[OldManMac]

I like heavy metal, but not in my honey, thanks.

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves

Why does it matter where your honey comes from? An earlier Food Safety News investigation found that at least a third of all the honey consumed in the United States was likely smuggled from China and could be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals.

[OAW]

This is a prime example of why a sensible regulatory regime is crucial for a well-functioning free market. There's a reason why you shouldn't let the fox guard the henhouse. But based upon the article, it appears that the FDA is dropping the ball as well ... so it's not all on the companies.

OAW

[subego]

Fave quote:

"It's no secret that the honey smuggling is being driven by money".

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

So a huge federal administration that probably blows through more money in a week than their counterparts in other countries do in a year has failed to regulate something other countries haven't?

Another example of Team Big Government failing miserably at everything they do.

[Doofy]

Experts interviewed by Food Safety News say some of the largest and most long-established U.S. honey packers are knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality and rigorously inspected honey.

That's not a free market failure. That's a "not being prosecuted for fraud" failure.

Fact o' the matter is, the average fat American values "cheap" over "quality", so what did you expect?

[olePigeon]

Easy fix. Just label it as a food supplement, then millions of Americans will buy it up because it's "all natural."

[andi*pandi]

It's amazing to me that something as simple as honey could be shipped thousands of miles, repackaged, and still be cheaper than something locally obtained.

This reminds me of the maple syrup debacle last month.

Selling Fake Maple Syrup Would Be Felony Under Proposed Law

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

It's amazing to me that something as simple as honey could be shipped thousands of miles, repackaged, and still be cheaper than something locally obtained.

I wonder if that means there are honey pirates too.

[olePigeon]

Sounds like the FBI needs to set up a honeypot, and catch those capers!

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Damn free market. We need a Big Govt system like China's in charge of everything. Then the honey would be safe and...

Oh wait a minute.

[OldManMac]

Keep believing your myths about regulations destroying jobs. I never cease to be astounded as to how gullible some of you are.

Does government regulation really kill jobs? Economists say overall effect minimal. - The Washington Post

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

Damn free market. We need a Big Govt system like China's in charge of everything. Then the honey would be safe and...

Oh wait a minute.

Speaking of China, I just heard Michele Bachmann saying we should be more like China cause capitalism works in China.

[el chupacabra]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

Keep believing your myths about regulations destroying jobs. I never cease to be astounded as to how gullible some of you are.

Does government regulation really kill jobs? Economists say overall effect minimal. - The Washington Post

Well its a case by case issue. That article is mainly about power plants. It's kind of hard to outsource power plants for any reason. Also the article mentions how many people were laid off due to technology in the new plants that requires fewer workers. Not a bad thing really.... Many times plants can just buy a permit from the government and continue to pollute.

[el chupacabra]

oh btw a lot of bee diseases come in with imported honey; mites, viruses etc..

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Yes, all that FDA regulation suuuure did a great job with the Chinese honey.

Why is it every time the very system people champion completely fails, the supposed solution is: MORE of that same system?

So once more, if other countries around the globe avoided this WITHOUT agencies as massive, bloated and wasteful as the FDA, then why do WE need agencies as massive, bloated and wasteful as the FDA?

[ghporter]

For FDA regulations to work, they require two things: staff to investigate issues (proactive and reactive) and at least someone in the chain that lets someone else know that something fishy is going on.

Remember, FDA is only part of the issue. The USDA is also responsible for agricultural product safety, and they too have some major problems keeping up with the number and breadth of things that must be monitored and tracked.

While the drug safety and approval segment of FDA has its problems, I'd rather have that in place than not, and having specific and detailed standards for food safety is much better than having "the market" decide how much rodent waste is allowed in processed foods. The Pure Food and Drug Act was not only necessary, it was a milestone in changing America from a place run by robber-barons to a place where consumers can basically trust that the food on the shelf is safe. But between "cost cutting" and "deregulation" from Congress, FDA has less people and less budget to do the things it must do, and now depends on reports from the field for major issues that require investigation. The recent issues with listeria contaminated produce are a good example of why it is important to maintain the FDA (and even increase its staff for investigating contamination issues), as are the numerous recent meat contamination problems we've had. To condemn an agency because it has not been able to prevent a problem that it is not staffed or funded sufficiently to have addressed is naive.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

Yes, all that FDA regulation suuuure did a great job with the Chinese honey.

Why is it every time the very system people champion completely fails, the supposed solution is: MORE of that same system?

So once more, if other countries around the globe avoided this WITHOUT agencies as massive, bloated and wasteful as the FDA, then why do WE need agencies as massive, bloated and wasteful as the FDA?

You're making the supposition that other countries have avoided these problems, instead of the more accurate statement that consumers in other countries are cheated and harmed by those who don't give a shit about what they put on the shelves of grocery stores, or whether consumers are maimed or injured by defective products. It's easier to repeat inane talking points, than to realize how life really works.

We have an above average lifestyle, and are healthier and safer, precisely because we don't allow scoundrels to attempt to cheat us or harm us (although that will be reversed as the gullible fall for the stupid talking points of those scoundrels).

You don't get something for nothing.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

Damn free market. We need a Big Govt system like China's in charge of everything. Then the honey would be safe and...

Oh wait a minute.

-t

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

You're making the supposition that other countries have avoided these problems, instead of the more accurate statement that consumers in other countries are cheated and harmed by those who don't give a shit about what they put on the shelves of grocery stores

Hi. Consumer from another country here. To date, nobody here has been cheated or harmed by dodgy food imports from India and China.

Where on earth do you get all the utter bollocks that comes out of your fingers from?

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

You're making the supposition that other countries have avoided these problems...

From the article (not to mention your own quoted headline)

Much of this questionable honey was officially banned beginning June 2010 by the 27 countries of the European Union and others. But on this side of the ocean, the FDA checks few of the thousands of shipments arriving through 22 American ports each year.

I merely read the article, unlike you apparently.

This isn't a problem with free-markets, it's a problem with the FDA, one of your beloved regulators.

Why should anyone have to check shipments of what should just have been outright banned in the first place? Oh, wait, that would mean using common sense, not blowing through gargantuan budgets.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

From the article (not to mention your own quoted headline)

I merely read the article, unlike you apparently.

This isn't a problem with free-markets, it's a problem with the FDA, one of your beloved regulators.

Why should anyone have to check shipments of what should just have been outright banned in the first place? Oh, wait, that would mean using common sense, not blowing through gargantuan budgets.

WTF? Your argument makes no sense. Because the item is banned, there's no need to check shipments for contrabands?

So if cocaine is banned there's no need for our government to waste money on checking shipments for cocaine and other contrabands?

Drug smuggling, human smuggling, honey smuggling. Who needs the FDA, DEA, and coast guards. Border patrol is useless too. Let's get rid of the borders and border patrols.

[Athens]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

Damn free market. We need a Big Govt system like China's in charge of everything. Then the honey would be safe and...

Oh wait a minute.

You do realise that big government organizations like the FDA are just extensions to corporations. The reason the organisations fail at what historically was the job to protect the people and the environment is because they don't serve the primary mandate any more. They serve business interest only. At the same time like any organisation its self serving for its own survival as well.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by Athens 

You do realise that big government organizations like the FDA are just extensions to corporations. The reason the organisations fail at what historically was the job to protect the people and the environment is because they don't serve the primary mandate any more. They serve business interest only. At the same time like any organisation its self serving for its own survival as well.

Don't bring facts into this, you'll confuse him.

[andi*pandi]

Athens has a point. If big potato and big tomato can change the school lunch program with a well-placed phone call or two, and thus make pizza a vegetable, who can you trust?