Why U.S. doesn't stop tainted food from China

san jose mercury ^ | 5/20/07 | by Rick Weiss

[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.

[grey_whiskers]

See my post #18.

Cheers!

[expatguy]

I think they might do something when a hundred or so Americans and their new colonial masters (illegal immigrants) drop dead.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[browardchad]

I have not set foot in Chinese restaurant since this scandal broke and don’t plan to again, at least not for a long, long time. They also can go belly-up.

Um, there's no guarantee that the food in any restaurant doesn't come from China.

Congress passed country of origin labeling in 2002 as a provision of a farm subsidy bill. Processed foods are excluded, as are foods sold by restaurants. The full implementation of the bill, by the way, was postponed twice by executive order (thank you, Mr. Bush), and only unprocessed seafood needs to be labeled as of this year.

Curiously -- or not so curiously if you read the full article posted -- the fresh meat provision, which should go into effect next year, if not postponed yet again, excludes poultry.

I can't imagine why. /sarc

[anonsquared]

Then they should quit supporting China by buying all that’s made there.

I guarantee that if you check out all of the Fourth of July goods (paper plates, napkins, decorations, etc.), they’ll all be from China. LEAVE THEM ON THE SHELVES!

[Flavius]

i understand

however at 7.50-9.00 per hour and 40 kids

your options are dollar store china and walmart china

company store 21century style

[sweetiepiezer]

Thanks for the ping mom4

Thanks for the ping.
Does anyone have a list of all these China stories we have been following.
I would like to send them to my Senators.

I sent a long list of links to my Senator a couple of weeks ago about the use of rx drugs in this country.
I could not believe it the other day when his Washington office called and she said the Senator wanted her to call me to discus the situation.
Emails do work.
Let’s let them know how we feel about China and their stinking no good crap they are sending us.
I mean story links, not forum links.
I should have kept one myself, but did not realize how this was going to grow.
I think it would have quite an impact to list them all and tell them to tell China to stick it.
We are not buying this crap.

[WildcatClan]

It seems as if the stupidity, or rather the ignorance is the American consumers. It takes no stupidity to sell bad product, only dishonor and a dash of greed. All the while our purchases go towards the Commie Military Machine. But what the l-l ell, the environmental impact on the rust belt is lessened, albeit, a jobless environment.

[Suzy Quzy]

:)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Grow your own. Shop local farm markets. Learn to bake your own bread with flour from trusted companies such as King Arthur. Raise a few laying hens, maybe a milk cow or a goat if you have the room. Buy some whole cream and I’ll show you how to make your own butter. Learn to can, dry and preserve the harvest. Invest in a meat smoker. Learn to hunt and/or fish. Plenty-o-grub all around us to eat. (Well, not in the city, of course...but we’ll share. A little.)

I WELCOME a return to simpler, more self-reliant times. In two short generations, we’ve become helpless slaves to imported foodstuffs. :)

And don’t forget to keep plenty of dry socks and ammo on hand. ;)

[sam_paine]

Ours is a free country, unlike the PRC.

Try opening a business in this "free country" and see how that goes. For example, try opening a butcher shop to sell clean, American grown beef, and see how long you get to stay in business in this "free country" when you fail to order the right brand of anti-bacterial floor mat, or don't have the shop partitioned the way the USDA inspectors you trust so much like to see it.

Stop paying your property tax (aka county rent/tithe) and see if you really "own" your land in this 'free' country.

Try going to a street corner to exercise your free speech and say that hispanics are destroying this country....see how long you get to exercise your "free speech."

For the small businessman, indeed, the PRC is 'freer' than America. In China, the government doesn't jack with you until you've made it big. If you want to open a local auto-garage, you just nail a sign up. If you turn it into a multi-million RMB biz, then they might come in and nationalize you or put the bribe on you, but at least the little guys can get started without getting hauled into court for violating OSHA or ADA bs.

America -was- the land of the free. But all the "there oughta be a law" folks killed her and have turned her into a socialist state ruled by lawyers....we just haven't admitted it yet.

[sweetiepiezer]

Thanks for posting.

[palmer]

"So many U.S. companies are directly or indirectly involved in China now, the commercial interest of the United States these days has become to allow imports to come in as quickly and smoothly as possible," said Robert B. Cassidy,

The elephant not mentioned in the article is that the politicians need the money recycled from the trade deficit to fund the budget deficit. It keeps demand for US treasuries up and rates down.

[kjhm]

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Import Refusal Reports for OASIS

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View OASIS Refusals by Country
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

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[Malacoda]

As long as the American sheeple continue to shell out their American dollars for cheaply-made chinese crap at China*Mart, we'll have these problems....with the chinese laughing all the way to the bank.

Everyone wails about how awful it is, but no one is really willing to give up their trips to Sam Walton's Super Number One China Importatorium.

[Gabz]

And don’t forget to keep plenty of dry socks and ammo on hand. ;)

Yes, mom!!!! LOL!

[mom4kittys]

Good for Tammy! THis whole thing makes me so very angry.

[Robert Drobot]

It's a cheap $$$Judas$$$ FUBAR dearie; all thanks to a traitorous corrupt sellout government with the morality of a sewer rat that doesn't give a damn about us!!!

May they all burn in hell!!!

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Thank you for your comments.

Yes, you are correct. That is why I said “Don’t buy any food products one ‘suspects’ comes from China...”

I know. It is easier said than done.

If you missed the following article, I am sending you the web address:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/world/06poison.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fPanama

If the address fails, I’ll freepmail you the entire article. Let me know.

The article reinforces what you said about how difficult it is to trace food products.

We must be alert and share information.

[bvw]

No more Customs

No FDA. No Reg PA Dept of Agriculture. The CIA is delusional. No border control. Border Agents jailed for acting like border agents.

And now -- no more Customs enforcement.

Trust and no verify our new world order masters.

We are on our own. It's a market opportunity, really.

[WildcatClan]

Have to admit, you had me going there for a while, at first I thought you were serious. I noticed you setting up the strawmen and making various suggestions that we return to hunter/gatherers if we don’t like being poisoned. Heh, you rascal you, you had me believing you were really that ignorant. :)