5 Things You Should Know As Horse Meat Scandal Grows

[azmouse]

Quote:As food politics expert Marion Nestle wrote, “The unfolding drama around Europe’s horsemeat scandal is a case study in food politics and the politics of cultural identity. Cultural identity? They (other people) eat horsemeat. We don’t.”

As Nestle explains, “Most Americans say they won’t eat horsemeat, are appalled by the very idea, and oppose raising horses for food, selling their meat, and slaughtering horses for any reason.” Horse meat, however, is eaten in numerous countries around the world like China, Japan and Indonesia, as well as countries in Europe, including France and Switzerland.

It’s one thing to knowingly eat horse meat; it’s quite another to have it slipped into your food. This opens a pandora’s box of questions about the food we're buying. For starters: What else is in there (donkey and pig, and the list may grow)? What does it reveal about food safety and our complex food chain? Who is responsible for duping consumers, and how did they get away with it?
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If there was ever a reason to eat more locally produced food and to know where your food comes from and who grows and processes it, this would be a damn good one because this extends far beyond just meat products, and far beyond Europe.

http://www.alternet.org/food/nestle-reca...paging=off

[Hekate]

More and more of the unpronounceable ingredients within our pre-packaged food supply come from China. A lot of whey (which is pronounceable) is apparently sourced from China, too. "Made in USA" isn't what is appears at first glance.

As far as I can tell, the only US food manufacturers who really give a crap are the ones whose target consumers are convinced that God Himself cares what they put in their bodies, and they have a rabbi in China -- actual China -- whose job it is to track every ingredient to its source. And if he's not convinced or happy or if he cannot ascertain what that source really is, then they don't buy it.

When it comes to the stuff that has gotten into our human food and pet food that has its source in China, I think other American companies are put off by language and cultural barriers, for one thing, and their lust for corporate profits, for another.

My source: Los Angeles Times several years ago.

[pappy]

(02-24-2013 07:13 PM)Hekate Wrote:  More and more of the unpronounceable ingredients within our pre-packaged food supply come from China. A lot of whey (which is pronounceable) is apparently sourced from China, too. "Made in USA" isn't what is appears at first glance.

As far as I can tell, the only US food manufacturers who really give a crap are the ones whose target consumers are convinced that God Himself cares what they put in their bodies, and they have a rabbi in China -- actual China -- whose job it is to track every ingredient to its source. And if he's not convinced or happy or if he cannot ascertain what that source really is, then they don't buy it.

When it comes to the stuff that has gotten into our human food and pet food that has its source in China, I think other American companies are put off by language and cultural barriers, for one thing, and their lust for corporate profits, for another.

My source: Los Angeles Times several years ago.

I think it is primarily profit driven. The culture (read racist) and language barriers are easily overcome in the quest for profit.