Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
Dying for your supper; Thanks Guys!
Topic Started: Oct 4 2009, 08:52 PM (136 Views)
dumblonde
Member Avatar

It looks like the average Americans life is now worth about 30ยข to corporate America. It's hard to believe that they still have so many consumers still out shilling for them. Talk about suckers.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3629-Philadelphia-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m10d4-Dying-for-your-supper-what-smaller-government-has-done-to-food-safety

Quote:
 
To put it bluntly because of deregulation no one is really sure if our food supply is really safe at all. And that is compounded by unsafe business practices. In just the last year imports from China became a serious issue in terms of consumer safety here in America. According to the FDA problems with Chinese imports include fecal matter contamination, unsafe additives, heavy use of agricultural chemicals some banned in the U.S. and considerable pollution. Unfortunately, imported foods are increasingly common on American grocers shelves even as they are largely unregulated for product quality or safety.

Michael Moses in a New York Times article tells the story of Stephanie Smith 22, a children's dance instructor who is now paralyzed due to a severe strain of E-coli bacteria in a hamburger she ate at her mother's house in 2007. Thousands of Americans are sickened each year by this pathogen though few too this severity.

Contamination by E-coloi led to recalls of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states last year. Here is the really scary issue, the FDA basically is only able to inspect about 1 percent of all meat and this is the recall level. What might it be with greater oversight? Even some FDA officials will tell you they believe eating ground beef is a huge gamble.



Quote:
 

Another problem is that many slaughterhouses will only sell to companies that agree to not test the meat. So in the weeks proceeding the production of the beef patty Ms. Smith ate federal regulators found that Cargill had repeatedly violated its own voluntary regulations for meat safety and inspection.

In all Cargill paid about one dollar per pound to make the patty Ms. Smith ate that nearly killed her. This is about 30 cents less per pound than if they used a whole cut of meat for their burgers which would have eliminated the E-coli Ms. Smith was exposed to.

Another company American Foods, which grinds up 365 million pounds of hamburger a year, stopped testing 10 years ago. Timothy P. Biela an officer for American Foods, and quoted in the Moses NYT article stated," Slaughterhouses wouldn't sell to us if I tested." If I tested positive I put them in a regulatory situation where one I have to tell the government, and two the government will trace it back to them. So we don't do that."


Quote:
 

The only thing I can say in closing is that here is another sorry example of the human costs of a profits before people philosophy that we have had since Reagan was in office. This goes right along with Ford's decision years ago that the costs of changing the Pinto's gas tank were more than the potential lawsuits from those killed when the gas tank exploded. Nice to know that we are nothing but a cost of doing business to Corporate America.
Offline Profile Quote Post Rules
 
Hello again
Member Avatar

Go harvest and butcher your own food....
Offline Profile Quote Post Rules
 
Manna Pro
Member Avatar
Manna Pro
Its time to stop buying hamburger, and avoid city water..The crumbling of America was on again on Wed..I forgot to post a reminder. America is all about making more and more money off of Americans..Thats what Obama and our government is all about, and it's been that way for almost 40 years. They and their corperate task masters are clearly the enemy
Offline Profile Quote Post Rules
 
Hello again
Member Avatar

We must take back the government....
Offline Profile Quote Post Rules
 
Manna Pro
Member Avatar
Manna Pro
Its time to reregulate
Offline Profile Quote Post Rules
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · General Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply