Do You Know What You’re Putting In Your Mouth?
I know that there are some people who would call me a little hippy-dippy when the subject of food comes up. I mean, I’m a psuedo-vegetarian, who’s doctors have officially made it official, I shop organic and support local farming, I like yogurt and soy, I’ve spent quite a bit of time ranting about Mad Cow Disease and how little testing the U.S.A. actually does on it’s food supply, and last Summer I spent spent a lot of effort worrying about what gets put into my pets’ food.
I’m glad I worry about nutrition and health and not just my health but my loved ones’ health too.
I know, I know, some of you less compassionate people who don’t see pets as family members, are saying, but those 16 confirmed cat and dog deaths were just animal deaths and those thousands of sick cats and dogs? They weren’t people. It’s not like the screw-up affected people.
‘Cuz that wouldn’t happen.
Except remember the tainted peanut butter and then there was that spinach that was making everyone sick?
The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, documents and interviews show.
Overwhelmed by huge growth in the number of food processors and imports, however, the agency took only limited steps to address the problems and relied on producers to police themselves, according to agency documents.
Knew for years.
Killed three people, sickened hundreds.
Wanna know the connection?
Last week, the FDA notified California state health officials that some hogs on a farm in there had eaten feed laced with that melamine, which is the chemical blamed for those pet deaths. That means that the poisoning has now entered the human food chain. (So glad I don’t eat pork.) No one’s determined if this presents a danger to humans yet.
But you go ahead and keep eating just like you always do and don’t worry about the possible consequences. I’m sure that your beef has been inspected, though only a tenth of one percent is actually tested for Mad Cow. I’m sure that whoever packed that package of fresh spinach washed his hands before he left the bathroom. Maybe when they freeze-dried that t.v. dinner, it killed the Norovirus that was going around the processing plant that day.
Just don’t think about any of it. The government is looking out for you, and if not our government, then those other governments are, right?
Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and other foods are inspected — yet those government inspections regularly reveal food unfit for human consumption.
Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the Philippines — the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food and Drug Administration stretches on.
[…]
With only a minuscule percentage of shipments inspected, they say the nation is vulnerable to harm from abroad, where rules and regulations governing food production are often more lax than they are at home.
“FDA doesn’t have enough resources or control over this situation presently,” said Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, which works with industry to improve safety.
Last month alone, FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish, vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues ranging from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella.
And that’s with just 1.3 percent of the imports inspected. As for the other 98.7 percent, it’s not inspected, much less detained, and goes to feed the nation’s growing appetite for imported foods.
Each year, the average American eats about 260 pounds of imported foods, including processed, ready-to-eat products and single ingredients. Imports account for about 13 percent of the annual diet.
Terrorists don’t need bombs to attack us. Just send us tainted food. We obviously won’t know until it’s too late.
Source: FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food, Consumers Union says USDA cut in Mad Cow testing puts public health at risk, U.S. food imports rarely inspected
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on April 24, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Maya said:
Lancelot and I have put together a single page showing key links to information about the pet food recall.
http://www.dailypaws.com/pet-tips/dogs/health/pet-food-recall-information
The FDA link is especially useful - it lets you put in the brand you feed your pet (or one you are considering) to check if it is affected.
I hope your pets have been unaffected. There are very sad stories floating around Dogster right now.
on April 24, 2007 at 3:18 pm
granny miller said:
Great post!
I agree with you on many points.
I would add that FDA cannot protect our food. supply.
Only the American Consumer
can do that.
Sorry to say that the safety of Pet Food is the least of our food problems here in the USA. I fear
food safety will get much worse because most Americans have a disconnect from where food really comes from.
on April 25, 2007 at 8:48 am
neca said:
Gee, did you read my post yesterday???
I have started making homemade dog food for my dogs. I cook for us, how hard is it to cook for them too?
I started cleaning up our food supply in the past year or so, but I have to say, I wasn’t nearly as informed as I thought I was when it came to my dog’s food!
If anything good comes out of this, it will be the waking up of the American consumer - to care for themselves AND their beloved pets.
on April 25, 2007 at 1:02 pm
n. mallory said:
Here’s an article about Home-prepared pet food that might help you along.
I’m considering going back to that with just my Pug. My cats are too finicky to cook for. However, Wellness and Innova brands of pet food are very good for your pets. If you are going to do store-bought just make sure you avoid brands that use meat-by-products, corn meal, and wheat or rice gluten.
Good luck!
on April 25, 2007 at 2:30 pm
neca said:
I am switching to Wellness for out cat, but with 4 dogs, cooking is cheaper!
Thanks for the link.