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Microcap & Penny Stocks : THE OZONE COMPANY! (OZON) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cents who wrote (2029)	12/25/1997 5:48:00 PM
From: R.C.L.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4356

To All--USDA must be pressured to label irradiated foods-they know it won't sell--Just like the chemical industry lobbied and won legislation prohibiting labeling of milk as hormone and anti-biotic free, thereby sending the death knoll to organic dairy farmers-------upi- The Cincinnati Enquirer Organic'' up till now was one of those food labeling claims, like ''lite,'' that even medieval philosophers couldn't have defined. Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed stricter rules for the organic food industry, which USDA Secretary Dan Glickman thinks in 10 times could grow to 10 times its current size of $3.5 billion a year. USDA proposes to put its seal certifying ''organic'' on products made from at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients. If USDA can avoid turning into the ''organic police,'' shoppers should welcome added information about how their foods were grown or processed. Truth in labeling is still very much a work in progress. The organic food industry has come a long way from the shriveled-up, bug- eating fruits and vegetables seen in health food stores 20 years ago. Even if you never buy the stuff, it's an industry worth nurturing because it also contributes to foreign trade _ there's a strong demand in Europe _ and provides a livelihood for many small growers. And anything that takes some of the mystery out of mystery meat or mystery food helps give consumers fair warning. Till now, shoppers could only hope foods labeled ''organic'' were free or mostly free of preservatives, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics. One of the new rules due in late 1998 says hormones and antibiotics cannot be given to animals to speed growth, but only for illness. Good luck enforcing that one. USDA also shamelessly dodged issuing rules against organic- labeled foods using bioengineered products, irradiation or municipal sludge (sewage) for fertilizer. Any of those three on an ''organic'' food label would be the kiss of death for export, unless it were written in Urdu. Don't expect the new standards to rule out the occasional blemish or bug bite seen in organic food. But as organic growers say: Do you want to eat food a bug wouldn't eat?