Organic almond growers lost a battle on Monday to keep their raw almonds “pasteurization –free.” A federal judge upheld standards requiring that raw California almonds be treated to protect consumers from salmonella poisoning. The Judge rejected challenges to pasteurization requirements designed by the Almond Board of California.
The ruling does not address the merits of the almond pasteurization standards, but rather finds that the almond farmers failed to exhaust potential administrative remedies. Regardless, the Judge stated that the farmers might not have legal recourse even if they could prove the safety rules would cause economic injury. Here’s a quote from the opinion,
“Their fundamental concern is with the impact of the treatment regulation on their ability to sell their almonds in a niche organic market at a premium . . . Supreme Court (has) specifically recognized that not every loss would qualify as a deprivation of a definite personal right of the producer.”
The new rules required almond handlers to achieve a reduction in salmonella bacteria count, by pasteurizing the nuts before shipping. Pasteurization methods range from blanching and steam treatments to use of chemicals. The Agriculture Department estimates anti-salmonella treatments will add somewhere between two cents and seven cents per pound to the cost of almonds.
The organic almond growers take issue with the pasteurization and claim that the new requirements “functionally shut them out of the organic market.” Apparently, the organic almond handlers could sell their raw almonds for up to 40 percent more than treated almonds.
Pay 40% more for a higher salmonella risk? Seems like questionable logic.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
