Pet Food Crisis Now People Food Crisis...
The FDA has finally acknowledged that adulterated animal food has killed thousands of pets in the United States and has been allowed to enter the human food chain. Now the U.S. public at large are to be their guinea pigs and they appear to be frighteningly comfortable with that position.
The FDA has danced around the topic of whether the toxins had entered the human food supply for weeks, and it has been both amazing and appalling to watch as each shoe has dropped. Each day brings bigger and far more shocking revelations about the results of lax safety standards in our nation's food supply.
usatoday.com - FDA: Feed no human threat:
Almost 3 million chickens may have eaten feed containing small amounts of pet food contaminated with melamine, but the health risk to consumers is minimal, federal officials said Tuesday.
David Acheson, FDA assistant commissioner for food protection, said there is little threat to human health because the proportion of melamine in the original pet food was less than 6%, and the re-purposed pet food made up less than 5% of the chicken feed.
How much toxic food exactly do I need to eat Dave?
Tell me exactly what is the level of toxin the FDA considers it safe for me to ingest?
What is the level of toxin the CDC considers it safe for me to ingest?
Is the CDC even tracking melamine-related illnesses or testing for melamine?
How about my elderly parents and my school age nephews and nieces?
How about people with impaired immunities?
Do we have to wait for PEOPLE to start dying before it moves your stat meter any?
Do I have to die in your office for it to be confirmed, or would it be better for me to die in the CDC's office?
This is not a pet food crisis, this is a food crisis.
What does it say about this country's homeland security when I have to take off my shoes to board an airplane or face getting trundled off by 10 or 15 guards, and yet someone in a foreign country can introduce literally tons of toxins into our food supply with no oversight? Why waste billions on a nuclear program when you could introduce bulk shipments of ricin or anthrax-tainted rice gluten into our food supply instead, at a fraction of the cost, and maybe even turn a profit.
And here are my scariest questions Dave, the ones that I really fear the answer to the most...
How long and what else? When is the next shoe going to drop? How long has toxic, adulterated food been allowed into our food supply and what other toxins have I been ingesting? How many illnesses, cancers and deaths has this toxic food caused or enhanced in the public and for how long? We talk about a rise in things such as autism, allergens, cancer, and other health issues; how much has impact has toxic, adulterated food had on that?
Pet owners did not foment this crisis; dead and dying pets, lax regulations, poor systematics, lack of security, and shoddy oversite at the FDA did. Pets, then pet owners, then bloggers, then finally a few mainstream media houses brought this frighteningly huge hole in homeland security to light. It is fortunate, in a sense, that our pets acted as a tripwire to sound the alarm. It is unforgivable that so many had to die and will continue to die over the coming months for playing this role. Who knows what terrible act their deaths might have prevented? Or has their sacrifice already come too late?
Some people have referred to the bloggers and print journalists covering this as alarmists or sensationalists. If 3 million toxic chickens in the food supply isn't setting off bells and alarms somewhere, it damn well should. If Drudge and the rest of the mainstream media want to continue to ignore the situation, then I hope the journalists that are covering this ring as many bells as they can.
Jeff Barringer
President/CEO
OnlineHobbyist.com, Inc.
Home of PetHobbyist
