Pasteurizing almonds: An unnecessary precaution?

There are new rules coming into affect tomorrow by the US Department of Agriculture that state that almonds must be pasteurized as of September 1, 2007. The new rules are a result of a series of salmonella outbreaks that occurred between 2001 and 2004 and were ultimately linked to raw almonds. This applies to all almonds, including organic ones.

However, these new rules have been met with some outrage. One major point of contention is that no manufacturer can ever truly call their almonds 'raw' anymore, even though the new regulations state that the label 'raw almonds' can be still be used. It's also felt that the powers that be are over-reacting to a small incident that occurred years ago.