Posts Tagged: pistachios

Salmonella scares roil consumers

Even though Salmonella scares are reverberating in the news media, UC Davis Cooperative Extension food safety specialist Linda Harris says that, overall, the nation's food supply is safe.

Comments from Harris, a food-safety microbiologist at the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at UC Davis, appeared in a story by Barbara Anderson in today's Fresno Bee.

"I would hate for consumers to approach the grocery store with trepidation," Harris was quoted in a story published today. Most of the food in grocery stores, she told the reporter, has been processed in some way that reduces or eliminates Salmonella, she said.

However, the story outlined how easily Salmonella bacteria can makes their way into the food chain. The bacteria flourish in soil and water and can survive in a dry environment. They can be on almost any food, and just a few bacteria can make someone ill. Salmonella is the most common cause of foodborne illnesses nationwide, but it is still relatively rare.

It is now easier for health investigators to recognize a salmonella outbreak because of advances in DNA technology.

"We have better methods to tease out outbreaks that previously would have gone unrecognized," Harris was quoted.

California pistachios hailed in Ohio paper

Last week, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch ran a Sacramento Bee story about pistachios, a tree nut once produced exclusively in the Middle East that is today an important California crop. The story focused on 82-year-old Harry Dewey of Yolo, who told reporter Gwen Schoen that he helped bring the crop to the Golden State.

According to the story, University of California researchers were studying the tree nut in earnest when President Jimmy Carter imposed an embargo on Iran, the world's No. 1 pistachio producer.

"I offered to plant pistachios for UC to find out if it was a viable crop for our area," Dewey was quoted. "They did really well. That's really how we began growing pistachios in northern California."

The first commercial crop of California pistachios, harvested in 1976, totalled 1.5 million pounds; in 2007, California farmers produced 400 million pounds, according to the Western Pistachio Association.

UC entomologist Walt Bentley with pistachios.

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