Peanut Case Shows Holes in Safety Net

[Félix]

BLAKELY, Ga. — Raw peanuts were stored next to the finished peanut butter. The roaster was not calibrated to kill deadly germs. Dispirited workers on minimum wage, supplied by temp agencies, donned their uniforms at home, potentially dragging contaminants into the plant, which also had rodents.

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How do you feel about the safety of our food supply? Did you feel all superior this past year when China had all those baby formula poison issues? (I did.)

[Sally, la reina]

This peanut case shows holes in much more than just our safety net, I'd day. Such a mess! Gross.
I heard that the FDA (I think) had advance warning about this peanut fiasco when a shipment to Canada was returned because of rot. Gross.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

I did, and then I remembered the big spinach fiasco.

[Félix]

Oh yeah, the spinach thing. I know someone who very nearly died from E coli. It was scary as hell for her.

I make fun of the news programs that always seem to be saying, "Be scared! Be very, very scared!"

But then this shit happens.

[Sally, la reina]

Gawd. It is just poo! We all should eat a bit of dirty food now and then. Keeps us strong.

I'd rather a wee bit of filth than an uber-sanitized pea any day.

(time for sleep. clearly) Excuse me, and bless you. Goodnight.

[Félix]

Um ... what?

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

But, Sally, kids have died from the peanut butter issue, and have you heard about the filthy conditions at the plant? This is more than just a bit of dirt. This is nasty, moldy, deadly food.

It is a sign of underfunded food safety inspections. the FDA has been struggling for years. I don't want to see us back in the days when there was sawdust in the bread, or who knows what in the hot dogs. I want regulations, and I want them enforced. The USDA has been a joke for years.

If I choose to eat something I dropped on the floor, that's one thing. But if the canning process is improper, and e-coli in the peanut butter, and people DIE of it, that is unconscionable.


Uh, can you tell my best friend worked for the FDA?

[Sally, la reina]

yes, yes. Excuse me. I'm not really educated on this issue, and I'm sounding like a dummy. This is much bigger than just poo.

[Félix]

OK Sally. Sleep well!

[Lori]

Well what Sally said does have substance. Not about the poo, but there have been scientific reports that one of the reasons for the rise of asthma, and just in general the rise of immune systemic problems (as asthma is) can be directly correlated to the rise of people being nuts (ha! peanuts! OK never mind) about cleanliness, anti-bacterial products, etc. to the point of not letting their kids play in the dirt. Especially about children not playing in the dirt, which is crucial for kids to develop a healthy immune system. I found that interesting, and very true in my observation of parent reaction when they saw Jake at even one year old free to play not just in the sterilized sandboxes but the actual dirt! I even had an area in my backyard that was his "construction" area where I had dumped some nice good dirt just for him!

Obviously, I wouldn't let him play in the dirt where manure was used for fertilization, which is where alot of the e-coli comes from. From cow manure of cows who are eating meat products. Something they are not by nature supposed to be eating.

[RandomAnthony]

I heard about this on NPR yesterday...big holes in the ceiling of the plant, a guy shooting birds with a pellet gun when they flew in through the holes...

Yeah, I agree that kids have to play in the dirt...no doubt...but I think this is different. I suppose I should face up to it, but I don't like to think about how much of our food is prepared, both in factories and restaurants...

[David]

I heard there were rats in the facility and when they saw mold in vats of peanuts, workers were told to just pick out the ones that looked bad.

This is yet another demonstration, just like Enron (and our current economic collapse), of the bankruptcy of the Conservative/Republican pov that government shouldn't regulate business or the markets. It's clear that without regulation, corporations do not have morality. Capitalism is a non-moral system that seeks only one thing, profit. Although individuals within that system can make moral choices...corporations induce a constant pressure to increase profits. Growth and profitability. Pollution is one direct result of cost cutting--offload the cleanup costs to the general public. Offload the health costs, to the general public.

Not strictly regulating corporations is like not policing the general public. Murder and numerous other crimes will be committed. The companies that manage to get away with more, will be more profitable. The more of a wild-west situation of "self-regulation" the more they will get away with. Yes, they can be hurt when people "find out"/bad PR, etc. But even then, people don't always care that much if it didn't affect them directly. Look at all the people who got cancer in India in the Bhopal disaster. Did Dow Chemical get shut down? No, because it didn't happen to us, here, in the U.S.

Corporations are...errrh...they make me so mad. I'm not saying individuals are much better, but doing well is never well enough for a corporation because it's not just profits that are required by the stock funds, it's INCREASING profits. That pressure leads to a natural push toward immorality. I think corporations should be eliminated. If you can't run it as an independent company, then fuck it, it shouldn't exist. Let's break up the economy into a billion small businesses. Fuck productivity, let's spread it around. Small farms, small producers. Sure, small companies can still do bad things, and they also will need to be regulated. But much of the extreme pressure that comes down from the stock market will be eliminated. Screw it.