powder? Thanks!
Where can I buy good quality organic spices like turmeric, paprika, curry
http://www.eglibio.ch
Though, an Indian friend says they are not spicy enough. And of course, very expensive compared to Barkat.
Not wishing to start an argument, but interested why you would choose organic spices?
I think that
- food treated with pesticides is not healthy for consumption on the
average
- pesticides reduce the diversity of the whole ecosystem (knock-on
effects to birds etc) and I think that is wrong both on sustainability
and ethical levels
- pesticide run-off also affects health of life outside of
the agricultural area
OK - thanks for replying. So it isn't just about spices? That was my interest
I disagree on the principle in general, but on the specific point of ethics, I'd just point out that spices by their nature come from the most underdeveloped parts of the world and by not using pesticides and herbicides, the risk of crop failure is significantly increased and so the birds may be happier, but the farmer may suffer. I've also previously experienced greater risk of adulteration with banned substances in organic spices, as colours may suffer from the crop health and dangerous substances have been illegally added to compensate.
Anyway, not the time or the place for an organics debate
It's assumed that the importer/distributor of the spice does checks for the presence of forbidden substances.
I assume this is the more expensive the more chemicals you look for, so I equally assume it's done maybe once a year or even less. Hence the recent scandal with the "Bio" stuff from Italy which was just re-labeled conventional food....
The only way to know for sure is to grow stuff yourself - which in the case or tumeric, cumin et.al. may be a bit difficult herearound.
Those are some pretty big assumptions. In my experience, the importer/distributor takes the suppliers' word for it, who takes the farmers' word for it - with checking ONLY up to the minimum point required by law.
If the packaging doesn't specify independently tested, it isn't - because if it was, that fact would be used as a USP I guarantee you. Nobody spends money reaching a certain standard without mentioning it in their marketing push.
http://www.bio-suisse.ch/de/konsumen.../kontrolle.php
Which is much more verbose than
http://www.bio-suisse.ch/en/consumer/faq.php#4
Of course, what you write is true nevertheless.
Thanks. That's interesting info. However (and this is general ignorance here, as I am pretty new to the country), can produce labeled organic be sold in-country without retesting to the local certification? The FAQ was a little unclear on the issue.
Specifically - speaking of spices - lack of contaminants doesn't actually mean 'organic production' - it just means contaminant free. The retesting doesn't insure that the production is actually organic - and if the spices are sourced from overseas, who's checking?
That said, contaminant free is a good place to start.