Take Back your Food Safety!

By Joe Stout B.Sc. M.S. IP

Peruse any popular newsstand and one subject is bound to appear on virtually every publication. Food Safety. The recent export of food products laced with melamine from China has brought assumed competency in our food imports to a screeching halt. Melamine is a synthesized organic trimer of cyanamide and is an industrial plastic as well as a commercial fertilizer. Products spiked with melamine appear to have high levels of protein and the result of this deception is kidney failure, bladder/kidney stones as well as bladder cancer for the unfortunate victim. Exports from China such as pet food, milk, eggs, and most outrageous of all, infant formula, have been deliberately contaminated with a literal poison. Over 60,000 infants were made ill and several died from this atrocity. And to make matters worse, of the 400,000 factories located in mainland China, less than 3% are regulated. This means that the prevalence of melamine most likely is far higher than we now realize. If this matter isn’t enough to make a person shudder than I don’t know what would.

As problematic as this food safety storm cloud is, there is a very definite silver lining. Some will say that the resulting distrust of the national food supply is a shame, but I say it’s just what we need. A healthy fear of the foods we choose is not the same thing as paranoia. There are many companies creating wonderful products that utilize safe, gentle and proven methods. We need to take control of our food supply by refusing to support manufacturers, distributors, or raw material providers who employ unsafe practices. Here are three crucial aspects to consider when deciding upon whom to place your trust.

1. Raw Materials: A company is only as safe as the raw materials it receives. Start with contaminated raw materials and no matter how safe a manufacturers’ processes are, the product will always be contaminated.

2. Processing Techniques: A company must be safe in the way it handles its raw materials but the pendulum must not be allowed to swing so far back that harsh processing applications are used to ensure safety. This is merely sacrificing quality for security. There are far too many benefits to gently processed foods to merit a safe but sterile end product.

3. End Product: The end product is the obvious culmination of all previous steps and interventions. If supreme care and safety are used in selecting good raw material providers and gentle and safe processing steps are utilized but the end product nutritionally resembles a “Twinkie”, then the final product is safe but certainly not nutritious!

The final decision of whom to trust when it comes to food safety is you, the consumer. The consumer is the ultimate decision-maker in “who stays” and “who goes” as producers and manufacturers. With that in mind, I have a firm belief in the quality and safety of Mt. Capra Product’s whole food nutritionals. Mt. Capra is a completely vertically integrated company with regard to its goat milk-derived ingredients. This gives the company more control over their finished products from the raw materials which are sourced from their farm in the Pacific Northwest, to the manufacturing processes they practice in both their processing facility and laboratory. Not only can you feel confident about these crucial aspects of food safety but you can rest assured knowing that your final end product being sourced from all natural goats milk is a nutritional powerhouse. Don’t take my word on this though; visit MtCapra.com and see for yourself in a short video detailing Mt. Capra Products and their food safety from beginning to end!