ver Brugge, as well as Drewes and other markets, that means
carrying cheaper alternatives.

"I believe we'll have organic-fed farmed fish throughout the wild season.
What will dictate what will be sold is price," Ver Brugge says.

"I think they're equal in nutritional value, cleanliness, healthiness," he
adds. But "there will be other opinions about that. Oh, yes."
A look at the farms

Here are some of the farming practices for salmon being sold as organic, or
cleaner, in Bay Area markets.

Creative Salmon Co.

Indigenous Pacific king (Chinook) salmon, farmed in Clayoquot Sound, British
Columbia

Certification: Not certified. British Columbia has no organic standards for
fish. Creative is working with the provincial government to draft organic
rules. Its marketing materials say "organic certification pending."

Feed: Not organic. Feed is fish meal and fish oil screened for PCBs and
other contaminants; organic wheat used as a binder.

Color: Synthetic astaxanthin is added. This is a carotenoid, essential to
salmon's growth; it also gives salmon its pink-orange color.

Density: 25,000 to 30,000 fish per pen; company says that equals 8 kilograms
of fish per cubic meter. For comparison, the industry average is 40 kg/m?;
British organic rules allow 10 kg/m?.

Other: No antibiotics, hormones, pesticides or anti-fouling substances used.

Black Pearl Natural Choice (Martin International)

Atlantic salmon farm-raised in Scotland's Shetland Islands

Certification: Not certified. Owner Dick Martin wants the USDA to adopt
organic rules for fish, so that he can win certification.

Feed: Organic fish meal and grain feed certified by Soil Association, a
British certifying agency.

Color: No pigments added. Color comes from marine creatures used in feed.

Density: 18 kg/m? (industry average is 40 kg/m?; British organic rules allow
10 kg/m?.)

Other: No antibiotics, hormones, pesticides or anti-fouling substances used.

E-mail Carol Ness at cness@sfchronicle.com.

CharlieSeattle

CharlieSeattle

synergy

The AP article says "no illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat" but they don't say that this is irrelevant with mad cow. In humans, the vCJD incubation period is 20 to 50 years. Leaving out that info is comparable to writing about millions of people being exposed to asbestos and then saying "but no one had cancer the next day."

Christovir

*(Just guessing at the length of a cow. I am sure 5ft is on the low end for a cow, so this calculation gives a conservative estimate. I couldn't find a reference quickly.)

JackHandey

johnva

JackHandey

sporks

Topcat

blackpanic

I am sure that this slaughter house will just declare bankruptcy and go out of business and the company officers will "retire" with nice golden parachutes in the Camen Islands..

DadCooks

icemanik

Look, we all know it's either second-rate beef or gym mats, and as lunchlady Doris on the Simpsons warns, "there's very little meat in these gym mats".

astrochimp

If someone pushing drugs - that at least make some people (briefly) happy - get decades in rough prisons, manditorily, then these people should get life.

Oh, nice to see the Free Market magically preventing these things from happening. Not.

Trai_Dep

Ow146

The USDA even said that they believe that most of the meat in question has been consumed.

Chew on that!

hotrodmetal

kittenfoo

Also, heating cannot not kill prions because they are not alive, they're just bent protein molecules. There is no way to treat BSE-tainted meat.

Christovir

How does one eat "organic fish"? Either it's wild caught or it's farmed. If it's wild caught it's either line caught(superior quality and more expensive) or net caught(cheaper and less expensive, but still more so than farmed). If it's farmed it's been swimming around in water with a ton of fish poop in it and being fed feed with all sorts of things like ground up fish and antibiotics in it. Farmed fish is also fattier, which leads to a more flavorful fish, but fish in general is about texture and subtlety, not a high fat content. In any case, you have to watch the fish you eat since many wild caught fish will have higher levels of toxins than are recommended. Fish that grow larger, live longer lives, and consume large quantities of bait fish to fuel their bodies(particularly fish like tuna and king mackerel, both of which are fish that cruise at high speeds) tend more towards this. Smaller fish that live shorter lives tend to have less in the way of toxins depending on their diet and where in which body of water that particular fish was caught.

Down with the evil meat empire and the companies that sacrific quality for cost effectiveness.

oneswellfoop

What is important to those in power is not that people might have gotten sick from this, but that the company not lose any profits!

When are we in the US EVER going to get mad about ANYTHING and say enough is enough? Do we are about anything?

SkyeBlue

Arcaynn

Knowingly selling a product that may kill someone is criminally negligent homicide.

sue_me

Even fish has a lot of mercury so be careful. Buy organic fish and also not a lot. Technically you don't need to eat fish or meats at all. It was all in the past. Now its all infected with chemicals and over processed to a point where there is nothing good in the food anymore. Fish does contain omega fats but also many plants have the same molecule. And protein has many other sources as well. We are just not that mobile as our ancestors were and just end up clogging our arteries with animal fats. Animals on the other hand have a better metabolic system and for them its better to eat food raw. They are adapted for that, we are not. And besides if you start to consume more healthy fats then you will look even better than now as long as u exercise. Also avoid white sugar like a plague. And if you do, you will never get sick with any colds. As for this, it's all corporate greed. These monsters care only about money. They do need to meet their daily quota so they think so what. But, what will happen should a prion come to contact with a human. When a person eats a bad meat, not fully cooked, and that meet has animal nerve cells, the protein from the cell can attack the human nervous system and make holes in it, giving you the mad cow disease. And for a person its fatal. A slow death where your thoughts will be obsolete. As in your memory, neural net wiped out.

Techno Viking

RobinB

Hoss

ChrisC1234

Hoss

Eliamias

DudeAsInCool

Ftp1423

There needs to start being some serious penalties on the persons who knowingly do these kind of things, same with the Bayer situation. Suing companies just doesn't work. Facing jail time would make some of these decision makers think twice about the greed, or at least get the utterly greedy behind bars.

bohemian

Christovir

The mad cow boards on the vegsource.com website have an excellent gathering of articles and research journals.

ninabi

banmojo

CharlieSeattle

[www.fsis.usda.gov]

smitty1123

I'm gonna go drown my sorrows now in delicious steak, hopefully it's not the infected crap.

Bay State Darren

+ Watch video

DCGaymer

nightshade74

ClayS

Right?

Dresarius

half-beast

amccoll

no.no.notorious

RIP MRHANDS

Falconfire