Peanut Butter vs. Lead...

[Former_Member]

I've heard of one death related to lead, in the past year... the kid that ate the charm on his sneakers, right... ?? There have been a few hospitalizations, but, the only death we have confirmed is one.

6 people died from the peanut butter scare?

6!?

where is the FDA?


where is the regulation?


why are people dying from food when we have such strict laws in place?


laws are meant to protect us, right...??




i'm stabbing at irony here.

i'm a little angry that there's not a 3rd party testing program in place for food.



486 people sick in 48 states... dang!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012101265.html

[Former_Member]

Here's a useless factoid. We have more IRS auditor than employees for ALL the safety administrations including CPSA, FDA, OSHA, BATF, EPA, and DEA.

Don't you feel safe knowing you're more likely to have your taxes be audited than have your food inspected?

[Former_Member]

i'm honestly not surprised... maybe they should take all this concern and focus it on the stuff we are actually EATING.

[Former_Member]

ok wait.....there's salmonella in peanut butter now??!!!

[Former_Member]

Incidentally here's where I got the quote, from this article by the well respected Cato Institute:
http://www.cato.org/speeches/sp5-11-5.html

"The Internal Revenue Service now has 115,000 auditors and agents. To put the size of this police force in perspective, the IRS has roughly the same number of employees as all other federal regulatory agencies. That is, the IRS has more enforcement personnel than the EPA, BATF, OSHA, FDA, and DEA combined."

That article is from 1995 so the exact number is probably now different. But the proportion is probably still the same.

[Former_Member]

That's just terrible. It's also one of the many reasons I don't eat beef, chicken or pork from large industries ( I don't in general, but organic is a little better). They do not regulate or inspect slaughterhouses like they are supposed to. It's disgusting. I actually still can't get myself to buy bagged spinach because of what happened almost 3 years ago. It's truly sad that this can happen with toys, and yet nothing for the safety of our food.

Very good point in bringing this up staceyjean.

[birdylegs]

I said this in another post! Why don't food makers have to test their products before sending them out to stores? This is just one of many salmonella/ecoli scares in the last year.

nikkilee611: I think all the peanut butter was used in cookies and snack packs. The peanuts are from a plant in Georgia.

[Former_Member]

Dag---more than the DEA?

[Former_Member]

horrible.

[Former_Member]

Crazy ain't it? I tripped over that while writing about national sales tax. ( http://fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com/418608.html ) The absolute numbers have probably changed, but I doubt that the proportions have in fact changed. Especially considering how much of the EPA was downsized in last few years.

And the FDA as well. I recall seeing article recently on last ditch try to weaken the organic standards. Can't find it right this sec, but saw article within last week.

[shortysgourmettreats]

I don't think they have enough employees working for the FDA. I use organic products only.

[Former_Member]

Hey folks I am sure you are at least partially aware that allot of this comes down to the way are economy works. The drive for cheap goods and increases in regulations and taxes cause the small farms to close down and the beig industial food producers to grow. Instead of complaining buy local! This is the price of cheap comfort. Instead of expecting the Gov. to take care of you be aware of what you buy.
To put it in perspective this is a place for crafters. What is better hand made or Walmart junk? Should one expect big industry to care? Do you want more regulations on your craft pushing you out of bussiness while the industrial complex grows? Rational fair acountability is great but that is not what we will get.

again buy local and be responsable for yourselves.

sorry if I sound harsh that is not my intention.

[Former_Member]

When you look at the amount of food products that are regulated and watched over and inspected in the US, a few cases of food borne illness can be expected.

You are comparing apples and toast with this comparison. The FDA is doing a great job isolating the problem and protecting the public with this situation so far. think of how many other people could have become sick if the FDA wasn't as on top of the situation as they are?

[Former_Member]

i heard about people having died, too. actually, when i first heard about the peanut problems, the first thing i thought was "BUT DON'T MAKE HANDMADE CHILDREN'S TOYS!"