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Now that US food isn't being tested for safety, why are we still allowing it to be sold? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 week ago by OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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American food safety checks have nearly stopped now that the FDA has been cut so bad|y. They can't even follow up on investigating reports anymore.

Why are we importing and allowing dangerous foods to be sold here?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ecoli-bacteria-lettuce-outbreak-rcna200236

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[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 127 points 1 week ago

Buddy, if you think this is new....

Well, the important part is at least you realize it now. But there's a reason most other countries don't import US food, our food safety standards have been a joke longer than anyone on Lemmy has been alive.

So by all means, organize to ban US food imports, but you shouldn't have been eating it to begin with.

I'm American, but if other countries apply pressure, we have a better shot of raising the standard.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 week ago

Yeah, it's good practice to avoid US food in general, especially meat, which is truly horrid. Produce can be hit-and-miss. Dry goods aren't so bad, but I still prefer to buy from any other country.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 week ago

Produce is e.coli Russian roulette.

[-] Ton@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Buy organic produce from a local supplier.

[-] Candid_Andy@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 days ago

A luxury many can't afford.

[-] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

The e.coli comes from the poop. Natural manure spread on the fields as fertilizer. Organic doesn’t avoid that at all.

[-] Ton@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

An organic farmer would be wiser than to spread fresh manure over their fields. Manure needs to ripen for at least 6 months to a year. So yeah, buy organic.

[-] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 1 points 15 hours ago

Organic farming is big business now, and so everything can happen.

[-] iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com -1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Why would produce being local have anything to do with e. coli infection? 🤔

[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago

Shipping. Storage conditions. Proximity to other imported products. A lot of reasons.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

Local farm rather than giant farm industry is typically more care since its their livelyhood.

[-] masterspace@lemmy.ca 22 points 1 week ago

I'm sorry but this is a false equivalency. Yes, American food has generally been trash quality-wise, but there is still a difference between under regulated and inspected, and NOT regulated or inspected.

[-] brax@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 week ago

Produce gets recalled far too often due to people getting sick after eating it.

What I don't know is: how many times has produce never made it to the shelf because of testing VS how many times produce gets recalled because a human consumer's body played the role of the FDA testing facility.

[-] Rhaedas@fedia.io 6 points 1 week ago

You know there's some pretty old people here, right? The average age of Lemmy users might be more of a close mark to try and focus on the growth of processed foods and sugar-laden things. Although any standards have to be better than the direction we're heading back towards.

I agree with the general point everyone has here, isolationism will hurt the policy makers and the companies in step with them. It will hurt a lot of us too, but so be it. Burn it down. The alternative is not acceptable.