Posted on 05/20/2007 4:55:44 AM PDT by Flavius
WASHINGTON - Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical. Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics. Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria. Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
These were among the 107 food imports from China the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.
For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught - many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
One problem is the “private sector” and “government” are sort of incestuously entwined at this point and so for “private entities” like you, me or a few others to imagine we can change the status quo is merely wishful thinking.
The “private entities” such as giant corporations who import this crap could also give a shit if we get sick and/or die. It only affects them if it makes the news enough for people to stop buying their stuff.
The government the way it was designed originally and the government now (entwined with giant businesses that have no loyalty to anyone except whoever makes profit, no shame, no ethical foundation) are two entirely different creatures.
Personally, I think it’s FUBAR time. In general, for some individuals no. Meaning - if you can grow your own food or find local farms, etc. But other than that - the choices are slim. And to try to influence government? Ha!
Your comments are spot on.
That’s why I think it’s FUBAR.
Thanks. I haven’t had it for at least 50 years. I remember my Grandpa used to send it to us at Christmas. I will check it out!
“Your shop-vac made in China?”
Good question...It probably is...let me go check. I’ll be right back...
Okay...it says the “corporation” is located in Pennsylvania which means it is made in China.
Well, I don’t plan to eat it any time soon unless there is a famine in Panama.
(Hmmmm. It may need a little salt.)
Looking more carefully at the label, it also says: PRODUCT OF CHINA.
I just checked mine, same brand, from Sam's Club - it says "Product of INDIA". I had assumed they were U.S. grown.
“::sneaks over to the local DNC office with Gatún’s shop vac::”
I wish. I would go over there with my aspirating shop-vac, snort them up, chew them in tiny unrecognizable pieces (or rather, pay someone to do it for me) , and spit them out.
Hope ya know I was being facetious????
I was at Home Depot the other day and just about everything I picked up, from tools to lighting fixtures, were labeled made in China..
Wasn’t planning on eating those either. As long as those items are safe for use, not causing fire hazards or injuring the operator, fine.
But since we are near this “amnesty” period, we will now have enough “cheap labor” to compete with China? Fire up those defunct steel mills, food canneries, car factories and lets have at it!! I am not a statistical or economic wizard so I need some help here on understanding. What can we do to get out of this?
Yummy, I love spinach.
“Hope ya know I was being facetious????”
Please don’t worry, BighIsleGal.
I knew it was tongue-and-cheek, but you gave me food for thought about where it was made. I bought it in a hurry and without questions. My upright had just totally died never to be resuscitated. I ran out of the house to buy a new one. Without thinking about it, I liked this new contraption because (a) there was no bag to replace, and (b) it came with wheels.
May I add that in Panama wall-to-wall carpeting is very rare, if it exists at all, due to the warm weather; therefore, it served my purpose since I don’t have wall-to-wall carpeting.
LOL!!! I think it's just kids everywhere -- we did it in Brooklyn when I was growing up and I see it here in Virginia as well.
There was a certain amount of sarcasm in my comment, but the point of the matter is that many of us do grow/raise some of our own food. It serves many purposes...
Not the least of which is no worry about where your food is coming from, and it also keeps the government bureaucrats (socialists if you will) out of your kitchen, not to mention it's cheaper and environmentally sound (less trips to the store)........it's a win-win all around, IMO.
You've touched on the core issue.. now, HOW to deal with it?
I've been saying that for quite a few years, and when I first starting addressing that I wasn't even considering food-supplies.
More regulation is not the solution - it is the problem.
>>>>That’s why I fear we’ve been conditioned over time for socialized medicine etc.
> Why not. This post suggests people have been conditioned for socialized food. Something is sadly working :(
Oh for heaven’s sake.
Are the police “socialized law enforcement”? Should we all get security guards instead of having government do it? Guess we should get rid of the “socialized safety services” of the fire department too.
This is the problem I have with strict libertarians and purist free traders. By lumping legitimate and appropriate functions of government in with the wasteful and intrusive overreaches of “the Great Society” and the degenerate, socialist 60s. Limited government, which I believe in, means that there are some limited functions a government should assume in a free society.
It *is* a legitimate function of the government to set basic First World hygiene standards and mandate labeling for food and water so that we can know the truth about what we purchase, that it is represented accurately by the seller.
It is *not* a legitimate function of the government to overstep its bounds, just as a policeman cannot invade your house without a warrant, they should not be able to tell restaurants they can’t sell “trans fats” based on dubious science.
Wow. God bless Duncan Hunter.
>>>It is *not* a legitimate function of the government to overstep its bounds, just as a policeman cannot invade your house without a warrant, they should not be able to tell restaurants they can’t sell “trans fats” based on dubious science.
So, what is your problem with my post then?
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20070519-090904-8037
Bird flu hits Chinese village
Old news, think they will use these “culled” birds for pet food?
Thanks for the ping, Lijahsbubbe. :-)
Bump Duncan Hunter’s comments!
That's not correct. I agree some more expensive brands were tainted like IAMS and Eukaneuba which were bought by Procter and Gamble. The other tainted brands were cheap store brands and "science" diet which is a joke. It doesn't take much serious label reading to figure out which foods (e.g. Wellness Diet) have good ingredients, top to bottom. If they also sold out to P&G, then I'd have a problem too. But for the most part, the pets that died had cheap owners who don't read labels because most of the brands had way more bad ingredients (e.g. corn, coloring) than just the chinese made filler.
Those same cheap pet owners will die themselves from eating Chinese swill Walmart sells them, but hopefully their pets will go to a better home.
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