Please see the files attached to this message.
Article: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=392870
Article: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=392870
Fiji Kava Quality Manual / Fiji Kava Standard
- Thread starter The Kap'n
- Start date
- Status
D
Deleted User01
Good post Kapm. I'm impressed. The Fijians are doing a professional job of touting their kava and providing detail information. Each Kava Strain and chemotype is listed as well. Very educational and very, very professional looking. Cudos to them ... I mean Kudos.
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
Thank you for posting this! They did a great job .
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
The booklet itself, page 49, appears to have a chicken walking through kava drying on a metal sheet. If anyone checks this out please comment since I am not certain that is what I am looking at!
yep. I suppose they wanted to illustrate the potential hygiene issues
I would imagine this is not uncommon given the conditions in many of the kava producing nations & these are farms after all.
kasa_balavu
Yaqona Dina
This is why the reputable dealers like Kava Time and Lami Kava re-wash the dried kava they buy before milling.
That's definitely what you're looking at. Unfortunately this is an issue with kava, not just in the drying phase, but in growing as well. Kava is often grown where animals roam freely, so there is bacteria in the soil. It's actually quite difficult to avoid when dealing with agricultural products. Washing isn't enough to get rid of bacteria. The best way to get rid of bacteria is with heat. Most is killed at 140 degrees fahrenheit, though most processors don't have the ability to bring kava to that temperature. The UV in sunlight probably isn't enough to kill most bacteria, but concentrated UV-C light may be.
Contamination is a bigger problem than people realize and I'm happy to see the Fijian government acknowledging it, though it will be tough for most processors to invest in procedures that will fix the issue. At least for now, the retailers will be the ones making sure kava is clean. I'm currently working with the FDA on getting a reconditioning plan approved. This will ensure that importers can sterilize kava in a way that is acceptable to the FDA. There's quite a bit of red tape involved in the process.
I think that properly dried kava is not necessarily a huge hazard because of its low moisture content and some antimicrobial properties. I am not saying one shouldn't strive to minimise the risk/develop better methods of preserving/sterilising and storing kava. Just noting that as long as it's properly dried, it's a very low risk (albeit obviously not "no risk") food product.
I think it is interesting that on the first download on page 45 in the upper right corner you will see a Hanakapi Ai cutting that was propagated in moss, along with my hand. They took my picture and they did not even ask or give me credit. They do not use moss to make cuttings in Fiji.
Aloha.
Chris
Aloha.
Chris
kasa_balavu
Yaqona Dina
Hah! I recognize that photo! I'm sure if you send an invoice to http://phama.com.au/ they'll cough up some aussie taxpayer dollars for the photo
- Status