Topic: No Nuts

[Doris_Pinks]

Was in the greengrocers today and an elderly lady was asking why they didn't have any Brazil Nuts in. Plenty of almonds, filberts, walnuts, all in shell but no brazils. The reply from the greengrocer was " we are no longer allowed to sell Brazils, they have been banned. We were not allowed to sell them last year either." Of course the whole shop went "pardon" ???! And my comment was, "oh yet another EU thing then?" I had never heard of it before so have found this...........

http://www.ckcbirds.co.uk/brazil_nuts_&_the_eu.htm
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/jul/128564

The woman in the shop said quite rightly, I am elderly and I have eaten more Brazils in Shells than most people and I am still here! ;D Good old EU, how did we ever survive without them?! >:(

[aquilegia]

Oh no. That's my christmas dinner out the window!

[SpeedyMango]

You can still buy chocolate coated ones, e.g. in M&S food halls.

Maybe they're treated somehow (other than being covered in chocolate, obviously!).

[Doris_Pinks]

Apparently they are fine shell off! Tis with the shells on they become a problem, so you should be OK Aqui! ;D

[aquilegia]

Phew. that's alright. panic over. I really must learn to read properly!

[Bionic Wellies]

I was right miffed by this news so decided to scan the web for information and discovered that it was all true - nuts that were still in their shell were indeed restricted - they also gave an e-mail address of a guy at the food standards agency ... so I sent the following message :

_________________________________________________________
Hello,

I have just realised that brazil nuts are no longer available within the UK, or are regulated by sever restrictions, due to a EU directive.  What moron is responsible for this regulation.

For many years Brazil nuts have been available to the general public (like me and you) and I have never heard of anyone being struck down by Brazil nut disease (or Aflatoxin poisoning) - but I am not a doctor or anything like that!.  I am sick and tired of this nanny state mentality that always seeks to stop me from doing things that I have always done with no adverse effects.  When will the state find it possible to actually do something positive. They always seek to pamper the whims of the whinging, creepy boot-licking officials.  The whole set of politicians and subservient idiots that feed pathetic information to them should be fed some of these 'fatal' foods and see if they survive, I guess that like the rest of the population these so-called problem foods will be OK and they will not only survive by prosper.
Given that the trees that produce these nuts only exist because peasant farmers can make some cash when they drop the nuts, what happens if the market for the nuts folds up - lets imagine if I had such a tree near me - suddenly, no more income - so cut the tree down and produce something that does give me income - like drugs maybe. When will politicians and their sidekicks start thinking like the rest of us? (when did they stop thinking like the rest of us?).
Like the rest of government I don’t expect to receive any sort of reply - not even an acknowledgment that I even exit but I do hope that my comments are noted, even if never actually acted upon.

-- Alan Morris

_________________________________________________________

BUT HE (THEY) HAVE RESPONDED  (the foods standards agancy) !!!!!! as follows ....


Alan.Morris@reuters.com

09 December 2004   Reference:   MPC 04/78  

BRAZIL NUTS

Dear Mr Morris

1.   I refer to your e-mail of the 2 December regarding the above.

2.   Brazil nuts are available for sale in the UK and shelled Brazil nut kernels should be readily available at retail outlets.  However, unshelled Brazil nuts are in short supply or may be unavailable.  This is because the main exporting country for unshelled Brazil nuts, Brazil, has only been exporting limited quantities of this commodity in recent times.

3.   In July 2003, in order to protect consumer health, the European Commission imposed special conditions on the import of unshelled Brazil nuts from Brazil into the EU.  These measures prevent consignments of unshelled Brazil nuts from Brazil containing levels of aflatoxins above the regulatory limits from entering the EU.  It would appear that the Brazilian exporters are unable to comply with these requirements at the present time.

4.   Aflatoxins have been found in shelled Brazil nuts as well as unshelled nuts. However, once shelled the kernels are sorted either manually or using an electronic sorter and any mouldy or discoloured kernels, the ones mostly likely to contain aflatoxins, are removed.  Therefore, aflatoxin contamination of shelled nuts is generally not a problem.

5.   Aflatoxins are naturally occuring toxins produced by moulds growing on foodstuffs.  They occur mainly in commodities imported from third countries in the tropics and sub-tropics, in particular groundnuts (peanuts), edible nuts, including Brazil nuts, and their products, dried fruit, particularly dried figs and dried fig products, spices and maize and maize products.

6.   There are a number of different types of aflatoxins, with aflatoxin B1 being the most toxic. It is a potent genotoxic carcinogen (i.e. it can cause cancer by reacting with genetic material) in laboratory animals and there is evidence that it can cause cancer in humans.  Therefore for this type of carcinogen there is no ‘safe’ level.  Expert committees have therefore recommended that the level of aflatoxin contamination of food should be reduced to the lowest level technologically achievable.

If you have any queries regarding the above please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Bryan D Jones
Bryan D Jones
Chemical Safety Division


__________________________________________________________

Well, they are not going to be acted upon but I hope that I registered a complaint!

-- Alan

[aquilegia]

I had a good laugh yesterday. Bought my supply of Brazil nuts for my Christmas nut roast (have you got the recipe Doris?  ;)) and read on the packet "warning - may contain nut traces". Traces? really. I'd have hoped there'd be more than that! ;D

[Mimi]

The world is going mad Aqui.  Think its only us here who are sane :o 8) :o  

[Doris_Pinks]

Aqui have posted it in recipes on this site as R4All is down at the mo!

Good letter Alan! It is amazing that we all still alive and kicking really, without the Government intervening I am sure we would all be dead...NOT!  (probably eating fab different foods from all over the planet!)  Your letter made me smile, I had visions of bowler hat bureaucrat types being force fed all manner of stuff!
Oh and my Mum said she had read today that if we need new windows anywhere in our houses as of today, we have to go through the council and tell them what we are doing!!! I am sure there will be a charge for it, maybe I should just write a list of what I intend to do in my life and give it to them, so they can tell me what I can and can't do! >:(

[Hugh_Jones]

Never mind, Doris, at least we managed to get mentioned in the Panto.

But have you ladies noticed that it is now virtually impossible to buy lard.  The local Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, and Co-op are all out of stock, which they say is due to `a Europe wide shortage`. An assistant in Tesco even advised me that if I could find any in a small shop I should buy it all and `hang on to it for dear life`.
Apparently it is all due to the wrong sort of pigs being bred.
So the outlook for home-made mince pies looks a little bleak..

[Doris_Pinks]

My local small shop has a big bold notice advertising  "we still have BRANSTON PICKLE"! So if anyone wants any I shall only charge a moderate fee! ;D ;D ;D
The only thing I use lard for now is the birds fat balls!

Yes Hugh, I did notice the mention, brilliant as usual! :)

[gavin]

Hi folks - I'm being cantankerous, curmudgeonly and ill-informed  ;)

- A search on "FDA aflatoxin"  - oops, throws up lots of references to US research and controls on a real problem.

- A search on "FAO aflatoxin" - oops, ditto, but the research and controls go a bit further than just the US.

- A search on "peanuts aflatoxin Senegal" or "peanuts aflatoxin Gambia" - oops, ditto - but I'm repeating myself.

I can (and frequently do :) ) get worked up about the EU - and things like aflatoxin regulations wiping out family incomes across a swathe of West Africa?  Protecting European farmers and fishermen, and their unsustainable practices - impoverishing the environment, and farmers and fishermen elsewhere?  But the EU and brazil nuts?  Naaaah!

[later edit]Sorry - I got just a bit too cantankerous and unforgivably bad-mannered :( - hope I've taken out most of my excesses?[/edit]