What is up with the food?

First bacteria in our vegetables, then our pet food was contaminated with something called melamine, now it seems that the melamine problem is more far reaching than originally thought. What is going on with the regulation of our food? How is this allowed to happen? What does this say about the entire conservative philosophy of deregulation?

A new Import Alert the FDA has released says that there are several vegetable proteins that may be contaminated in addition to the wheat gluten that was found to be the source of contamination in the pet food. The alert is for the:

"DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF ALL VEGETABLE PROTEIN PRODUCTS FROM CHINA FOR ANIMAL OR HUMAN FOOD USE DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF MELAMINE AND/OR MELAMINE ANALOGS"

Also, it seems to go beyond just vegetable proteins. The FDA has released an update that says swine might also have been contaminated through contaminated rice protein concentrate in feed. The release says that there is low chance that this will lead to human illness, however some of the reasons they give are a little bit superficial at the very least. For example, "even if present in pork, pork is only a small part of the average American diet." Well, that's a nice thought.

Just to let you know: "As of April 26, sites in the following states are believed to have received and used contaminated product: California, Kansas, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah. As we confirm additional sites that have received and used contaminated product, we will provide additional updates."

Have a nice day.