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ANCHOR:
AN ABC 7 "I-TEAM INVESTIGATION" HAS DISCOVERED A POPULAR ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCT CONTAMINATED WITH A TOXIC PESTICIDE. THAT FINDING HAS PROMPTED WHOLE FOODS MARKET TO PULL THE PRODUCT FROM ITS SHELVES! THE I-TEAM'S ROBERTA BASKIN IS HERE WITH THE LATEST... ROBERTA?
ROBERTA BASKIN:
OUR DISCOVERY COMES BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN ASKING SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT CERTIFIED ORGANIC LABELLING. HOW CAN CONSUMERS BE ASSURED FOOD GROWN HALF A WORLD AWAY IS TRULY ORGANIC? HERE'S WHAT WE FOUND.
STORY:
Track 1: ORGANIC means "free of harmful pesticides." Much of Whole Foods ORGANIC "365" products ARE locally grown. But an internal document we obtained shows Whole Foods obtains a long list of organic products from OTHER countries - dozens from CHINA.
SOT #3/15.40.53 R: Would you expect that this comes all the way from China?
L: No. There's no way of telling where it comes from."
Track 2: When we discovered Whole Foods putting its organic label on products from China, we sent some to a certified laboratory. The frozen vegetables came back "pesticide free." But the powdered ginger was contaminated with a toxic pesticide called Aldicarb.
Lynn Goldman: "It would definitely fail the organic standard. It would also fail the regular standard for ginger."
Track 3: Dr. Lynn Goldman is a leading authority on toxic substances.
(Font: Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health)
SOT #2 Roberta Baskin: "There is no allowable level of Aldicarb in ginger?
Goldman: "Ginger with Aldicarb is not legal food."
Track 4: In fact, the California Health Department warned consumers that this pesticide can cause nausea, headache and blurred vision….even at low levels.
Track 5: We told Whole Foods of our findings and this week they pulled their store brand ginger off shelves nationwide.
Wittenberg: "Oh, absolutely, if there's ever a question of a product we pull it right away."
Track 5A: Margaret Wittenberg is vice president for quality standards.
SOT Wittenberg, "That really is a concern for us. We really appreciate you sharing the test results with us."
Track 8: So how did the contaminated ginger slip through? Well... Whole Foods relies on a company called Quality Assurance International to certify its ginger. But QAI relies on two other certifiers to do the work in China.
Wittenberg: "This is a very unusual fluke, unusual situation. We're looking forward to seeing what the USDA National Organic Program has to say when they do their full blown investigation of this."
ROBERTA BASKIN IN STUDIO:
AND SO ARE WE. THE USDA IS CONDUCTING AN AUDIT OF MORE THAN 30 ORGANIC CERTIFIERS AND THOSE RESULTS WILL BE RELEASED THE FIRST WEEK IN AUGUST.
THERE WERE TWO OTHER CHANGES BY WHOLE FOODS: The California Blend Vegetables grown in China will be relabeled as "California Style" to prevent misleading shoppers.
AND WHEN THIS GINGER COMES BACK ON THE SHELF IT WILL ALSO BE LABELED AS GROWN IN CHINA. ALSO, WHOLE FOODS REVEALED ITS OWN TESTS HAVE ALSO FOUND PESTICIDES IN THE GINGER.
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