SWANSON'S RECALL OF CELERY SEED

My post of earlier today focused on the celery seed recall issued by Safeway stores. Another one has been announced as well. It is linked to the Safeway stores recall through a common supplier - B&M Inc.

Swanson Health Products is recalling Swanson Organic Celery Seed (Whole) which is packaged in plastic bottles with a net weight of 1.4 oz. (40 grams) because it may be contaminated with Salmonella. Reportedly the product was sold in several ways - on line, through mail order, through the Swanson Health Products retail store in North Dakota, or, held for pickup at the company's headquarters.

I don't know B&M's supplier for the celery seeds, but a quick research shows that among the countries from which the U.S. imports this product are India, France - and, China. Could this be yet another contaminated Chinese import?

The ironic thing is, of course, that celery seed is considered to be a "health product." It is not well known in Western herbal medicine, but has been used for thousands of years in India. Today, it is mainly used as a diuretic. But these small seeds have also been linked (including by a few research studies) to improving conditions such as high blood pressure, arthritis, gout, kidney stones, muscle cramps, pain, anxiety, and even to prevention of cancer. My grandmother, who was a traditional herbalist, believed celery seeds would cure all these problems and more.

If you don't feel like coming down with a case of Salmonellosis for the holidays, I would suggest you avoid all celery seeds until we find out the source of this problems. That is, unless you cook them very well which would kill the bacteria (pouring hot water on them to make tea is not enough).

To your good health,
TSF

TSF