WhiteWave Buys Earthbound Farm Organics for $600 Million

WhiteWave has announced its purchase of organic vegetable producer, Earthbound Farm, for $600 million. This is the same company and management that owns Horizon, which obtains much of their milk from giant ?organic? factory farms in which thousands of cows live in crowded, unsanitary conditions. In addition to Horizon and Silk, WhiteWave manufactures a myriad of conventional products distributed outside of the natural/organic channels.? For example, the company, which professes allegiance to health and the environment, makes International Delight nondairy coffee creamer, a product with dubious ingredients that no nutritionist would recommend be part of any healthy diet. While Earthbound is clearly an industrial organic company to begin with, this buy out will certainly not result in a better quality product. When choosing prepackaged salad greens, try to avoid Earthbound and choose an alternative organic product whenever possible.? Click here to see a fact sheet on Dean Foods/WhiteWave?s involvement in the organic industry and get a sense of what this company is truly about.

New Labels Show Where Your Meat Came From

Federal rules went into effect recently requiring labels on?unprocessed beef, chicken, pork, lamb, or goat, to state where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. In 2010, a Consumers Union poll showed that 93 percent of those surveyed said they?would prefer to purchase meat that had a country of origin label. There are some notable exceptions to the new USDA rules. Processed meat, such as bacon, organ meats and turkey are exempt. Ground beef labels will only need to list the countries the processor might have procured it from in the last 60 days.?Major meat processors such as Tyson Foods, Cargill Inc., Hormel, General Mills?and the National Cattlemen?s Beef Association oppose the new rule, calling it unnecessarily costly and short-sighted and citing concerns the rule would shrink demand for imported meat.?Of course, the discontent might have more to do with the millions of dollars these companies will need to spend in order for them to comply with the law.