We are all familiar by now with the story of thousands of pets here in the States dying because of tainted wheat gluten imported from China as a non-food product. Most of us are also familar with the most recent scandal regarding Chinese toothpaste tainted with an active ingredient found in antifreeze.
Today's Chicago Tribune (with the AP and LAT contributing) reports (on page 16) that thousands of pounds of a fish labelled Monkfish imported from China has been recalled, because it contains a neurotoxin (tetrodotoxin) found in pufferfish. According to the article, the poison in one pufferfish can kill as many as two dozen people.
One woman in Chicago has been hospitalized because of this fish product. The leftover fish was sent to the FDA, where the neurotoxin was discovered.
The article goes on to say that 300 boxes of 22 lbs each of fish were distributed to wholesalers in Illinois, California and Hawaii since September.
I have been personally concerned about human food supply safety since the pet poisoning fiasco, but with the toothpaste problem, and now real food, it seems clear that we need more than a food czar, we need real "homeland dinner table security".
Any presidential candidate with two or more synapses firing in sequence (attention Senator Obama) should be all over this.
Recommendations:
- 100% testing of all food products imported from China, until further notice.
- Any Chinese supplier or American importer found to be circumventing testing by labelling a food product as a non-food product should be banned from the US food distribution business for no less than 5 years, no exceptions.
- Congress needs to hold hearings on this pronto, and supply the FDA with whatever funds and directives are necessary to fix the problem.
Here in Chicago, years ago, we had a Tylenol poisoning scare, which led directly to the security packaging sealing we see commonly today on all canned and bottled products ingested by humans. We need at least this level of concern about our food supply, especially as it applies to products imported from overseas, particularly China. My understanding is that less than 1% of food containers from China are currently tested.