Bush's FDA and USDA Failed American Consumers and Children
Not only did the criminal Bush regime turn the FDA into an Orwellian protector of corporate profiteers rather than protecting the American people's health and safety, the US Department of Agriculture was also turned into a politicized, corporate loving, damn the American people entity.
In the tainted with deadly salmonella peanut scandal that has killed and sickened consumers, the USDA was a large purchaser of the product from the company involved in covering up its deliberate distribution of poisonous peanut butter. It was the latest twist in this terrible scandal.
From the Washington Post: "Peanut Corporation of America sold 32 truckloads of roasted peanuts and peanut butter to the federal government for a free-lunch program for poor children even as the company's internal tests showed that its products were contaminated with salmonella bacteria.
"Peanut Corporation of America found salmonella in its products 12 times in 2007 and 2008, but the company sold them anyway, sometimes after getting a negative test result from a different laboratory, federal officials say. The test results were kept confidential; companies and laboratories are not required to alert health officials when pathogens are found in foods. And federal investigators say the company did not clean its equipment or plant after learning of the salmonella contamination.
"Lawmakers, regulatory experts and consumer advocates say the current outbreak has created the best opportunity in years to improve the nation's system of food regulation."
This is a result of the Bushite principle infused into so called regulatory agencies, even those supposed to be responsible for food safety: profits before people.
It caused the death of eight people in this current criminal scandal. This was not negligent manslaughter but deliberately playing Russian roulette with consumers' safety.
In the tainted with deadly salmonella peanut scandal that has killed and sickened consumers, the USDA was a large purchaser of the product from the company involved in covering up its deliberate distribution of poisonous peanut butter. It was the latest twist in this terrible scandal.
From the Washington Post: "Peanut Corporation of America sold 32 truckloads of roasted peanuts and peanut butter to the federal government for a free-lunch program for poor children even as the company's internal tests showed that its products were contaminated with salmonella bacteria.
"Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly suspended its contract with the company, which is at the center of an outbreak of salmonella illness that has killed eight people, sickened 575 and triggered one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.
"The fact that a federal agency that shares responsibility for keeping food safe was among the thousands of customers that may have received tainted food from the Blakely, Ga., plant is the latest revelation in a scandal that has exposed an array of failures in the government's systems for keeping deadly pathogens out of the food supply.
"Peanut Corporation of America found salmonella in its products 12 times in 2007 and 2008, but the company sold them anyway, sometimes after getting a negative test result from a different laboratory, federal officials say. The test results were kept confidential; companies and laboratories are not required to alert health officials when pathogens are found in foods. And federal investigators say the company did not clean its equipment or plant after learning of the salmonella contamination.
"Lawmakers, regulatory experts and consumer advocates say the current outbreak has created the best opportunity in years to improve the nation's system of food regulation."
This is a result of the Bushite principle infused into so called regulatory agencies, even those supposed to be responsible for food safety: profits before people.
It caused the death of eight people in this current criminal scandal. This was not negligent manslaughter but deliberately playing Russian roulette with consumers' safety.
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