The new rule, recommended in 2006 by the Modesto-based Almond Board of California, was prompted by instances of salmonella contamination in 2001 and 2004. The rule is a marketing order "that helps the $2.5 billion-a-year industry regulate itself." USDA imposed the rule in 2007.
Marketing orders are issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). They are designed to stabilize market conditions for certain agricultural commodities by regulating the handling of those commodities in interstate or foreign commerce. Marketing orders must accomplish certain goals identified in the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (AMAA), 7 U.S.C. §§ 601-14; §§ 671-74. For more information on federal marketing orders, click here to visit the National Agricultural Law Center Reading Room on the subject.
The appellate panel's decision was 2-1 and did not overturn the rule, but agreed that "producers can sue to challenge agricultural marketing orders."
Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit stated that, the "requirement largely eliminates the ability of California almond producers to sell raw almonds, and therefore harms those producers' economic well being."
Additionally, Food Safety News reports that raw and organic "almond farmers pushed back over concerns about the methods of sterilization, namely over the use of propylene oxide, a probable carcinogen, to fumigate the nuts."
For the full text of the DC Circuit's opinion, click here.
To read the Fresno Bee story, click here.
To read the Food Safety News story, click here.
Posted: 08/13/2010
