Demand Safe Imported Food!
- by: Consumers Union
- recipient: U.S. Congress
Shrimp and catfish -- if that makes you think of Louisiana, think again.
We import 80 percent of the fish we eat, much of it from fish farms in China.
The FDA recently detained all shrimp, catfish and three other kinds of fish from China due to banned toxic chemicals, and recalled 150 brands of pet food that used imported ingredients after cats and dogs died from melamine contamination. Even imported melons have been recalled, only after most of them had been consumed.
It is not enough to recall the toxic food that is already in our stomachs; we need to prevent the food and products from ever being sold! Congress is finally paying attention -- act now for safer food!
Dear Representative [Last Name],
I want to know that the food and products I use and eat are safe. After-the-fact recalls are too little and too late.
[Your Comments]
I urge you to increase the resources to the federal agencies charged with policing the safety of the nation's products and food supply. They need to conduct more inspections and they need the power to levy meaningful civil penalties for safety violations.
But this is not enough.
The producers, importers, distributors, and retailers need to be held accountable for the products they import and profit from in the United States. Please consider requiring pre-shipment inspections and testing, and creating a certification and traceability program for food, products and their components. All food should be required to show its country of origin. And please give the government agencies clear recall authority for contaminated food.
These changes would go a long way in preventing unsafe products in our market and make it easier to alert consumers when a hazard is detected. Safety should not be an option, but a necessity!
Last year there were 467 recalls resulting in millions of products being pulled off the shelves and that is not even including food product recalls! Chinese-made products accounted for 60% of the consumer-product recalls. This year all of the recalled toys were produced in China.
China is now the leading supplier of imported seafood to the US, accounting for 16% of all the fish we eat. But FDA inspects only 2 percent of seafood imports. Of those it actually inspects, it rejects about 1 in 10 shipments.
This is too many, and too often. Clearly the current system isn't working, and we need you to bring real change to keep our families safe.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
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