July 2007
The recent melamine problems in
wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China bring to center stage
the issue of unrestrained free trade as it relates to food safety.
Although these products were intended for animal feed and not human food,
the issues are similar.
Trade with countries that have different production standards and quality
control measurements highlights the importance of country-of-origin
labeling, COOL, of food sold in the United States.
The need for COOL is once again driven home by the Food and Drug
Administration's, FDA, discovery that the tainted Chinese feed additives
were labeled as wheat gluten and rice protein, but actually were ordinary
wheat flour illegally mixed with melamine and related banned compounds in
an effort to boost the apparent protein content.
Media reports also indicated melamine scrap, a cheaper form of the
melamine chemical, was used to mimic higher-protein animal feeds.
Of particular concern to U.S. consumers are reports that the FDA inspects
only a fraction of imported foods and does not have an effective program
to verify the veracity of foreign regulatory systems.
Equally disconcerting are reports that a cough syrup additive purchased
from China was contaminated with diethelyene glycol, a sweet, extremely
toxic chemical used to manufacture antifreeze. In Panama and Haiti, deaths
from consuming this tainted cough and fever medication are estimated to be
in the thousands.
In the United States, most consumers trust our government – before
entering into a trade agreement – to confirm that foreign regulatory
measures are adequate. Yet free trade actually is about purchasing
products cheaper than they can be produced here in the United States.
Obviously, the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, cannot
inspect every ton of imported product, typically testing only for crude
protein, fat, and fiber – not illegal contaminants.
While recently touring Central America, I identified numerous products
utilized in livestock production that have been outlawed here in the
United States for decades, such as human antibiotics forbidden for use in
livestock here, banned anabolic steroids designed to increase libido in
bulls and to increase muscle mass in show cattle, even the pesticide DDT.
Boring? Precisely the issue.
Consumers, trusting livestock producers, importers, and government
enforcement agencies have all told me this issue of contaminated meat,
poultry, food, and feed is a boring subject, and the typical U.S. consumer
is not interested.
Tell that to the owners of beloved family pets that have died or will
require life-long medical management after consumption of
melamine-contaminated food, which was produced with imported ingredients
in the most progressive and well-regulated country in the world - the
United States.
USDA officials and opponents of COOL have stated on numerous occasions
that COOL is not a food-safety issue. Given the use of the
melamine-tainted additive in feed for poultry and hogs destined for
eventual human consumption, savvy consumers think otherwise.
COOL remains a food-safety issue as long as the FDA and USDA – the
agencies charged with protecting U.S. consumers against tainted food and
feed – continue to advise us that imported products are safe, despite
facts to the contrary.
One cannot assume that the production standards of other countries are
identical to those practiced in the United States.
Even Canadian livestock producers are allowed to use certain antibiotics
that are prohibited in the United States. Our two countries share a common
heritage, but are not the same in regulatory matters.
The U.S. is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that does not have
mandatory COOL for food, and in particular for meat.
Canada has COOL, but Canadian lobbyists are pressuring our Congress to
make certain it is not implemented in the United States. A good rule of
thumb is to follow the money, and this time it's at the expense of
contaminated food and feed.
U.S. consumers have the right to express their desire to buy U.S. produced
food and feed.
Mandatory COOL has been the law of the land since 2002, but multinational
corporations have consistently forced delays of implementation.
I hope no great catastrophe must occur to the U.S. food system before
consumers demand their right to make informed choices for their family's
health. While regulatory agencies in the U.S. monitor our domestic food
and feed supplies, U.S. standards do not adequately impact our foreign
trade partners.
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