The national salmonella outbreak in February that was tied to the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has shocked Americans in many ways, but the one that really caught folks off guard was that the peanuts used to make the recalled products were certified as organic. Now, just because a food stuff is labeled organic doesn’t mean it won’t be a part of a recall. In fact, any number of so-called organic products has been part of recalls. But because this recall has been so massive, the next unfortunate victim of the recall might just be the integrity of organic foods and, especially, the organic label.

So, if you try to stick to items labeled as organic, one thing to consider is that an organic certification doesn’t mean the food is safer… it means it’s produced according to the standards set by the National Organics Standards Board.

Organics began as a cottage industry decades ago by a small group of farmers who wanted to explore ways of producing more wholesome, healthier foods. Today, raising and selling organics is big business, and many consumers have shown they’re willing to pay as much as 50 percent more for organic products.

But while organic food is pricy, you shouldn’t assume that paying more for organics means that they are free of pathogens. In fact, it could be just the opposite. For example, organic meats must have little or no exposure to antibiotics, and yet antibiotics are the most effective tools farmers and veterinarians use to control pathogens. That presents a conundrum for anyone purchasing organic meats. (By the way, if you missed our Chew on This podcast All About Organics, now is a good time to listen to it.)

There’s another thing that’s important to keep in mind. Any standard is only as strong as its standard-bearer. Organic foods are inspected by private inspectors who are paid by the organic food producers themselves – the very people they are employed to inspect. In the case of Peanut Corporation of America, one of these private certifiers took seven months from the time he first discovered that PCA lacked a state health certificate to report the problem to the USDA and request that PCA lose its organic label. And, he wrote that report after the national recall had come to light.

Even with an understanding of what organic means, there is room for differences of opinion. For example, some people believe that only organic meats are free of antibiotics. But many vets and farmers would dispute this. Food products that have not been raised organically do not contain antibiotics, either. In non-organic foods, antibiotics can be used to treat a sick animal or to keep diseases from spreading to the other animals. But a withdrawal period assures that the animal has time to metabolize – and make sure the antibiotic is no longer present in the animal – before it is sold for food or its milk is sold for consumption. So, non-organic producers could argue that non-organic milk and meats are also antibiotic free.

This isn’t to say that www.keepourfoodsafe.org doesn’t respect the organic label. Quite the contrary. These labels offer consumers important information. But consumers should educate themselves about what, exactly, that label means. When certifiers do their jobs, an organic label means nothing more than that a food meets a set definition of organic.

There’s one thing we can all agree on: the peanut recall has us all talking about food safety. The average American consumer may have been initially caught off guard by the salmonella outbreak, but you can be sure that it’s made us all more attuned to critical issues that affect the safety of the food we eat. We’ll continue to monitor many of those issues here and, as always, let you know when you can get involved or take action to help keep our food safe.

Being a vegetarian doesn’t necessarily mean that you escape food safety challenges. In this Chew on This podcast, Dr. Tracey DuVernoy, a veterinarian and vegetarian, discusses food safety and health concerns for vegetarians. Dr. DuVernoy explains where contamination comes from and the roles veterinarians play in preventing it. Listen now.

If you missed last month's All About Organic Food podcast, you can listen to it here.

As always, feel free to leave your feedback, thoughts and suggestions for future podcasts in the comment section below.

“Self basting,” “Natural,” “Hormone Free” What do all the claims on a turkey package mean? There are many things to be thankful for this time of year. Friends and family are near to us. The price of gas has plummeted.

One thing you shouldn’t be thankful about, however, is paying extra to purchase a turkey advertised as “hormone-free.” Why? Because 100 percent of turkeys for sale in America are growth-hormone free. Really – it’s true! Despite this fact, many retailers—some with gourmet reputations—advertise their birds with claims that they have “never contained added hormones or steroids.” In fact, it’s been illegal to treat poultry with growth hormones since the 1950s!

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which offers turkey shoppers a great deal of information about turkeys on its website, reports they get more questions on their hotline about turkey than anything else. If you have questions about ol’ Tom the Turkey, you’re not alone. Keep Our Food Safe will endeavor to keep you informed. (By the way, if you missed last week’s podcast on food safety at Thanksgiving, check it out.)

Here’s a common question this time of year: what exactly does “self basting” mean? Self-basting refers to a turkey that’s been injected with asolution made up of salt, MSG, broth, spices and/or butter to help keep the meat moist during roasting. The solution can be up to 3 percent of the bird’s weight. Turkeys that are “self basting” tend to be a little saltier and a little fattier.

Turkeys are also often sold as “organic” or “natural,” and there is a big difference between the two claims. There are no real standards as to what “natural” means, while organic is overseen by the USDA National Organic Standards Board.

As we’ve told you before, organic standards are lengthy. For example, organic poultry cannot be given antibiotics after the first day of their lives. While this might sound important for those who are concerned about antibiotics in the meat they eat, often the only mass application of antibiotics in conventional turkey production is on or before the first day of their lives. So in this regard, organic producers aren’t really doing much different from conventional producers. It’s also important to note that all food animals conventionally raised are not allowed to be sold for food until any drug treatment (including antibiotics) that the food animals have been given is allowed to naturally be metabolized and excreted. (This is known as the “withdrawal period”). The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service randomly tests turkey meat (and all other types of meat, for that matter) to ensure that the FDA established “withdrawal” period has successfully rendered the meat safe to eat. Any fears about antibiotics in conventionally raised birds are unfounded.

Other common turkey questions according to the USDA: What qualifies as a “fresh” turkey? It’s never been below 26 degrees. Is there any difference between hens or Toms? Tom is often bigger and he’s a male; the meat is the same. When is a turkey done and safe to eat? The magic number is 165 degrees on a thermometer inserted into the middle of the bird.

Hopefully, this information will help you be thankful for whatever turkey you wind up roasting or frying this year. At least you now know a bit more about what you’re eating.

A while back, we broke down the basics on organic food and made your grocery shopping a much more pleasant experience. Now that your understanding of organic products is crystal clear, it seems like a good idea to pile on a little more information for you to process. Let’s talk dairy!

Recently, the USDA proposed grazing guidelines for certified organic dairy farms that clarify the requirements for pasture grazing. Remember, organic livestock must be raised without hormones, antibiotics or feed treated with pesticides. Producers were also required to provide the animals with “access to pasture” so they can get out, roam around and graze a bit. But what exactly does that mean?

The term “access to pasture” is pretty vague, but the new standards provide a more concrete requirement with regards to grazing. According to the new USDA guidelines, it means thirty percent of organic livestock’s feed must come from grazing in pasture, as opposed to only eating organically produced food in a feedlot or indoor facility. Organic farms now need to allow animals to graze in pasture at least 120 days a year.

It doesn’t seem like this is a major issue the USDA should be concerned about, right? Not exactly. Consumers and organic advocacy organizations voiced their concerns to the USDA about dairy farms that provide our stores with organic milk but were not providing very much “access to pasture.” This allowed some farms to gain an advantage over other farms by lowering their production costs.

The USDA believes addressing the role of pasture in organic farming will clarify its meaning and allow it to be easier for farms to be in compliance. Many farmers hope these guidelines will not only help ensure adequate and appropriate organic standards are met, but also protect the integrity of organic farming and the products we eat. The National Organic Program is taking comments on these guidelines until December 23.

A couple of weeks go, we talked about the differences between “organic” and “natural” food. Since then, many of you have called, written, texted, faxed and emailed us, demanding that we discuss organic meat… and explain what, exactly, it is. Well, here we go…

Just like the organic foods we talked about two weeks ago, there are certain standards that meat has to meet in order to be considered and labeled organic.

Food animals raised on an organic farm need to consume organic feed and have access to the outdoors. These animals are not administered antibiotics or growth hormones, either. In order to minimize diseases in organic food animals, farmers use methods such as rotational grazing, different housing systems and “organic” or “natural” diets, as opposed to synthetic growth hormones, antibiotics and the majority of modern, synthetic medications. Instead, they use older, non-synthetic substances that our great-great grandfathers used a century ago. Unfortunately, these drugs have not gone through the rigorous review and approval process like the newer drugs have. Consequently, we don’t have good information about the effectiveness and safety of the old drugs.

While organic production may have its ups and downs, it’s considered to be a safe and healthy food source but not any healthier or safer than conventionally produced food. Some studies show organically grown meat to have higher levels of bacterial contamination, but the bacteria that are present are sometimes less resistant to antibiotics. So if a foodborne illness does occur that requires treatment with an antibiotic, which is not common, then the antibiotic treatment may have a higher chance of success. But the trade-off may be more cases of foodborne disease.

Food veterinarians have experienced some difficulty treating ill organic livestock because they had a limited list of remedies for these animals. If an animal on an organic farm is sick, veterinarians now have a short list of the newer synthetic treatments that they can use to relieve pain. But food animal veterinarians still cannot use antibiotics. If the animal is treated with a non-listed substance, it can no longer be part of organic production. The organic standards recommend that necessary treatment be given to the animal and the animal be removed from organic production. But we fear that many animals could be denied appropriate medical care so the farm can remain organic.

This doesn’t sit well with the AVMA. While we recognize the interest in organically produced food, the well-being of food animals should not be compromised in the process, and medically necessary treatments should not be avoided to preserve organic status. The AVMA proposed that the ill animals should be treated with the best drug available to make them well. If the drug is a newer synthetic drug, the animal should be able to be returned to the organic classification after an extended withholding period. But it’s comforting to know the USDA has approved amendments that allow a few chemicals to be used in a few species of animals for pain management purposes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for organic livestock. But antibiotics need to be added to permit reliable treatment of disease.

Ever find yourself a little overwhelmed in the grocery store? And we’re not talking about shopping on an empty stomach. Your head is spinning, trying to decipher the meanings behind labels screaming “Organic!” and “Natural!” It’s enough to send you running and screaming toward the Cinnamon Toast Crunch in search of comfort and clarity. So with all these different labels on our food, you have to ask, “What’s the difference?”

Plenty. A long, long time ago in a land far, far away (otherwise known as Washington, D.C., circa 1990 – and ok, some of us still remember 1990 like it was yesterday), Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). This legislation set forth national standards for organically produced agricultural products so consumers know products marked “organic” are held to a set of uniformed standards.

Short story is, a product can be considered “organic” if it is produced with all-natural, non-synthetic substances, and products made with synthetic additives, well, can’t. And before you start panicking over synthetic additives, it’s important for us to point out that these additives are perfectly safe and have been the norm for decades. So, organic foods differ from natural foods in that natural foods are minimally processed with preservatives, sweeteners, colors and other additives. Organic foods must be completely free of these additives. Also, foods labeled “natural” are not subject to government regulations like organic foods are.

It’s important to remember the term “organic” doesn’t just mean the food itself, but how it’s produced. For a crop to be considered “organic,” it must be raised without using most pesticides or fertilizers, both petroleum and sewage sludge-based. Organic farmers use mulch and manure, as well as sophisticated crop rotation as methods to manage weeds. Pests and diseases are reduced through the use of different insects, birds and traps.

Still confused? The OFPA and the National Organic Program (NOP) established a set of standards for the labels. Obviously, products labeled “100% organic” are made up of only organically produced ingredients. At least 95% of the ingredients in products labeled “organic” must be organically produced. Foods meeting these requirements can also carry the USDA Organic seal.

If a product is processed but contains at least 70% organic ingredients, the label can read “made with organic ingredients” and list no more than three of the ingredients on the display label. So if you buy a can of soup labeled “made with organic vegetables” you know the ingredients are at least 70% organic.

Don’t forget, there’s no such thing as a free organic lunch. Organic products typically cost more than conventional foods because of more expensive farming practices, government regulations and smaller crop yields. Also, since organic foods are produced without additives or preservatives, they have a tendency to deteriorate faster than conventionally processed foods. Plus the lack of preservatives makes organic products more vulnerable to parasites and bacteria, and may be more likely to be recalled for contamination.

So are organic foods, with their lack of pesticides and additives, the healthier choice? Yes and no. The USDA does not claim organic food is safer or more nutritious than conventional products, and often the fat and caloric content are indistinguishable between the two. But there are some health benefits motivating consumers to shop for organic foods. For example, people with food allergies or who are sensitive to preservatives might prefer organic foods to conventional ones. Additionally, many organic foods contain higher levels of antioxidants. Some consumers are attracted to organic foods because of a perceived difference in flavor.

Wow that’s a lot to process. Grocery store is a lot less intimidating. Now where’s that Cinnamon Toast Crunch aisle, again? Twelve, right?