Going into the fall of 2012 Foster Farms filed for bankruptcy, part of this was blamed on the Midwest drought that year causing the cost of food to skyrocket, but that wasn’t the only challenge, it was also the issue of regulations and a new set of strict rules regarding animal waste and protein fibers reaching groundwater. Then there were the problems with transportation regulations and the cost of fuel.
Inspections have increased, although they are set to decline, allowing the companies themselves to do more in-house. Still, this also increases the cost, shifts more liability, and challenges the cost of insurance because of all the unknowns with these changes. Okay, so let’s talk because this is what’s happening here in the US, but we also have companies that import food products from other countries and they don’t have anywhere near the level of scrutiny.
A book on China and its challenges with food safety noted that only 1% of all food cargo containers from China are inspected, but of that one percent, 60% are rejected while the rest pass, for what enters our food supply chain. for human consumption.
On October 12, 2012 there was a story in the Associated Press and another in Business Week on October 11, 2012 titled; “Asian Seafood Raised on Pig Feces Approved for US Consumers,” by Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen and William Bi. The real problem here is that there is only one US FDA office in all of China, so you can see the problem, but this particular problem was found in Vietnam.
Also, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article on September 17, 2012 titled “Livestock Inspectors Afraid to Go to Mexico” by Ana Campoy which claimed that Mexican ranchers had opened a state-of-the-art inspection center, but unfortunately the Los U.S. veterinarians are afraid to travel to Mexico to go to the compound.” Again, you can see the challenges, the need for armed security, and inspectors saying, “I didn’t sign up for this to risk my life to check on cows.” in drug cartels”. territory.
If America is going to provide health coverage to those who can’t afford it and then give them food stamps to buy food at the grocery store, shouldn’t they make sure the food is safe to eat first? Well, I dare to ask the question. Of course, this is not the only question I want to ask or the biggest concern I have. I want to know; Is the food in our grocery stores safe to eat and can we trust the government and FDA to protect us? I really feel like the answer is no, and that my friends is a scary thought. Therefore, I ask you to please consider all of this and think about it.
