Modern toy chest’s seem to contain more fear of lead poisoning than the old lead based painted toys ever did previously.
Mattel announced earlier this week that their “Sarge line of die cast cars, that were brought in from China may contain lead levels too high for consumption in the states, and parents should consult with the Mattel site for more details.
“Frozen Shrimp, Catfish, and Eel From Foreign Source Not Inspected”
More than one million pounds of shrimp, catfish, and eel brought ind from China passed through U.S. shipping ports since the autumn of 2006 sans the needed inspection for banned chemicals and drugs or other harmful things. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had placed the Chinese food businesses that generated these items on an “import alert” roster, indicating that the FDA was ordered to prevent every load of the items until they had passed our testing. However, an investigation found that most such deliveries were not stopped or tested.
FDA Can Not Perform Its Duties
The FDA usually inspects only just 1% of the imports it is issued with watchingg. In the instance of import notices such as that given for pond-raised food from China, 100 percent of the imports are mandated to be searched and tested. The current news about the chinese shipments advises once again that the FDA is helpless to perform its duties to shield American consumers.
The FDA has about 450 employees to inspect about 20 million shipments of imported food products, medical apparatus, and miscellaneous items annually. FDA staff of late said before Congress that they don’t feel they have the manpower to do this screening efficiently.
Are we getting panicky? Its been less than 2 weeks? Are these genuine concerns or are we over reacting?
The Food and Drug Administration has recalled green beans due to belief they are contaminated with a botulism toxin. This, now, just 2 weeks after the fact leads to either concern or apathy depending on your views. The product of recall is the 14.5 ounce variety of can containing green beans of the french cut. They were manufactured in Wisconsin in the town of manitowoc. As of August first no reports of botulism were linked to the green beans, but they have been removed from store shelves.
The consumers who have he product in their home are urged to dispose of it. Botulism is a life threatening illness.
image: detail of installation by Bronwyn Lace