“Der Mensch ist was er ibt” (Man is what he eats)
     --Ludwig Andreas Leuerback, 1863
     The human being is a machine of sorts; basically an organic machine. Just as with any machine it requires fuel to power it. In this case the fuel is food. If the body receives good food, it generally performs well. If it doesn’t, all kinds of health issues arise. The basic problem today is the consumer is faced with a myriad of choices and has a limited understanding of just what those choices entail. A byproduct of not eating properly is weight gain which can lead to obesity.
     The real operative question is, what exactly is one consuming?
     Obviously we’ve all seen or heard about contaminated food from China. The pet food scares, the tainted baby formula, and the contaminated chicken McNuggets come to mind. In China, the food contamination is a serious problem. Each year 200 million people become sickened from contaminated food. In the last decade, two Chinese were executed and thousands imprisoned for selling bad food products. 
     In late 2008 and early 2009 nine people died and 714 became seriously ill in the United States due to food poisoning. The actual number who became sickened was believed to be much greater as for every reported case of salmonella, it is assumed 38 go unreported. This triggered the largest food recall in the country’s history involving at least 361 companies and 3,913 products. The epicenter of this outbreak was traced to the Peanut Corporation of America. The FDA found the plants infested with rats and cockroaches, all under a leaky roof. Many of the ill were children because the company primarily catered to institutional clients such as schools and low cost budget brands. The unsuspecting consumer or child eating peanut butter at school was oblivious to the dangers of what they were eating.
     This is MaraNatha. It was an old organic food company. It specialized in manufacturing peanut butter, almond butter, and so forth. Its products were sold in health food stores or organic sections of the grocery stores. In 2008 it was bought out by Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
     On August 19, 2014, the company issued a recall of its Almond Butter. The facts are somewhat confusing as in January of 2013 the FDA discovered salmonella at their plant. On a return inspection in July of 2013 the FDA again found salmonella contamination which led to the recall in August.  
     You see, here’s what’s so disconcerting. This is a health food company which we just assume is held to a higher standard. We just expect them to be zealous about their production techniques, because, after all, we always pay more for the organic product. One has to wonder if they found contamination in January why in the world wasn’t a recall initiated then?
     Big ??????
     If they found contamination in January and then again in July, it can only mean one or two things. 
     1. The contamination discovered in January was the same found in July which means all the product made between January and July could have been potentially contaminated.
     2. Or, the salmonella found in January was different from that found in July which makes one worry about the plant’s cleanliness. Two incidents of salmonella in seven months seem rather extraordinary.  This is health food which we believe is produced more carefully. 
     Understanding the everyday reality of food safety in this country is like exploring an uncharted world. 
     We’ve all been led to believe that the government is keeping an eye on the food producers and that the government is constantly monitoring and inspecting food plants.
     In reality, what we discovered is that the FDA is understaffed and cannot possibly inspect every food producer in the country.
     Because that is the real world circumstance, what happens is the food companies hire “independent” companies to test their food products. As we experienced during the financial crisis, the ratings companies were being paid by the banks to rate their bonds and the ratings were not necessarily accurate. If a company pays someone to inspect its products, what’s their incentive to criticize? These inspections are called an “audit”.
     Remember the salmonella epidemic that was traced to eggs produced by Iowa's Wright County Eggs? The independent auditor gave the company a ‘Recognition of Achievement” and passed the egg operation. 1,939 people became sickened from that salmonella contamination. The FDA found a 12 foot high pile of chicken manure at the plant and more maggots that could be counted.
     One of the things that gives consumers a false sense of security is that in this country, the food producers have to label their food products to advise the consumer just what the food box or jar contains. Nowadays during a trip to the grocery store one will encounter other shoppers reading a label on a container. 
     People have been trained to believe anything if it’s printed. As a consequence the consumer has come to believe that the label is the truth. We rely upon the label as being true. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) just released a study that concluded food with labels claiming not to contain any trans fats actually had trans fats. In other words the label was completely wrong and deliberately misleading.  It is clear that the labels are not necessarily true. If the labels aren’t truthful, you have absolutely no idea about what you and your family are actually eating. 
     When we see the words “all natural” or “Natural” we think that means that it’s pretty much an organic food stuff.   
     The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) oversees the food labeling in this country. This is what they say about the word natural:
“FROM A FOOD SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE A FOOD PRODUCT THAT IS ‘NATURAL’ BECAUSE THE FOOD HAS PROBABLY BEEN PROCESSED AND IS NO LONGER THE PRODUCT OF THE EARTH. THAT SAID, THE FDA HAS NOT DEVELOPED A DEFINITION FOR THE USE OF THE WORD NATURAL OR ITS DERIVATIVES.” 
     Meaning the word natural or “all natural” on a food label means absolutely nothing!
     Half of the vegetables and about 1/3 of the fruit we consume originates in Mexico. You don’t want to know about the sorts of things that have been found at farms and plants in Mexico. 
     The obvious question is what can any one person do to ensure what they are eating is good, safe, and healthy?
     The answer is that one has to become aware of what really is being offered for sale. It’s ridiculous to become paranoid because we live in a toxic environment so becoming overly concerned about one thing, when on an average day one is exposed to all manner of potentially harmful products, is a fool’s errand. The better choice is to become more conversant with what a label actually means, what foods are good for you, and how to create a diet that minimizes risk while not providing undue anxiety.
     That’s where we come in. We intend to help you become educated and more aware of your choices so that you can fuel your body with good productive ingredients.