Testing produce for deadly pathogens: nothing but another wasteful government program.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Would washing fruits and vegetables help? How did we survive without these reports 10 years ago?

I don't know about you, but I don't want to eat fruits and veggies that have been contaminated with poop, even if I wash them well at home. And that's where e. Coli comes from-someone or something's colon. No.thank.you. I have my own garden this year with delicious things growing in it that I can feel assured have never ever come into contact with poop, but I can't grow everything I want to eat, produce-wise. So when I buy something at the store, even if what the MDP does is merely a drop in the bucket when it comes to testing americans' produce supply, it seems like it's at least better than just relying on the major agriculture producers to regulate their products' and not be shipping out food that's been contaminated with poop. If that were the case, 2 years ago a Georgia peanut butter factory would have never knowingly shipped out contaminated peanut butter and killed 9 people. They knew it was contaminated, but they didn't care. If the free market is so great at preventing and eliminating contaminated food, why do 76 million Americans get sick from food-borne illness every year? A certain percentage of those cases are people's own damn faults and involve reckless or ignorant behaviors. But not all of them. It's obviously not profitable to self-regulate and self-control contamination better. 9 people died because someone determined that their lives were worth less than peanuts. The MDP has issued 19 produce recalls since their inception. Someone could have died after eating those products too.

Edited July 11, 2011 by sandinista!

[rika60607 215]

Not government, but a government sponsored agency...

...randomly checks food...

...and if dangerous pathogens are found...

...food is traced to a producer...

...and is recalled so that fewer people are exposed to it.

Do they wash your fruit for you? No. They destroy contaminated food.

Does it prevent contamination and following disease and death from ever happening? No. But random checks keep producers more conscious about the foods they sell.

So the government is washing the internal content of fruits, veggies, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.? How?

I have asked, simply, what are they doing and no one can answer or give a chart. No one can show that they have reduced food borne illness, no one can suggest that anything has been accomplished. Anyone?

If nobody tracked those bean sprouts in Germany, people would keep getting sick and dying.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Not government, but a government sponsored agency...

...randomly checks food...

...and if dangerous pathogens are found...

...food is traced to a producer...

...and is recalled so that fewer people are exposed to it.

Do they wash your fruit for you? No. They destroy contaminated food.

Does it prevent contamination and following disease and death from ever happening? No. But random checks keep producers more conscious about the foods they sell.

If nobody tracked those bean sprouts in Germany, people would keep getting sick and dying.

We had recalls and random food checks before the MDP was formed 10 years ago. Why do we need the MDP? No answers? It is patently silly to state that we NEED something now that didn't exist 10 years ago in 2001. It isn't like we had a terrible problem then. The MDP is a perfect solution to a problem that never existed.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We had recalls and random food checks before the MDP was formed 10 years ago. Why do we need the MDP? No answers? It is patently silly to state that we NEED something now that didn't exist 10 years ago in 2001. It isn't like we had a terrible problem then. The MDP is a perfect solution to a problem that never existed.

A solution to a problem that never existed? Because you say so? By your logic, we ought to be getting rid of the CDC as well. Actually, we ought to be getting rid of just about everything seeing how we cannot possibly NEED anything that did not exist at an earlier point in time. What it really is, Gary, is you're either merely uninformed or plain lazy. It's quite easy to go back to 2001 and find out how and why this program came about. If you wanted to know, you'd know. But you quite obviously don't.

[Zero Sum 305]

Not government, but a government sponsored agency...

...randomly checks food...

...and if dangerous pathogens are found...

...food is traced to a producer...

...and is recalled so that fewer people are exposed to it.

Do they wash your fruit for you? No. They destroy contaminated food.

Does it prevent contamination and following disease and death from ever happening? No. But random checks keep producers more conscious about the foods they sell.

If nobody tracked those bean sprouts in Germany, people would keep getting sick and dying.

According to Gary, all Germans that got sick got so because of their own fault for not opening up that produce and somehow washing it from the inside. Cause you know, washing will rid all foods of their contaminants.

[rika60607 215]

The way produce is treated may have changed over time to become more cost effective (and dangerous for health) and amount of produce certainly increased. More substances/bacteria were recognized as dangerous, new testing methods were developed. To keep up with it all, more tests need to be run.

I do not care if MDP does it or someone else. (But I do not trust FDA much).

Do we NEED it? Nope. Just like we don't need hospitals. I am healthy and I think that if someone is too sick to survive it is better if they die altogether. I will take my chances and just as long as dentists are available, I am happy

We had recalls and random food checks before the MDP was formed 10 years ago. Why do we need the MDP? No answers? It is patently silly to state that we NEED something now that didn't exist 10 years ago in 2001. It isn't like we had a terrible problem then. The MDP is a perfect solution to a problem that never existed.