From Shazzie, Naked Chocolate co-author and CEO of Europe’s largest superfood company:

I am writing this as I URGENTLY need your help. UK Trading Standards Institute and UK Food Standards Agency have declared that mesquite is a novel food. (This is according to the Novel Foods Act 1997, whereby any food not proven to be traded or consumed in Europe before May 1997 is not allowed to be sold in the UK or Europe). The UK governing body Trading Standards Institute only allowed us a couple of months to attempt to find evidence that it’s not a novel food, and we haven’t managed so far. They have now given us a “cease trading mesquite” letter.

By the way, this declaration contradicts a clearing we had from them years ago, where they came to our warehouse and took several of our products for testing, mesquite being an ingredient in one of those products.

Unless we can find some last minute evidence, we will be forced to remove this beneficial and tasty food from stock. This doesn’t just affect us, it affects every distributor in the whole of the UK and Europe. It will be a huge loss for Europe as it’s a great superfood, low GI sweetner and a good gluten free flour.

If you have any information on mesquite meal/pod (not mesquite wood smoke as in Kettle Chips) being sold anywhere in Europe before 15th May 1997 please can you let me know? Please either email me via Facebook (http://facebook.com/doxtor) or call our offices on (UK) 08700 113 119. You can also contact the government department directly on NovelFoods@Foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Mesquite is related to carob, an indiginous European tree. Mesquite grows all over the Americas, The Canaries (which are European), Hawaii, Africa and Asia. It’s also known as Prosopis or Algaroba (as is carob). It been used as a staple for Native Americans throughout their history. There are many papers on the nutritional qualities of mesquite. It is widely known to be non-toxic to humans. This is our mesquite web page, where we are now selling it illegally as the law’s goalposts just suddenly changed: http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatalog/mesquite.html

To be clear, the information we need is any documentation that shows mesquite meal or pod was traded or consumed in Europe or the UK before 15th May 1997.

Please could you also pass this on to anyone who may be able to help. We appreciate any leads at all.

Thank you for your time.

Shazzie (www.shazzie.com)
Managing Director, Rawcreation Ltd
Ecstatic Being : Visionary In Paradise : Author : Artist : Mother : Loveworker