Known carcinogen approved for organic food

[mohoghead]

I prefer to use a blend of oregano, rosemary and a few other herbs,(no salt) on my foods, I'm making a pesto tonight from the garden, no salt, not needed and i'll toss it with whole wheat pasta. you wouldn't put salt on a great steak would you? ruins the flavor.

Originally Posted by Gardener5

Could it be to add flavor, if it tastes better ya more likely to buy it again. No one is going to say to much sugar or salt is good for you.

[fugacity]

Originally Posted by mohoghead

I prefer to use a blend of oregano, rosemary and a few other herbs,(no salt) on my foods, I'm making a pesto tonight from the garden, no salt, not needed and i'll toss it with whole wheat pasta. you wouldn't put salt on a great steak would you? ruins the flavor.

Now I know we'll never agree on anything.

[Gardener5]

Originally Posted by mohoghead

I prefer to use a blend of oregano, rosemary and a few other herbs,(no salt) on my foods, I'm making a pesto tonight from the garden, no salt, not needed and i'll toss it with whole wheat pasta. you wouldn't put salt on a great steak would you? ruins the flavor.

I will be the first to admit I use way to much salt. Thinks like mac and cheese I'm not sure what herb I'd use to flavor it.

[mohoghead]

you remind me of people who order a $20.00 steak and smother it in A-1 steak sauce.

Originally Posted by fugacity

Now I know we'll never agree on anything.

[fugacity]

Originally Posted by mohoghead

you remind me of people who order a $20.00 steak and smother it in A-1 steak sauce.

I'd rather eat a hot dog than a steak with A-1.

Salt pepper and sear it right.

[RozieDozie]

Originally Posted by LarryS

If that were the case, then salt couldnt be added to food either. Or sugar.
Or a number of other materials.

Would the government decide that because celiacs cant tolerate wheat, it
should not be added to human food?

There is a bit too much "shooting from the hip" with this concept. Congress
has proved at least one thing conclusively....it is incapable of governing our
society effectively or even to the satisfaction of the majority.

Good to see you posting again, Larry.

I know what you mean. Organic is becoming another arm of Big Ag now. There are international certifying firms that are vying for the position of being the government's 'selected' certifying firms... Another tiered system of money making eliminating competition.

[RozieDozie]

Originally Posted by fugacity

Then your book would be wrong.

from Wikipedia:
There the seaweed is ground, sifted to remove impurities such as sand, and washed thoroughly. After treatment with hot alkali solution (e.g., 5–8% potassium hydroxide), the cellulose is removed from the carrageenan by centrifugation and filtration. The resulting carrageenan solution is then concentrated by evaporation. It is dried and ground to specification.

This describes a very natural process.

Potassium hydroxide is a chemical. About as much of a chemical as table salt or baking soda.

Regardless, you didn't say unnatural. You said synthetic which it is not.

For your perusal: http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/OIG_c...Bcomplaint.pdf

From Cornucopia's complaint letter:

..."The Cornucopia Institute respectfully requests that your office conduct an investigation into the process at the recent meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in Albuquerque, May 22-25, 2012, that led to the approval of an inappropriate synthetic material on the USDA’s National List of Approved Substances."

snip

..."The vote concerned the relisting of the synthetic material carrageenan, and its approval for use for another five years on the federal National List of Approved Substances. During the vote on May 24, 2012, board members Wendy Fulwider and Joe Dickson each cast votes in favor of the relisting of carrageenan that Cornucopia alleges are tainted by a conflict of interest.

And then from the USDA itself:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getf...TELPRDC5097825

[fugacity]

Originally Posted by RozieDozie

For your perusal: http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/OIG_c...Bcomplaint.pdf

From Cornucopia's complaint letter:

..."The Cornucopia Institute respectfully requests that your office conduct an investigation into the process at the recent meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in Albuquerque, May 22-25, 2012, that led to the approval of an inappropriate synthetic material on the USDA’s National List of Approved Substances."

snip

..."The vote concerned the relisting of the synthetic material carrageenan, and its approval for use for another five years on the federal National List of Approved Substances. During the vote on May 24, 2012, board members Wendy Fulwider and Joe Dickson each cast votes in favor of the relisting of carrageenan that Cornucopia alleges are tainted by a conflict of interest.

And then from the USDA itself:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getf...TELPRDC5097825

I apologize to you. You were using information from, cornucopia who is wrong. The usda is right. From your usda link:

While Carrageenan is a naturally occurring polysaccharide extracted from seaweed and considered non-synthetic...

I can promise you that even with "alterations" this does not meet the definition of synthetic. It would best be described as a natural extractive. If the wikipedia definition is correct, it is no more synthetic than vegatable oil (probably less processed even). This isn't just parsing terms, there is nothing synthetic about it. The organic folks making this arguent would be best to not try to mischaracterize the substance as that doesn't lend credibility to the science of their arguments.

[Hairy Moose Knuckles]

Originally Posted by RozieDozie

For your perusal: http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/OIG_c...Bcomplaint.pdf

From Cornucopia's complaint letter:

..."The Cornucopia Institute respectfully requests that your office conduct an investigation into the process at the recent meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in Albuquerque, May 22-25, 2012, that led to the approval of an inappropriate synthetic material on the USDA’s National List of Approved Substances."

snip

..."The vote concerned the relisting of the synthetic material carrageenan, and its approval for use for another five years on the federal National List of Approved Substances. During the vote on May 24, 2012, board members Wendy Fulwider and Joe Dickson each cast votes in favor of the relisting of carrageenan that Cornucopia alleges are tainted by a conflict of interest.

And then from the USDA itself:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getf...TELPRDC5097825

Good Links, Rosie.

[fugacity]

After looking more closely, the "synthetic" argument is being made in order to get it out of organic classification. There is a reason they are calling it synthetic when it is not.

The USDA looks to have come down (correctly) that it is not synthetic:

Because several other substances extracted using hot alkali processes are currently listed at 205.605 (a) (including Dutch chocolate, pretzels and soap), we see no precedent for relisting carrageenan as synthetic.

At any rate, they seem to be barkingup the wrong tree. It is a clear cut natural extractive.