This was written
on the Autumn Equinox September 23, 2010
ON BILL MARLER BLOG
I get a lot of my info on food poisioning and food safety
from Bill Marler, the trial lawyer.
He gives me a lot to think about.
I feel most people are self poisoned from toxins.
Toxemia Explained was an old classic
work by Tilden M.D.
The SENATE TODAY
I caught the senate today on CPAN 2.
Dr. Coburn, Senator from Oklahoma again
held back the impending passage of SB 510
The Food Safety MOdernization Act.
I feel there needs to be a wide open national conversation
about Food Safety and its relationship with Safe Food.
I call Real Food Safe Food.
The Industrial Ag System is the source of much food
poisoning and contamination.
I do not belileve that farmers such as Barry Logan
of the La Milpa Organica Farm, a micro farm in the
gardener small micro farm tradition needs to be regulated.
As he said, his customers are his regulators.
Senator Coburn talked about attempting to solve this problem
by dealing with symptoms.
Senator Durbin admitted the bill was not perfect
but wanted it to be heard. Senator Coburn blocked iit
from being heard.
This blocking I sense is merely given time for more and more
oeople to get heard and for the conversation to open up.
This is critical. Critical.
Our Food Supply is imperiled.
People do not know how to eat.
We have created a climate of ignorance that is killing us.
I agree with Dr. Coburn that passing this expensive bill
will not solve the problem.
Listen To PETE KENNEDY ON THE EGG RECALL HERE
In other words, the FDA could have stopped it.
They had the power. They do not use the power for
ending sickness. They are using it for other reasons.
They are an arm for the globalization of our food supply
whether this is their intension outright or now.
They will have the power, if SB-510 passes,
to cause great harm to small farmers and things
like raw milk and butter.
They do not favor raw milk and butter.
They do not favor health practices that are in alignment
with the laws of nature.
The FDA needs to be vetted.
IT needs to be regulated.
Regulate the FDA first to allow Safe Food to exist.
There is much that needs to be understood.
I am not opposed to having an FDA.
I look forward to having an FDA that
supports health practices, and has a budget
that allows it to do independent research
free of entangling alliances.
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROBLEM
as quoted from the Organic Consumer Association site
The push to pass S510 is currently being driven by an outbreak of foodborne illness sickening over 1,500 people that has been linked to salmonella-tainted eggs produced by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, two of the ten largest egg producers in the country. What the mainstream media is ignoring in covering the story is that FDA’s current powers to regulate food were more than enough to put a stop to the problems caused by the egg producers.
FDA already has jurisdiction over shell eggs and has the power to inspect the farms of egg producers if they are engaging in interstate commerce [21 USC 374(a)]. With Wright County Egg’s history of food safety and other violations, they should have been inspected a long time ago; but FDA did not set foot on the farm until after the outbreak was well underway. If FDA had conducted a timely inspection of Wright County Egg and observed the conditions now reported in the media, the agency could have detained any product found on the premises without a court order [21 USC 334(h)].
If the egg producers refused to turn over their sales records, FDA could have obtained a search warrant on an expedited basis to obtain those records; the unsanitary conditions at the facilities constituted adulteration under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act [21 USC 342(a)(4)].
What the mainstream media is ignoring in covering the story is that FDA’s current powers to regulate food were more than enough to put a stop to the problems caused by the egg producers.
Next, the agency could have detained product of the firms the egg producers sold to, including all eggs purchased from Wright and Hillandale as well as any products containing such eggs as an ingredient [21 USC 334(h)]. Subsequently, FDA would have been able to obtain, on an expedited basis, either a seizure order [21 USC 334(a)] or an injunction from a court [21 USC 332] that would have continued to prevent the sale of any potentially tainted product.
According to media reports, the problems with Wright County Egg were discovered back in May but only came to national attention in August (the voluntary recall of the eggs by Wright was announced on August 13—not coincidentally, the day after the manager’s package for S510 was released); even if Wright had refused to issue a voluntary recall, FDA still had the power under existing law to get the Wright eggs off the market in a shorter timeframe.
Now you're talking - give some real penalties to those who poison us.
POSTED BY BILL MARLER ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved legislation fast-tracked by chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to strengthen criminal penalties for food safety violators, in addition to a list of seven federal judicial nominees, some of whom have faced long delays in the Senate. Committee members unanimously cleared S. 3767, the Food Safety Accountability Act, which is sponsored by Leahy along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Al Franken, D-Minn.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
If passed, the bill would amend Chapter 47 of U.S. Code Title 18 to make it a crime for any individual to knowingly introduce or deliver into interstate commerce any tainted food, or to contaminate or mislabel any food in the U.S. supply chain. Current law caps penalties for the knowing distribution of adulterated food at the misdemeanor level, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission has found that such violations do not typically result in jail time, Leahy said. The fines and recalls that result from criminal violations under the current law are not providing an effective deterrent to bad actors, the senator added. Any individual caught breaking the proposed law would face a fine and prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Now, if prosecutors will actually use it and put some of these people in jail
2:30 pm
September 23, 2010
Bill Anderson - September 23, 2010 11:58 AM
Your continued insistance on passing this bill is very self-serving, Mr. Marler. It would only make more money for you, as more and more people get sick from the increasing consolidation and industrialization of our food supply.
For an informed and thorough analysis of the bill, see this article from Attorney Pete Kennedy of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal defense fund, which defends small scale organic and sustainable farms against government regulators beholden to corporate interests.
S510 Revised:
FDA Coming to a Farm Near You
By Pete Kennedy, Esq. | September 23, 2010
More than ever S510 represents a major threat to the local food movement, states’ autonomy to regulate food, and the country’s ability to become self-sufficient in food production.
On August 12 the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the manager’s package for S510”, a revised version of the “FDA Food Safety Modernization Act that is 77 pages longer than the version of S510 that passed out of the HELP Committee last November.
S510 would give FDA significantly more power to regulate food, particularly food in intrastate commerce. For those who think it’s a good idea to give FDA more power, here are the agency’s views on your freedom to obtain the foods of your choice; these are direct quotations from the agency’s response to a lawsuit the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund filed earlier this year challenging the interstate ban on raw milk for human consumption:
"There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food." [A--p. 25]
"There is no 'deeply rooted' historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds." [A--p. 26]
"Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish." [A--p. 26]
"There is no fundamental right to freedom of contract." [A--p. 27]
For those that think it is a good idea to give the agency more power, here are some of the products FDA has allowed in the marketplace: MSG (monosodium glutamate as an additive), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), aspartame, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), Avandia (prescribed for type 2 diabetes) and Vioxx (arthritis pain medication).
Properly-prescribed, FDA-approved pharmaceutical drugs are responsible for over 100,000 deaths each year in this country. FDA’s true clients are not the American people but rather the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
FDA permitted the sale of antibiotics for nontherapeutic purposes in animals in CAFOs, a practice that has resulted in antibiotic resistance and the creation of difficult-to-treat infections like MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). Properly-prescribed, FDA-approved pharmaceutical drugs are responsible for over 100,000 deaths each year in this country [B--p. 484]. FDA’s true clients are not the American people but rather the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
ON RAW MILK
The Purpose of S510
S510 is not about protecting the public health but rather about increasing federal control over food and transferring market share from the local food system to the industrial food system. The bill grants broad rulemaking power to FDA, a grant not merited by the agency’s track record. Its passage will cripple local food over time.
There have been reports in the media that S510 is dead. Don’t believe them. The bill could still be brought to the Senate floor before Congress’ pre-election break and it could also be brought up for a vote during a lameduck session after the elections. People need to call their Senators and ask them to oppose S510. The bill is an attack on your right to obtain the food of your choice from the source of your choice.
To locate the contact information for U.S. Senators, go to http://www.senate.gov
or click here.
RELATIONSHIP OF FDA
FOOD SAFETY HEAD
MICHAEL OR TAYLOR to CODEX
7:59 PM
July 31, 09
MICHAEL TAYLOR
BEFORE the DENNIS KUCINICH
Hearing JULY 29:
"In addition, FDA is leading an effort
through the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
the international food safety standards body,
with support of the Food and Agriculture
Organization/World Health Organization,
to develop commodity-
specific annexes to the Codex hygienic code
for fresh fruit and vegetable production,
starting with an annex for fresh leafy
vegetables and herbs."
--Mr MICHAEL TAYLOR
Our Food Czar for the FDA
Senior Adviser to the Commissioner on food issues
The above quote is from the written testimony
of MICHAEL TAYLOR July 29 at the
REP DENNIS KUCINICH
SUBCOMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC POLICY
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT
AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
The Subcommittee Hearing was Titled:
"Ready to Eat or Not? It Examined
the Impact of Leafy Green Marketing Agreements.
You can read Michael Taylor's complete
testimony at the above link.
Here is another great story that
discusses the contribution of this
highly successful man who
achieves many of his goals.
FAO/WHO FOOD SAFETY ASSESSMENTS OF FOODS DERIVED FROM BIOTECHNOLOGY
FAO and WHO have provided expert scientific advice on the food safety aspects of foods derived from biotechnology since 1991. While not officially part of the Codex Alimentarius Commission structure, the FAO/WHO Expert Consultations in this area provide independent scientific expert advice to the Commission and its specialist Committees and Task Forces. FAO and WHO maintain separate websites highlighting this work from the points of view of the two parent Organizations.
S.B. 510: A Food "Safety" Bill or Something Else Entirely?
S.B. 510: A Food "Safety" Bill or Something Else Entirely?
By James J. Gormley
Do you grow heirloom tomatoes you sell on your own property or at a local farmer’s market? If so, you will be in for a whopper of a surprise if Senator Durbin’s Senate Bill 510 (S.B. 510) passes: you may be receiving a visit from inspectors.
Products not grown according to designated standards will be considered adulterated and your business records will be subject to warrantless searches by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all this without any evidence that you have violated any law.
Wonder why the National Guard or Federal agents have effectively imposed martial law by quarantining your town? Under S.B. 510’s House counterpart bill, H.R. 2749 (Section 133b, “Authority to Prohibit or Restrict the Movement of Food”), sponsored by Congressman Dingell, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will have the power to prohibit all movement of all food within a geographic area, whether the food is in your grandmother’s grocery bag in her Toyota Hybrid or on a flatbed. No court order will be needed, just a phone call to the appropriate state official and a public announcement will be sufficient.
Upset that raw milk or raw milk cheeses (like feta) are no longer available in the U.S.? This could well happen thanks to the “performance standards” powers that would be granted to the FDA by S.B. 510, especially since the agency has made it clear that it is vehemently opposed to the consumption of raw milk products.
Amazed that U.S. food safety regulations strangely match those of other countries? Well, Section 306 of S.B. 510 would require “Recommendations to harmonize requirements under the Codex Alimentarius.”
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