China's lack of a strong FDA = glowing pork, heavy metals in rice

[DaveSimmons]

The anarchists and others claiming all government regulation is worthless might want to look at what toothless laws and un-enforced regulations can cause.

The self-regulating free market doesn't always give us safe food and drink through competition. Unbridled capitalism does not always create paradise:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/...ancer-chems-among-chinas-latest-poison-foods/

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"BEIJING (AFP) – A wave of tainted-food scares has renewed fears in China over continued product-safety problems despite a government promise to clean up the food industry following a deadly 2008 milk scandal.

Tainted pork, toxic milk, dyed buns and other dodgy foods have surfaced in recent weeks, sickening consumers and highlighting the government's apparent inability to oversee China's huge and under-regulated food industry.
. . .

He added that underfunded regulators struggle to keep tabs on China's countless small food producers and retailers, setting the stage for lax oversight and corruption."
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It's certainly possible to over-regulate, but I'd rather have my bacon be "too safe" than glowing in the dark from bacteria.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The FDA serves a useful function. Most of the angst directed against it comes from Congressional mandates, you know those people the ones complaining about want to run health care

It appears that some people have been protected for so long that there's a failure to connect actions with consequences. A main reason for regulation of medications was thalidomide and the potential for a like occurrence is ever present. Then there are reasonable objections of requiring testing of medications which have been around for many decades and are well known entities. Again that's Congress who in their infinite wisdom has disregarded the collected wisdom of medical practice over a hundred years in some cases and required new studies. The FDA really has no say since it must obey.

 

[jackstar7]

Let's be honest, we'd eat the 'bact-acon'.

 

[sunzt]

you fkin commie and/or socialist libtard.

 

[wuliheron]

The FDA serves a useful function. Most of the angst directed against it comes from Congressional mandates, you know those people the ones complaining about want to run health care

Speak for yourself. When I eat at McDonald's, I expect McDonald's. You can complain about the staff not being held accountable all you want, but its still just McDonald's and you can't get blood from a turnip. Ya takes yer chances. No matter how hard you try you can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, or McDonald's into a place you can trust for the safest food.

 

[CallMeJoe]

...A main reason for regulation of medications was thalidomide and the potential for a like occurrence is ever present...

Thalidomide was rather the validation of the FDA's regulation; thalidomide was never approved for prescription in the United States, saving us from the plethora of flipper babies born in other nations where thalidomide was marketed specifically as a pregnancy-safe tranquilizer and as a palliative for morning sickness. It did inspire a tightening of regulation for testing of drugs for pregnant women
The existing Pure Food and Drug Act stemmed from the days of "patent medicines" consisting of whatever the hell the formulator wanted to dump in, without even a hint of labeling as to ingredients.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Clearly, China's issue is too much regulation. They're close to none, but just a little less and the magic hand would fix it all.

 

[cubby1223]

And yet America still had peanut butter that killed!!!!!

From the linked article:
"If the police don't crack down on profit-driven businessmen who have lost their morality, they will become even bolder and produce even more poisonous food"

*sigh*

It always gets me - *if* one believes that "profit-driven businessmen" can not be trusted, then *how* is one capable of rationally putting total faith in a public official? What makes a public official good and a businessman evil? The title?


And if one feels so passionately about the topic, then get your hands dirty and make a difference. Don't sit back and wait for someone else to get the job done on your behalf. You'll be waiting a very long time.

 

[wuliheron]

Clearly, China's issue is too much regulation. They're close to none, but just a little less and the magic hand would fix it all.

That's the spirit! Maybe if they just cut off a few fingers and toes it will help.

 

[Anarchist420]

Clearly, the people don't care there because the market hasn't fixed it. I know that may sound foreign to you, but not caring is what's foreign to me.

 

[theeedude]

We need some of this deregulation goodness in the US.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Thalidomide was rather the validation of the FDA's regulation; thalidomide was never approved for prescription in the United States, saving us from the plethora of flipper babies born in other nations where thalidomide was marketed specifically as a pregnancy-safe tranquilizer and as a palliative for morning sickness. It did inspire a tightening of regulation for testing of drugs for pregnant women
The existing Pure Food and Drug Act stemmed from the days of "patent medicines" consisting of whatever the hell the formulator wanted to dump in, without even a hint of labeling as to ingredients.

To clarify thalidomide was a proximal cause to increased regulatory scrutiny. The Pure Food and Drug Act was one of many laws to come about in the 20th century. Most of these were a reaction to some event. In the case of the law you cite it was patent medicines. The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act gave the FDA authority to oversee the safety of medications (and of course food and cosmetics). The trigger for that was the deaths of people taking sulfanilimide which was contaminated by diethylene glycol as part of the manufacturing process.

Going forward the thalidomide tragedy was responsible for the regulations which now govern clinical trials.

In any case there are numerous events which caused us to be where we are today. It isn't as if they were put in place on a lark.

 

[alphatarget1]

I talked to my uncle about this- China clearly has laws to protect their public. Whether they have enough enforcement is another story. He mentioned that people in China get punished for corruption and all that but they still do it. I don't know how well our FDA is funded, but imagine that most of the foodmakers here started doing unethical stuff for short term profits, can the FDA and USDA keep up with policing all food producers in the US? There is a certain ethics that exists in a majority of business people here (except for when you are a banker) than China lacks.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I talked to my uncle about this- China clearly has laws to protect their public. Whether they have enough enforcement is another story. He mentioned that people in China get punished for corruption and all that but they still do it. I don't know how well our FDA is funded, but imagine that most of the foodmakers here started doing unethical stuff for short term profits, can the FDA and USDA keep up with policing all food producers in the US? There is a certain ethics that exists in a majority of business people here (except for when you are a banker) than China lacks.

You are going to have to include the ethics of the Chinese government which isn't known to be a particularly caring group of individuals. There are no good guys.

 

[CallMeJoe]

...In any case there are numerous events which caused us to be where we are today. It isn't as if they were put in place on a lark.

Indeed.
I was noting that the thalidomide incident was an FDA success, as the United States was spared the plague of associated birth defects. While the FDA may have become bloated and inefficient, anyone who doubts the need for the administration need only look at the photos of European flipper babies to see one concrete outcome of excessively lax drug regulation.

 

[Zorkorist]

The guy is not trying to kill you, he is trying to save money on his meat bill.

He'll wind up losing customers, because his meat sucks, but there you go, the market has spoken.

If he actually kills you, or makes you sick, then he's out of business. (harumph)

-John

 

[Zorkorist]

What about the next entrepenuer, that develops an additive to chicken that makes it taste like steak. Will he be shut down?

Or will only State Food be allowed? Soylent Green, yellow, and orange?

-John

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Because China is as close as you can get to as a free market right OP?

 

[ShawnD1]

The anarchists and others claiming all government regulation is worthless might want to look at what toothless laws and un-enforced regulations can cause.

The self-regulating free market doesn't always give us safe food and drink through competition. Unbridled capitalism does not always create paradise:

I thought Walmart already proved this beyond all reasonable doubt. Buy a paper shredder and the thing fucks up after putting a few papers in it. Motor is too small, thing is designed to fail. Now imagine that kind of quality in your healthcare standards. We would be in some serious shit.

Guys like this would be everywhere:

 

[DucatiMonster696]

I thought Walmart already proved this beyond all reasonable doubt. Buy a paper shredder and the thing fucks up after putting a few papers in it. Motor is too small, thing is designed to fail. Now imagine that kind of quality in your healthcare standards. We would be in some serious shit.

All with Chinese government seal of approval because in China those who operate in the manufacturing arena only do so at the behest and approval of the Chinese government.

The only thing the OP's article proves is that having a huge bureaucratic nanny government who has the power to decide which businesses can and cannot operate in a given industry will still not provide a person with any added measures of safety. In other words how many governmental laws (which ChiCOm themselves have enacted on private industries) do corrupt ChiCom government officials have to blatantly ignore enforcement of for the OP to understand that no amount of government will save him if government officials only act in their own corrupt interests? I guess the OP feels that more laws being written (and thus eventually ignored) would provide that protection against corruption of government officials for the public in China.

 

[Siddhartha]

Anyone remember the Reagan mantra "Government is the problem not the answer"?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Because China is as close as you can get to as a free market right OP?

The Chinese government chooses to enforce control of speech and the media, not of food quality.

When there is no effective regulation because of corruptible locals and not enough central enforcement, yes, you have Wild West capitalism when it comes to manufacturing.

The Libertarian ideal of self-regulating free markets assumes the companies care about long-term customer relationships and sustained income, it fails if someone only cares about short- or medium-term gain and doesn't care how many they injure to get it.

 

[catilley1092]

I only hope that US pharmaceutical companies doesn't start opening plants in China, if they do, we're all in deep shit.

Most of our products already comes from China, we don't need the food supply & drugs to be imported from there as well. The ER's are busy enough as it is.

Cat

 

[wuliheron]

The Libertarian ideal of self-regulating free markets assumes the companies care about long-term customer relationships and sustained income, it fails if someone only cares about short- or medium-term gain and doesn't care how many they injure to get it.

Jesus was a Libertarian and heaven is a Libertarian Utopia. At least, that's what my grandma always told me and she's alway right. She also told me we're all sinners and that's why there is no Libertarian utopia on earth.

 

[ShawnD1]

I only hope that US pharmaceutical companies doesn't start opening plants in China, if they do, we're all in deep shit.

Most of our products already comes from China, we don't need the food supply & drugs to be imported from there as well. The ER's are busy enough as it is.

Cat

The Europeans had a good idea about this one. When I worked for a drug company, it was mentioned in one of the meetings that drugs sold in the EU must be tested on European soil. North America should have something like that too. Shit from China cannot be tested in China because I don't trust China. If it were made in China but tested in North America then I would trust the test results.