China's food safety woes expand overseas

AP via Yahoo News ^ | April 12, 2007 | CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

[batter]

You might as well just pop the cork and drink the bottle of mercury

Exactly!

Another thing to think of is some of the regular goods we import from countries who don't have the same standards we have.

The place I work for tested some of the cheap ceramic plates with single color glaze on them (you've probably seen these types of plates, bowls, cups in various stores - those we tested were from Wal-Mart). They were "Made In China".

We tested them for lead content because an infant in the home had a higher than normal lead level in her blood. The plates, bowls, and cups came back around 12% lead content (in the glaze). We're guessing the lead would leach into the food when they were heated in the microwave.

[panaxanax]

Here’s some interesting facts about how apples are stored, cleaned of natural wax (loaded with chemicals) and then re-waxed. The solvents used to remove the natural wax are bad. Remember that apple that you buy in the market in August has been in cold-storage since the previous year. Always peel the skin before eating any apple.

http://res2.agr.ca/parc-crapac/pubs/phhandbook/a_stor_e.htm

“The E. coli bacterium is elusive and challenging, because it continues to appear in food products previously thought to be inhospitable. Organic foods are often fertilized with cow manure, and E. coli flourishes in cattle. Experts speculate that the apples Odwalla used most likely became infected with the E. coli bacteria when they fell to the ground and came into contact with cow or deer feces in the orchard, or from fruit pickers who came in contact with fecal matter and spread it to the apples.”

http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/tcaw/97/feb/food.html

[blam]

""You just have to hope that your system is strong enough and your producers are careful enough," said Todd Meyer, China director for the U.S. Grains Council. "

Hope?

That's just not good enough for me. Time for action!