Press Release

Tropical Traditions

Brian Shilhavy, CEO of Tropical Traditions, sent a letter this week to Tropical Traditions customers explaining why the company has had so many of its products out of stock or back ordered at the beginning of 2015.

Tropical Traditions found out in late 2014 that much of the USDA certified organic wheat supply in North America was contaminated with residues of the herbicide glyphosate. Tropical Traditions has been in the process of testing all of its products for the presence of glyphosate since that discovery. The products that have been tested for glyphosate and found to be clean are all listed on the Healthy Traditions website now.

Besides organic wheat and other organic grains that were tested positive for glyphosate and removed from the Tropical Traditions product line, they also tested and found glyphosate present in organic flax seeds, organic hemp, and organic freeze-dried strawberries. Products containing those ingredients are no longer available on the Tropical Traditions websites.

Shilhavy explained why the process of determining which products are contaminated with glyphosate and which ones are clean is not a simple process:

It might seem that it is a simple procedure for us to simply test all of our products for the presence of glyphosate, and know right away which products we can continue selling, and which ones we cannot. Unfortunately, it is not so simple. We have to carefully consider how the product is produced or grown, and how likely a sample taken from a certain batch is to represent all products grown or produced by that supplier.

If a product comes from a large company or supplier, just testing what we have in our inventory at any given time is no guarantee that this product will always test clean. This is especially true if the supplier is sourcing the product from many sources or many farms, and mixing it all together before packaging into retail sizes. Therefore, we need our suppliers to work with us in ensuring each sample that is tested is truly representative of a batch that can be traced directly back to the producer, ensuring that these producers are consistently producing and harvesting products that are testing clean from glyphosate.

Some of our suppliers have expressed a willingness to work with us on this issue, some have not. Hence, we will be dropping some of our product lines because we cannot be reasonably sure that we are selling you products that are not contaminated with glyphosate, and we would rather sell no products at all than sell products that are contaminated, no matter how small that contamination may be.

Tropical Traditions to Phase Out USDA Organic Certification on its Products and Switch to “Healthy Traditions”

Tropical Traditions also announced that it will phase out the USDA certified organic certification on its privately labeled products by the end of 2015. In its place, they will be using the “Healthy Traditions” approval seals on their products, which currently includes: Traditionally Produced, GMO-tested, and Glyphosate-tested.

The Healthy Traditions standards are explained on the Healthy Traditions website:

The purpose of Healthy Traditions is to define the standards of healthy food and products we use when producing or choosing products to sell in our network. These are not new standards for us, but the same standards we have followed since 2002, when we first started shipping virgin coconut oil to the U.S. from the Philippines. Today’s certifications and labeling have become so watered-down and confusing, that we thought it was time to define our own standards, so that the consumer can better understand the commitment we have to high standards that promote a healthy lifestyle.

The goal of the Healthy Traditions project is to eventually develop a nationwide network of producers and suppliers that meet a higher standard than current USDA organic standards, which currently allow for glyphosate and other pesticide residues to be present. Healthy Traditions maintains a ZERO percentage tolerance for the presence of glyphosate, GMOs, and other herbicides and pesticides.

Tropical Traditions asked its customers to be patient as they go through the testing process to determine which products are at risk for glyphosate contamination, and which products are clean. They hope that consumers will appreciate the extra work they are putting in to develop their glyphosate-tested and GMO-tested programs. They are believed to be the only company currently testing products for the presence of glyphosate.

Their goal is that consumer demand for glyphosate-tested products will grow and encourage other companies and producers in North America to start testing their products for glyphosate as well.

Read this article and comment at HealthyTraditions.com.

Brian Shilhavy is the CEO of Tropical Traditions and the Editor of Health Impact News.