Posted on 05/04/2007 6:54:58 AM PDT by davidgumpert
So I was miffed today when I received an email back from a Whole Foods media relations person in response to my request for information on how the chain was dealing with the unfolding melamine contamination scandal—whether it has concerns that the stuff may have gotten into its meat or protein powders and whether it’s doing any investigation...
(Excerpt) Read more at thecompletepatient.com ...
Maybe because Whole Foods is a business and the whole organic motif is a marketing ploy, not a personal commitment on the part of management.
Sorry you bought into it.
There we go.
perhaps the stonewalling heralds ‘FEAR of ACCOUNTABILITY’
That goes without saying!
The threat of litigation makes managers very cautious as well!
A few weeks ago I called United Natural Foods, one of the largest natural foods distributors (they ate a lot of the small ones in the last few years, like Mountain Peoples’ Warehouse) and the gal on the phone was barely civil. Said she’d email me specs of how they test buckwheat and mung beans imported from China with “organic” stamped on them.
Never emailed me back.
They worship money, just like the unnatural food sellers and distributors.
Small outfits will serve you a lot better. Try Azure Standard, they deliver all over the west coast and western states, and have very good prices.
Our local Whole Foods store has some great food items, but shopping there makes me feel like I’m attending an International A.N.S.W.E.R. convention.
When I occasionally go in there, I always hurry home for a shower.
The ownership may be strictly business, but most of the employees appear to be “true believers”.
Because it has gone from a small, private hippie chain to a big publicly traded company. Now it has to worry about the vagaries of unpredictable agencies like the SEC that love to rush in at a time of crisis and accuse successful companies (that its employees envy) of misleading their shareholders and the investing public. Ditto for ambulance chasing lawyers who file class action lawsuits alleging the same thing.
Accordingly, it is best to say nothing unless you have to, and only after every word has been approved by the lawyers.
This whole situation is disheartening!
I like hormones, antibiotics and pesticides in my food......
It kills all the bad stuff I get from eating my vegetables.....
Good morning Doc! Happy Friday to you. This whole situation makes you wonder who’s looking out for us doesn’t it?
The SCAM is that only those products actually grown entirely and sold entirely in the USA can really be “Organic” as those farmers are the only ones that are inspected. China could certify Spam as “organic” and it would be entirely legal and aboveboard - the US govt would have to abide by the statements of the shipping country and whatever their food inspection dept. says.
I made one visit to Whole Foods and never went back. I grew up a vegetarian. Our family had access to meat substitutes for all of my life. I like them and we have purchased these products for 50 some years from a producer that has never had a recall and has had consistently high quality products all those years. I looked for them in Whole Foods and then talked to management about stocking those brands - which are (i) more reasonably priced; (ii) better flavor and texture; (iii) longer history in the business, etc. I got a long line of blather about Whole Food’s standards.
Standards my @%$. They choose to stock meat substitutes by producers that purchase raw materials from China and other countries with no real quality control, no way of verifying the so-called “organic” status. They choose those producers over American producers who have a long history of making quality product that has never once had to be recalled. They are downright nasty about it too - for some reason they feel that if its made in American its inferior.
Thanks mom for the ping....
THE FDA MAKES FEMA LOOK GOOD!!!!!!
ping
I noticed over the past 5 years or so that Whole Foods no longer stocks many small labels. Instead, they now have their own store label on many items.
They also push *Biodynamic* produce, which you can Google to form your own opinion. Sounds cultish, to me.
They’re a business and scared of being sued for saying/doing the wrong thing. All the corporations are clamming up in anticipation of a wave of legal action. While this is Not Good, what people can do in the meantime is talk with the manager of the local store for the real story. You should be doing that anyway because oftentimes even chain stores have different supply chains for their local markets.
Good Luck to all of us...
Vegetables???
That's what food eats!
In NYC we call Whole Foods “Whole Paycheck”.
Great store at Columbus Circle, though.
That would make a great tagline! ~LOL
I visited my local Whole Foods a few times in Los Angeles but found the prices so outrageous that I stuck with Pavillons. I much prefer Trader Joe’s if I’m shopping in a more specialized store. The food is great, the company outstanding and prices more reasonable.
LOL...Then as Rosie O’ says...”Eat me”
Ummmmmm, I hope you are a girl person...
Trader Joe’s is great.
LOL, I’ll have to send you over to Rosie.....
Sure does.
LMAO. The whole organic movement validates P.T. Barnum's “There's a sucker born every minute”.
Ping.
Good morning. I’m wondering the same thing. Who’s looking out for us???
Good Mongo!
*shrug* Mongo just pawn in game of life.
Whore Moods.
Why in the world would you want to eat imitation food dust in the first place?
good tagline material in your post.
“unnatural food”
Heh. It’s not like it’s built from scratch in some factory, now, is it?
Sure it does, but anyone that thinks WF is running some sort of charity, instead of a business, is fooling themselves.
I've had years of experience with health food stores, starting back in the 70's when Whole Foods wasn't even around, shopping for a child with multiple food allergies, up until recently buying, among other things, protein powder for a special diet at Whole Foods. The idea that the label "organic" means the food is a) grown in the US, or b) free of all adulterants is nonsense. China has recently latched onto the organic export market -- that in itself should tell you there is no guarantee with the organic certification process.
The only defense the consumer has is to READ LABELS -- there are foods on WF shelves that are repackaged/relabled varieties of the same stuff sold in supermarkets, and many processed products on both the supermarket and Whole Foods shelves, which in a more innocent time most would expect to be made from US-grown products, are not labled "product of the US" -- most are not labeled with the country of origin at all, and even if something like breadsticks says "made in Italy," you have no way of knowing the origin of the ingredients used to make the breadsticks.
I'm not dissing Whole Foods, it's a business first and foremost, but the idea that they are somehow immune, in the bottom-line global food business, from the vagaries and dangers inherent in imports from countries with inferior sanitation/inspection standards is ludicrous.
Just parts of it are.
Loma Linda? I remember those from the early 70s and they’ve probably been around longer than that.
I’m buying frozen, canned, boxed foods, etc. way ahead before I eat them, so there is time to find out if they are safe or not.
I’m not quite so naive as to think WF is running a charity. I may have been naive to think of them as somehow more in touch with and sensitive to the concerns of their customers than the typical multinational. The comments about WF’s concerns about SEC and other governmental regulation are probably accurate—I guess they had done a great job of convincing me they were more concerned about their customers’ health than about legalities.
As for the labels, the problem, as you suggest, is that you can’t tell what countries which ingredients come from. And on private label products, you can’t even tell who really manufactured the product. (Usually, it’s a brand name company with some extra capacity.) I hate to see more regulation, but maybe there’s something to be said for a requirement for processors to say where each ingredient originated. Then, if people stopped buying food with ingredients from China, we might see more accountability from China.
Yes, there is much to be said for that idea, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen. In 2002, congress passed a "country of origin labeling" (COOL) provision as part of a farm subsidy bill. It covered fish, some (not all) meats, and perishable agricultural commodites (vegetables, etc.). Processed foods of any kind were specifically excluded from the bill. Even so, the labeling has been delayed twice by executive order, and won't be fully implemented until 2008, since the USDA is required to solicit "comments" (complaints, objections, possible hardships) from food producers/manufacturers.
If the simple labeling of those products is taking six years to implement, you can imagine what an uproar there would be if the food companies had to state the origin of every ingredient in say, a frozen TV dinner -- not to mention the fact that their lobbyists in DC would move heaven and earth (and campaign contributions) to prevent such legislation.
Americans have also gotten used to year-round fresh produce, some of which necessarily has to be imported according to season -- we just never expected, until recently, that the produce would be coming from places like China.
The only weapon you have as a consumer is to take nothing for granted (even in health food stores), read labels, and stop buying foods that are questionable.
I didn't mean to imply that you are naive, by the way, but it seems to me that too many people believe that because a food item is more expensive, or sold in a health food store, it's necessarily better, or safer, than the same product in the local supermarket chain. Our local chain carries less expensive organic produce and processed foods that are of no less quality than Whole Foods, while WF meats are definitely of superior quality (though pricier) than the supermarket.
Is that chicken?
Is that squid?
Is that pork?
Three yesses, same item.
Is that chicken?
Is that squid?
Is that pork?
Three yesses, same item.
...Why don't you just save time like this?
Cheers!
Actually we had some good food at a low price on Food Street. There's about 40 booths lined up along the sidewalk and they have a variety of items. You can pick the item you want personally and they will cook it for you right there. I like that stuff. The government comes at 9 and shuts them down. They watch to ensure that all uncooked food which is left out is thrown away.
You are so right. When I go to the Whole Foods store, I feel like I’m entering Al Gore’s Church of Global Warming. Last week they were pushing these canvas bags for $1. And like you said, all of the employees seem to be true believers. They even look it.
Besides the creepy full body tattoo and piercing freaks, the bumper stickers and political tee shirts set me off. I haven't been back in months.
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