I'm sure that all five food inspectors that the FDA has (after being gutted by our good friends in the Republican party) are just wringing their hands, worried about what junk is coming into the US food system. Worried, that is, if they're not one of the GOP-stooges who are running the FDA. As much has the Big Food industry may try to push the envelope in the US, take a guess what happens in countries like China, who are eager for foreign cash to grow the economy?
One source of the problem is China’s fractured farming sector, comprised of small landholdings which make regulation difficult, experts said.Uh huh and you have to hope against hope that the FDA actually gives a damn about protecting the food coming in to the US. Then you have to hope that they physically have the people to examine the food. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, if you can smell around the pollutants and chemicals.
Small farms ship to market with little documentation. Testing of the safety and purity of farm products such as milk is often haphazard, hampered by fuzzy lines of authority among regulators. Only about 6 percent of agricultural products were considered pollution-free in 2005, while safer, better quality food officially stamped as “green” accounts for just 1 percent of the total, according to figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
For foreign importers, the answer is to know your suppliers and test thoroughly, food industry experts said.
“You just have to hope that your system is strong enough and your producers are careful enough,” said Todd Meyer, China director for the U.S. Grains Council.
