I don’t eat a lot of meat or poultry these days, but when I do chicken is usually what makes it past the gag reflex into my stomach. And my wife and son do eat chicken on a fairly regular basis. So, you can imagine how heartened I was to read this story about the complete and utter failure of Bush’s Compassionately Conservative FDA to prevent my family (and maybe yours) from being poisoned:
At least 2.5 million broiler chickens from an Indiana producer were fed pet food scraps contaminated with the chemical melamine and subsequently sold for human consumption, federal health officials reported yesterday.
Hundreds of other producers may have similarly sold an unknown amount of contaminated poultry in recent months, they added, painting a picture of much broader consumption of contaminated feed and food than had previously been acknowledged in the widening pet food scandal.
Not too worry, though, as these very same officials think that everything’s just jake with that:
“We do not believe there is any significant threat of human illness from this,” said David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration’s chief medical officer. FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach named Acheson yesterday the agency’s new “food czar” — officially, assistant commissioner for food protection. […]
[N]o recall of any products that may still be on store shelves or in people’s freezers is planned, officials said.
Makes you feel all warm and cozy doesn’t it? I mean, Bush’s Food Czar has spoken, and I’m sure he’s fully up to speed on all the possible risks to human health. Just like Clean Air Czarina, Christie Todd Whitman, who just told a few little white lies about how the air hovering over the World Trade Center site was safe to breathe.
Or like Disaster Relief Czar Michael Brown who reassured the country in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that “Things are going relatively well” even if thousands of people in New Orleans who didn’t “heed the advance warnings” probably died. Well, sometimes a lie is better than the truth. That’s what Karl Rove tells me, anyway.
In the meantime, now might be a good time to make the switch to a vegetarian life style. Especially after you read this:
(cont.)
… 100,000 Indiana chickens that ate the melamine-laced food and are still alive have been quarantined and will be destroyed as a precautionary measure — as will any other animals that turn up as the investigation continues to expand. […]
Meanwhile, the FDA expanded the number of plant-based protein products from China on its “do not import” list, pending the completion of further tests on various kinds of glutens, protein concentrates and other products. […]
Investigators are tracking streams of the contaminated food through several states.
“Our sense is that the investigation will lead to additional farms where contaminated feed may have been fed to either animals or poultry,” said Kenneth Petersen of the Agriculture Department Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Tofu anyone?
becoming a vegetarian doesnt make you safe from this product melanine…in fact it may make you less safe….vegetarians eat a lot of stuff with wheat gluten added….so they are getting it directly which was why so many pets died….whereas meat eaters are getting it second hand and in much less quantities which havent even been proved to be dangerous.
as far as i can tell china just committed an act of terrorism on our country and it was pretty easy. they poisoned our entire food system. very clever.
Now don’t go raining on my hopes and dreams anna. <snark>
But yes, you make a good point. To the extent you eat processed food that may contain melamine contaminated Chinese gluten, etc. you are still at risk. So if you pan to become a vegetarian buy only locally produced organic veggies if possible.
As for calling this a terrorist attack (I assume you were using hyperbole there to make a point), I’d say it’s more the inevitable result of “globalization” combined with the evisceration of our regulatory agencies by the Bush administration that is at fault. However, it does provide terrorists with another tactical model to consider using in any future attacks on our country.
Yep, whatever the plan is, just make it CHEAPER than all the healthier alternatives, and our mega-corp food industry will jump right on it.
And if too many people switch to organic, the food industry giants will lobby Congress to change the definition of what qualifies for the “organic” label, pleading that the standards must be lowered so that they can meet the excessive demand. (they’re already doing this, in fact). It is, after all, so unreasonable that organic chickens must have been fed ONLY organically raised feed… It’s an “undue burden” on food packaging and manufacturing plants to be held legally responsible for what ALL their various suppliers do, right? That will cost jobs…
I was thinking of this in the grocery store last night… I only cook for myself, so I use a lot of shortcuts. Now I’m thinking about the Whole Foods market around the corner — so much more expensive, but…
There isn’t a federal agency or department that Bush Co has not subverted and f**ked up, is there….
my daughters boyfriend is a vegan…i used to be a vegetarian…..i dont know a lot of wealthy vegans who can afford organic produce….or much produce period….that shit is expensive….i was at my daughters house one day when they came home from shopping for groceries….the only produce they had were bananas and a pineapple…..they eat a lot of frozen vegan stuff…and cereal…and pasta….i suspect a lot of vegetarians do the same….when i was a vegetarian i was a poor college student and all i ate were donuts and french fries….just because you are a vegetarian doesnt mean you are eating a healthier or safer diet than the meat eaters….im eating the healthiest food i have ever eaten in my life right now but its because i have the money to spend on better food. wealth as always makes the difference.
so whats safe to eat?
i would say the top 5 safe foods with the highest nutritional value are oatmeal (not that instant crap), sweet potatoes, beans, stoneyfield yogurt, and beets. i pick these because not that many chemicals are used to produce or process these foods.
things i almost never eat; non organic greens and berries (loaded with pesticides and heavy metals), ground animals (too easily contaminated with all kinds of foreign stuff and bacteria), the peels and skins of non organic apples, pears, plums, peaches, potatoes, and carrots. yes i know all the nutrition is in the peels but so are all the pesticides they use to make them last longer on the shelf. the day i saw peaches going thru the green soup of fungicides before being packed for shipping was the day i stopped eating peach skins. thats the thing about getting a degree in agriculture….every time i took a class i stopped eating that food….especially chicken and milk….it is such an unclean process i just have a really hard time getting them down.
Just for the record my organic local farms only produce veggies for a couple of months each year (winter and all that). OTOH, my local organic farmers produce meat and dairy year round. So, should I become a dairyvore/carnivore exclusively? Hey, how about we boot the Republicans and install real food inspectors and food protection regimes with teeth instead? Just sayin’.
So, if the story is true then the simple question is–
WHAT THE F DO WE EAT???????????????????????????????
Cake?
Why don’t these idiots just say, the whole system is fucked, fellas?
What’s pissing me off is the up-the-food-chain warnings. This is giving cover to the food industry to prepare for lawsuits. For while the pets are dying, the first people that die from this contamination is going to make people stop coming to food giants and start filing suits.
Me, I’m planting my garden and still going to health food stores and farmers’ markets. My food buying isn’t limited to Copp’s or Cub’s (here in Mad City).
If we still had a Republican Congress a bill would have already been passed excusing companies from any liability for tainted agricultural products imported from other countries.
Let’s not forget the ongoing domestic practices that are approved… such as feeding arsenic to chickens.
Please excuse the subscription wall for this article on Arsenic In Chicken Production, published in Chemical & Engineering News, the “Newsmagazine of the chemical world” and official house organ of the American Chemical Society:
News like this makes me wonder what else is going on with our food supply, sometimes deliberately and with regulatory approval. Had you heard of this?
Forget the government’s official spin:
Here’s the MSDS “skinny” on melamine:
Crystals in the kidneys of melamine and cyano-ureaic acid are what finally did in the cats and dogs.
Our family is trying hard to spend its money smarter when it comes to food. So, even though my income has dropped recently (my wife isn’t working these days) we have switched over to a milk delivery service that does non-rBGH even though it’s twice as expensive as buying it at Safeway. (Their milk isn’t considered organic for some reason I can’t remember — it has to do with feeding them non-organic hay or something — but it’s very close.) We also subscribe to a weekly delivery service that brings us fresh organic fruits and vegetables. We are eating better than we have been.
I don’t know if we are ever going to go fully organic, and I’m pretty sure we’ll never be vegetarians of any stripe. But, like I said, eating smarter seems prudent these days.
Priorities: Corporate profits or public health. As ususal, follow the money.
My old post about the assault on “organics” means that even those inclined to such things are not totally without risk.
Many moons ago my uncle, who was a caring kind of guy, and a doctor and medical researcher began one of the first studies of the effect of nutrition on mental aptitude. He had adopted several refuge kids from WWII who had survived on a diet of most potatoes and the kids were hard pressed to function in even basic remedial tasks. Noticeably, as the kids received basic medical treatment and a homegrown diet provided via his wife’s garden they began to improve. All 3 eventually received graduate degrees!
From that experience my uncle decided to move his research to Watts in SoCal. He was driven to prove that the Watts kids were victims of poor nutrition and if their nutrition improved, so would the resulting outcomes of their lives.
This was back in the ’50’s and ’60’s. His research was groundbreaking at the time as it indeed proved that the quality of nutrition in a person’s life has a direct impact on the health of their whole being, including their intellectual functions.
So, we know that the FDA has and will continue to fail us. I worry about the RIMADYL pills I give Satchmo for his sore joints – are they using Wheat Gluten as an adhesive, yes; and does the wheat gluten enhance the kidney failure side effects of the medication? AND HE’S JUST A DOG! Think of all the pills we take with side effects already where those side effects may be enhanced by the additives that glue the pill or its shell together!
So, to me the grave danger of becoming physically ill from tainted food that hasn’t made it onto FDA’s radar is only a question of time, for me, perhaps for all of us. My desk is piled high with books as I research, Google is my friend and I am determined to find local produce not tainted by pesticides from local growers – I am going to work to fend for myself because this can only get worse.
A last point, I have friends who throw up their hands about global warming – it’s too big and I’m too small – mantra. My answer, we don’t have the luxury to sit back folks. And as to the above, we don’t have the luxury to sit back and wait to get sick and lose our minds.
Thanks for the post!