A company that participated in a federal school lunch program has been accused by the Food and Drug Administration of selling juice with high levels of arsenic and made from rotted fruit.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/us/apple-juice-arsenic.html">reported</a> that Valley Processing of Sunnyside, Washington, is being sued by the federal government after it had been repeatedly cited for food safety violations but never corrected their processes. The lawsuit stated the company has “an extensive history of processing juice under grossly insanitary conditions.”
“Valley Processing would be forced to suspend its operations, destroy its remaining inventory and adopt a sanitary control program developed by an independent expert before it could reopen under a consent decree proposed by the federal government,” the Times reported. “A lawyer for the company and its president, Mary Ann Bliesner, who was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, wrote in an email to The New York Times on Tuesday night that the company had ceased its operations and liquidated its assets. The company was in the Yakima Valley, which is known for its orchards and produce.”
Lillian S. Hardy, the company’s lawyer, said the government’s lawsuit was misleading in that the company didn’t directly sell juice to customers.
“Valley Processing is confident the juice sold by its customers was in full compliance with the F.D.A. guidance,” Hardy told the Times. “Valley Processing did have recalls in 2019 and 2018 of apple juice it produced in 2018 and 2017, and in both instances, the company cooperated with the agency request.”
The company has, according to Hardy, agreed to the terms of the government’s proposed consent decree.
While Valey Processing didn’t directly sell the juice to the school lunch program, it did so through one of its customers.
More from the Times:
<blockquote>Food safety investigators said that they had found high levels of inorganic arsenic in 17 lots of apple juice products and two lots of pear juice during a 2019 inspection. Arsenic, which can come from rock erosion, volcanic eruptions, pesticide use and contamination from mining and smelting ores, can cause cancer, skin lesions, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity and diabetes in humans, according to the F.D.A.
The inspectors said that they had also discovered high levels of the mycotoxin patulin in the company’s apple and pear juices. Patulin is produced by rotting or moldy apples and pears. It can cause nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal disturbances in humans, according to the F.D.A.</blockquote>
The situation calls to mind the 1996 E. coli outbreak linked to Odwalla juice, which at the time didn’t pasteurize their products. One person died and 66 others became sick during the outbreak. The link between the outbreak and Odwalla’s fruit may have been the result of the company using rotted fruit, or from using fruit that had fallen on the ground and come into contact with animal feces.
Odwalla took measures to address the issues and began pasteurizing their product, which is safe to drink.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Apple juice

School Lunch Company Sold Juice Containing High Levels Of Arsenic, Made With Rotten Fruit: Report

Education

food

A company that participated in a federal school lunch program has been accused by the Food and Drug Administration of selling juice with high levels of

description

noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1

robots

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/school-lunch-company-sold-juice-containing-high-levels-of-arsenic-made-with-rotten-fruit-report/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/11/GettyImages-874914104-1200x800.jpg

twitter:card

When is bread not bread? When it comes from Subway.
That&#8217;s what Ireland&#8217;s Supreme Court has ruled, deeming the bread from the international sandwich chain has too much sugar in it and must therefore be considered a “confectionary.”
The ruling was important because it means the chain&#8217;s sandwiches do not qualify as a staple food, for which there is no value-added tax (VAT). The court rejected arguments by a Subway franchisee that the VAT should not apply to its takeaway products, including teas, coffees, and heated filled sandwiches, The Irish Independent <a href="https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/sandwiches-in-subway-too-sugary-to-meet-legal-definition-of-being-bread-39574778.html">reported</a>. That means the VAT of 13.5% applies if the sandwich is consumed on site.
&#8220;The five-judge court ruled the bread in Subway&#8217;s heated sandwiches falls outside that statutory definition because it has a sugar content of [10%] of the weight of the flour included in the dough,&#8221; the U.K. paper wrote. &#8220;The act provides the weight of ingredients such as sugar, fat and bread improver shall not exceed [2%] of the weight of flour in the dough.&#8221;
&#8220;It is not necessary,&#8221; the court said in its <a href="https://courts.ie/acc/alfresco/fad40678-a172-44c7-9f84-66f8c102c0f0/2020_IESC_60%20(Unapproved).pdf/pdf#view=fitH">ruling</a>, &#8220;to consider if this is indeed what is contemplated by the [VAT] Act when it refers to the supply of food and drink, including food and drink which has been heated et cetera, because the argument depends on the acceptance of the prior contention that the Subway heated sandwich contains &#8216;bread&#8217; as defined, and therefore can be said to be food for the purposes of the Second Schedule rather than confectionery. Since that argument has been rejected, this subsidiary argument must fail.&#8221;
Six varieties of Subway bread — Italian white bread, nine-grain multi-seed, Italian herbs and cheese, nine-grain wheat, hearty Italian, and honey oat — all do not qualify as &#8220;bread&#8221; because of their sugar content, the court ruled.
The case came before the high court after a Subway franchisee, Bookfinders Ltd, based in Tuam, County Galway, argued that the VAT on some of its takeaway products should not apply. But Justice Donal O&#8217;Donnell said because sandwiches do not contain &#8220;bread&#8221; as defined by the VAT law, it could not be said to be &#8220;food&#8221; for tax purposes.
&#8220;Staple foods like bread and milk are exempt from the tax, but non-essential foods that have been prepared, along with anything considered &#8216;discretionary indulgences&#8217; as the court ruling phrased it, are taxed,&#8221; Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/irish-supreme-court-says-subway-bread-cant-legally-be-c-1845237048?utm_source=knewz">reported</a>. &#8220;That would mean things like ice cream and potato chips are taxed under the law as currently written, but it left open the question of whether a sandwich at Subway was an indulgence.&#8221;
&#8220;There was also dispute about whether hot and cold food should be treated differently, meaning that a cold sandwich would not be taxed and a heated meatball sub would be taxed. Hot beverages like coffee and tea are specifically exempt from the tax but there was a question of whether that applied to purchasing a dry tea bag versus someone at a restaurant handing you a hot cup of tea. The ruling devotes several pages to what Irish legislators intended to mean when they wrote the words &#8216;hot beverages&#8217; and &#8216;food and drink&#8217; over 40 years ago. It gets very complicated very quickly. Ultimately, the court found that cold sandwiches were technically exempt from the law,&#8221; Gizmodo wrote.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

World Sandwich Day Launch With Erin Holland

Court Rules Subway Sandwich Bread Can’t Be Considered ‘Bread’

Ireland

When is bread not bread? When it comes from Subway. That&#039;s what Ireland&#039;s Supreme Court has ruled, deeming the bread from the international sandwich chain

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/court-rules-subway-sandwich-bread-cant-be-considered-bread/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/subway-2.jpg

Menu

food

School Lunch Company Sold Juice Containing High Levels Of Arsenic, Made With Rotten Fruit: Report

Court Rules Subway Sandwich Bread Can’t Be Considered ‘Bread’

Don't miss a beat of our coverage.