Gov't Didn't Act After E. Coli Outbreak
By Nicole Belle Thursday Sep 13, 2007 8:10am
Not particularly surprising, unfortunately. What protection can you expect from a government whose guiding philosophy is that governing is the problem?
YahooNews: Government regulators never acted on calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens after last year's deadly E. coli spinach outbreak, leaving the safety of America's salads to a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the industry itself, an Associated Press investigation has found.
The regulations governing farms in this central California region known as the nation's "Salad Bowl" remain much as they were when bacteria from a cattle ranch infected spinach that killed three people and sickened more than 200.
AP's review of data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found that federal officials inspect companies growing and processing salad greens an average of just once every 3.9 years. Some proposals in Congress would require such inspections at least four times a year.
In California, which grows three-quarters of the nation's greens, processors created a new inspection system but with voluntary guidelines that were unable to keep bagged spinach tainted with salmonella from reaching grocery shelves last month.
Despite widespread calls for spot-testing of processing plants handling leafy greens following last year's E. coli outbreak, California public health inspectors have not been given the authority to conduct such tests, so none have been done, the AP review found.
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Because when Republicans are in charge....
"Government is evil, its bad, its broken, it doesn't work....
Elect us and we'll show you"
And so...nothing suprises when they are in charge...
When you 'elect' people that defund all things that protect the general public....
When you believe that the 'market' will adjust & police itself....
When you think unqualified yes men, patsies, & buddies of the prez are just fine to put into roles of regulation or oversight...
When you buy the BS that the republicans spout about terrorism & danger, all the while ignoring the daily threats that arise from their 'governing philosophy'...lack thereof (LOL)...
When you think that tariffs, taxes, & regulation are bad and the trade deficit aint so bad...
Then you're to blame for this....oh yes...you are to blame...
Thanks for posting this Nicole.............salad anyone?
Reaganism is the gift that keeps on giving to morgues
Hmph,
I really don't think good governance is even possible anymore, mostly because our country and our world is so much more complex than it was when good governance was effective.
I mean, if you were to put me in charge of an entire country, then I know I would have a really hard time because any decision I make that uses money will benefit some and hurt others. It is a zero sum game, there is no way for me to make things better.
I think things get better when people are just free and able to live their own lives in peace and not have any moral obligations to help others. I am not saying be cruel or distant, I am saying kindness is the best way to live, but do it out of your own heart, not because you had to. Anyone can be kind when they are forced to, but how meaningful is it when we don't even know if the giver really wants it this way? It's pretty arrogant and selfish to think nothing of those who are being forced to be kind to you. Maybe treat others as people and not as a means?
G.O.P. Mantra: Government small enough to drown in a bath tub.
G.O.P. Mantra ll: Pig trough big enough to feed the military-industrial complex.
Democratic Mantra: See G.O.P. Mantra ll.
jr @ 4:
Thou sayest it, Sir...the Reaganoids' puritanical outlook is complicated by their willingness to intrude into the most intimate of personal matters (except in the lives of their operatives, a'la David Vitter) yet when anything interferes with the Almighty Dollar- even if it's good business, like making sure the produce you're selling isn't tainted- well, that's "government interference". Start inspecting those vegetables, and Joe Stalin will be rolling the tanks in, pronto....Jesus H. Christ, what a load of shitheads make up the US Government...
dreg @ 5:
Well I hate to break it to you bud, but what you've described in your second paragraph there is not exactly democracy.
This seems to come as somewhat of a surprise to some Americans, but there ARE other democracies in the world besides ours, and many of them function very well thank you. Try living abroad for a few years. You'd be surprised how easy on the nerves living somewhere that actually has a functioning, participatory democracy can be.
The United States is not the center of the universe.
John Doheny @ 8:
No Iraq is the center of the universe. We have to sacrifice America in order to destroy Iraq.
As Americans it is our purpose to self destruct, to commit suicide if you will, in order to build wealth in Dubai, by destroying a nation that never wronged us. That is the purpose of the United States of America.
Once we've outlived our usefulness, we'll abandoned.
Besides, if food didn't cause you permanent disability from organ failure, it would cost more. IF you find your self on dialysis from a bad salad, just think of the pennies you saved.
John Doheny @ 8:
Well, I don't like to think that a particular method that works in a particular country should ipso facto work in others. Everyone is different, and so if a country in Europe has a working democracy, that's not a reason for me to accept that it should work here. This is a different country where the people have different mentalities, so I don't think democracy can work in the US anymore. That's the way I understand things.
That said, I am definitely not supportive of what this country is turning into, which is fascism. This country is slowly, bit by bit, becoming just like Nazi Germany. It also was started by a dogmatic leader that convinced the population that there exists a "supreme enemy" that needs to be wiped out. In order to do this, all the businesses and government had to sort of team up to survive. The survival of the elite was and is at the expense of the general population.
The ancient Greeks knew a long time ago that democracy is not a sustainable, long term way of organizing society. It doesn't surprise me, because democracy legalizes and institutionalizes theft. Such a system can never work in the long run because humans are better than that.
I don't know what's better than having everyone completely free of all violence and theft. That's the ideal system, but how to go about it is another thing....just my two cents...
Being ignored is the reason why e-coli and salmonella are so virulent nowadays. antibiotics and factory farming.
there's no sin in a government showing leadership... on the contrary...
sam @ 11:
Add to that how antiseptic our lives are. Our bodies don't have adequate immune responses for bugs that were once common for everyone.
Think about it, we're talking about dying from cow poop.
If you've ever worked on a farm or ranch, you know that you can't do a days work without getting all sorts of unsavory things in your mouth. As you shovel and clean stalls, what you're shoveling gets in the air. Even when plowing, hoeing, pulling weeds you get dirt and dust in your mouth. Yet I don't remember growing up, that people got sick and died from getting an accidental taste of cow manure.
dreg @ 5:
this is pure lunacy.
i am not trying to be offensive--and your underlying theme, 'kindness is the best way to live', is wonderful--but... you haven't thought this through, nor seem to understand what you are saying.
note to self: do not put dreg in charge of the country :-)
The FDA needs to be dismantled and rebuilt from scratch.
It is supposed to be a regulatory agency. It is not.
Won't happen under the Dems, either.
It's a repub. plot to wipe out fruit and veggie eating liberals, man. Republicans don't eat salad. Salad is GREEN, they are all afraid of anything that's green, unless it's money!!
That's because protecting society from corporate entities would be socialism. DUN DUN DUN!!
And the conservatives couldn't have that. That would mean left wing policies actually work for people.
The Agricorps don't care. Not unless they get hit in their pocketbooks, which our government regulators will never do, since they all have lunch (hold the salad please) together.
But hey, it's a free (market) country. So consumers? Kiss off!
As Grace Slick once said:
"We do what we want. Fuck you."
So much for Jeffersons agrarian dream for the US.
Well, the market will take care of this... after a few hundred more deaths, the agribusinesses will figure out a way to convince you that their products are safe.
Guess what else? The levees aren't rebuilt yet either.
Bit NOLA @ 15:
i partially agree
the FDA, USDA, SEC, FCC, EPA, MSHA, etc., etc... are all rotten--but not to the core. they are rotten and corrupt from the top. the vast majority of the employees in these agencies believe in their responsibility and take it seriously and are distraught at the industry-hand jobbing tendency of the politically installed sec'ys.
there is a certain % of dems that are just as much corporate teet-suckers as the reps.
so, i would say that the regulatory agency need to get back to their initial charge--protecting citizens and consumers from industry/corporate tendency to discount their safety, well being and lives--all in the name pf profit.
nevermore @ 16:
You may be on to something. The same rigidity in thinking that characterizes the conservative brain, likely prevents them from liking new things.
I have a staunch conservative friend that only wants to eat meat and potatoes. His wife has to hide the vegetables in sauces and such, so that he doesn't know he's eating them.
My wife is very experimental in the kitchen. I enjoy telling him with relish, about the things I have eaten lately.
I discovered on my own, many years ago that I preferred women that are not picky eaters. I noticed that the pickiest eaters had personalities that clashed with my own. Women who'll try any food at least once, are a lot more fun.
Of course the Feds didn't act after the E. Coli outbreak. Actually there have been a few, haven't there? Why should anyone be surprised? If it doesn't involve Iraq or Iran, something that could be spun as a possible terrorist attack, cutting taxes for the rich folks, spying on us......or...let me see what else keeps the WarPigs attention?......I think that about covers it. Anything other than what's mentioned is pretty much not important as far as our current misAdministration is concerned. Our domestic infrastructure is literally falling apart. People are getting sick or being killed by contaminated food, or falling bridges and Lord knows what else. It seems all of the country's resources are being diverted to either making war or spying on it's citizens.
This country is SO broken. We are becoming the biggest third world country on the face of the planet.
Don't they use Colorado River water to irrigate? Water that has been through millions of peoples intestines? Untreated sewerage water? Blame it on cattle if you like but I think it's in the water.
Rabbit
If you've ever seen how the pre-bagged salads were made (and who worked there) you'd never eat bagged salad of any kind again.
both bush and arnold of california should be held accountable.
I was in Arizona last year and stayed with a woman who got very sick for about a week from eating spinach. This was either September or October. She didn't report it to the authorities. Her sister got sick, a friend of theirs got it, a friend of mine in another city got it and I heard about another 10 or so people who got sick. Most of these didn't report their illness to doctors or authorities, but rather stayed at home (no choice there!) and waited until they got better or used alternative medicines.
What I mean by the above is that there were many, many more people who got ill than was reported. I personally knew of many people who were sick in Tucson and Phoenix (and I'm not even from there) and Arizona was listed as being one of the less affected States. I wonder how many people really were sick is my point?
more US citizens have died from our unregulated market driven food supply since 9-11 than have died in the crazy Iraq war
It was the illegal aliens and we all know that the government could care less about enforcement.
"Let them eat spinach!"--The Government
Lynda from Australia @ 27:
Wash your vegetables with a pinch of chlorine bleach....Eat Starch Mom...
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