Posted on 05/05/2008 1:30:15 PM PDT by newgeezer
WASHINGTON—In March, inspectors checking Chinese seafood arriving at U.S. ports made some unsettling discoveries: fish infected with salmonella in Baltimore and Seattle, and shrimp with banned veterinary drugs in Florida.
Meanwhile, a shipment intercepted in Los Angeles on March 19 and labeled "channel catfish" wasn't catfish at all, though records don't say what it was.
"A lot of those products coming in from overseas, you have no clue as to what is in them," said Paul Hitchens, an aquaculture specialist in Southern Illinois, where cut-rate Chinese catfish are threatening the livelihood of fish farmers.
China rapidly has become the leading exporter of seafood to the United States, flooding supermarkets and restaurants. And while China agreed late last year to improve the safety of food exports, the inspectors' March findings were not isolated cases.
According to Food and Drug Administration records examined by the Post-Dispatch, inspectors turned away nearly 400 shipments of tainted seafood in a year's time from China.
The records told a troubling tale, but even more troubling was what they didn't tell. Only a tiny fraction of imports are inspected at all, and even fewer are tested.
...
"When you look at less than 1 percent of shipments, and sample and test maybe one-fifth of those, there's no way you can protect the American food supply," said Michael Taylor, a former FDA official who is professor of health policy now at George Washington University.
...
FDA officials are requesting new authority, including the ability to license private companies to assist with inspections. But the Bush administration has signaled opposition to key provisions that would require regular inspections in foreign lands and limit ports where food can arrive to docks with FDA labs.
Former FDA officials argue that change is urgently needed.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Our local grocery stores are full of frozen Chinese shrimp and fish. I’m not buying it.
...(foreign food provider to fill in the blank),...the other white meat
I'll bet a huge share of it is fished just outside our territorial waters, but who is counting?
I got some seafood last summer that almost killed me (literally - I was in the hospital for months)
And who knows where the generic medications that the insurnace companies try to foist off on you come from. The same folks who sold us poison dog food, lead painted toys, and HEPARIN are selling generics for ultimate consumption in the US.
Try buying something from Walmart made in USA. I remember years ago Walmart slogan was Made in the USA.
Unfortunately this highlights the necessity of a gov't. Without gov't inspections and testing, we wouldn't know there was a problem, until we died and then we probably still wouldn't know. Without the state requiring labeling on country of origin, we wouldn't even know what's coming from China vs America.
Gov't can't protect us from all risks, but there are some things that I'm glad Gov't is looking at.
And we should be grateful for their junk!!
Needless to say, I bought the gulf shrimp. (No price difference with the Chink shrimp)
Uh, just out of interest, was it at a restaurant? I have one of those stomachs that eating something like that might kill me.
I am very glad you recovered.
Death-by-cheap-salmon ping, my little omnivore.
“”When you look at less than 1 percent of shipments, and sample and test maybe one-fifth of those, there’s no way you can protect the American food supply,””
But, but...it’s cheap!! It wouldn’t be so cheap if these importers had to pick up the tab for inspectors, port agents, billion $ xray machines (that don’t work), recalls, deaths, illnesses, not to mention the tax breaks, instead of the taxpayer.
Me either. Nothing from Asia. Some from Central and S. America.
Ciguatera?
I've looked for labels to try to determine the origin of various meat products in my grocery store--to no avail. Not a single indication.
It irks me no end that I will probably see a global warming footprint on my food before I am allowed to know where it came from.
Don't forget infrastructure. Port expansions, highway maintenance, etc.
All of it is subsidizing foreign products and driving domestic producers out of existence.
Non-government entities have done a better job in other areas (like UL-listing for electrical devices). There doesn't seem to be much to back up the idea that government can do this better. In the specific case of food safety, some could argue that government has made things worse (like prohibiting "extra mile" labeling on milk products, universal cattle inspections with products marked accordingly, etc.)
A big problem with "government standards" is that people will then assume that anything that meets those standards is adequate. In such a market it may become difficult to find (or at least identify) products that exceed those standards, because producers are required to identify their products only with language, symbols, grades, etc. that the regulatory standards allow.
Another consequence of such government regulation is that some products (for example, raw milk) can be banned despite the fact that some consumers actively desire those products.
Personally, I would trust the kosher mark of a rabbinical council for food quality far more than I would trust some government bureaucrat.
Are you sure the importers aren't billed for the inspections?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.