House votes to dump state food safety laws

[natrat]

Washington -- The House approved a bill Wednesday night that would wipe out state laws on safety labeling of food, overriding tough rules passed by California voters two decades ago that require food producers to warn consumers about cancer-causing ingredients......The measure passed 283 to 139, with the support of many Democrats.

if this doesn't show how fucked we are nothing will http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/09/MNGFMHL5921.DTL&hw=food+safety&sn=001&sc=1000

[peacebird]

1. what will this do to the organic standards? or are they next on the block.

organics are a big market now and the commercial agribiz-types want to loosen standards so they can charge the big bucks for their "version" of "organic"

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. State laws on labelling organics is dumped with this bill

ALL state laws regarding the labelling of food would be thrown away. I mean, it's not like the Tenth Amendment means anything nowadays.

[Lorien]

11. Now they can call ANYTHING organic

those of us who only eat organic foods will have to hope for a new term for the real thing.

Guess I'll be cooking from scratch from now on (who has the time)?

[VegasWolf]

20. Great! WallyMart must have known that this was coming with their

new push for "orgnic" foods. Anybody for a WalMart "organic" twinkie?

[aquart]

2. We gave you the ports, now eat it!

Love the stuff they sneaking thru while everyone is distracted by the fancy stuff. Patriot Act, labeling... I hope sales drop for any company that discontinues labeling.

[KansDem]

3. Why in the Hell was this passed?

What's wrong with labeling food so consumers know what's in it? What are they trying to hide? Watch now for coporate food processors to dump all kinds of crap in their products!

I'll never understand this! :grr:

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. The bill will become law at the behest of Giant Food

You know, the two or three pannational conglomerates that make everything on the market shelves.

[951-Riverside]

6. Why do our Democratic leaders continue to betray us?

Why is it so difficult to do the right thing?
What the hell are they gaining, a pat on the back from their repuke buddies?

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Answer:

Image from MathForum.org

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Good find

Now let's see if we can draw a correlation between who voted Yea and campaign contributions from the food industry.

And then they'll try to say that our system of campaign finacing isn't legalized bribery.

[peacebird]

12. anyone have a list of agribiz donations?????

[NYC]

15. Agribusiness donations:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=A

Top Contributors (see chart):
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=A&cycle=2006
(Edited to fix the format.)

1 Philip Morris $518,570 total contributed
36% to Dems
64% to Reps


2 American Crystal Sugar $478,205 total contributed
65% to Dems
34% to Reps


3 RJ Reynolds Tobacco $425,250 total contributed
12% to Dems
88% to Reps


4 Farm Credit Council $423,508 total contributed
32% to Dems
68% to Reps


5 Dairy Farmers of America $321,000 total contributed
35% to Dems
65% to Reps


6 Connell Co $295,000 total contributed
96% to Dems
4% to Reps


7 UST Inc $251,200 total contributed
11% to Dems
89% to Reps


8 American Sugar Cane League $208,000 total contributed
68% to Dems
32% to Reps


9 Dean Foods $199,550 total contributed
27% to Dems
73% to Reps


10 National Cotton Council $186,917 total contributed
35% to Dems
65% to Reps


11 National Cattlemen's Beef Assn $177,110 total contributed
21% to Dems
79% to Reps


12 Food Marketing Institute $158,999 total contributed
14% to Dems
86% to Reps


13 Weyerhaeuser Co $154,370 total contributed
20% to Dems
80% to Reps


14 Safeway Inc $153,957 total contributed
38% to Dems
62% to Reps


15 Deere & Co $153,450 total contributed
18% to Dems
82% to Reps


16 Minn-Dak Farmers Co-op $147,876 total contributed
61% to Dems
39% to Reps


17 International Paper $146,949 total contributed
14% to Dems
86% to Reps


18 Pilgrim's Pride $135,500 total contributed
1% to Dems
99% to Reps


19 American Veterinary Medical Assn $134,500 total contributed
45% to Dems
55% to Reps


20 Land O'Lakes $127,613 total contributed
49% to Dems
51% to Reps

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Big Sugar gives sugar to Dems.

India and Brazil top the list. Hmmm. :freak:

[NYC]

17. China is facing a sugar shortage.

What does this mean?

(I think I read it yesterday, but didn't pay a lot of attention. I think they were going to increase their purchases from Cuba.)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

18. It obviously means something but I can't figure the angle.

:shrug:

[Lorien]

9. Fuck. I've been signing petitions and writing letters on this for

nearly a month now. Here's more info: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2752
This change could really hurt people like me who have a huge number of food sensitivities and restrictions.

[central scrutinizer]

10. capitalism is about choices in the marketplace unless

it is inconvenient to the corporations, then forget it. They want to be able to dump all kinds of GM crap into the food you eat.

[NYC]

13. Contact the Senate.

It isn't too late.

Actually, I believe it is too late. I believe it has been too late all along, all the time I have been writing letters to the House. Once the lobbying money had been paid, it was too late.

Anyway, write to your senators. At least don't let them poison us quietly.

[Lorien]

14. There's still some hope to stop it in the senate:

(snip)

The measure passed 283 to 139, with the support of many Democrats. The Bay Area's 12 Democratic members opposed the bill, while Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, supported it. The legislation faces a tougher battle in the more evenly divided Senate, and there are signs of growing opposition to the measure.

(snip)

Pombo has to be one of the most corrupt congresscritters that California has ever had. :puke:

[depakid]

48. Pombo is one of the most corrupt anywhere

I rarely use the word evil, but it applies in his case. Why the Dems haven't put the big guns on that guy is beyond me, but then again- a whole lot of things the party does these days is beyond me....

[texpatriot2004]

19. These Republicans are EVIL nm

[mvd]

32. You said it

Not much more to say.

[TechBear_Seattle]

40. Look at how many Democrats voted yes on the bill n/t

[Vinca]

21. Four words: THROW THE BUMS OUT! nt

[salin]

22. There is NO explanation for this except corporatism

a word which really needs to make its way into the maintstream american lexicon... where corporate interests trump the interests of citizens. It is clear in this legislation - as there is no argument that makes sense in which this makes food 'safer' in states.

Sad that some dems bare themselves in the favor of corporations over constituents - unless they are dems from states whose laws are laxer than fed standards...

[katinmn]

23. The measure passed 283 to 139, with the support of many Democrats.

"The purpose of this legislation is to keep the public from knowing about the harm they may be exposed to in food," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, a chief critic of the measure.

Let's make sure the Senate stops this. This is as bad or worse than the bankruptcy bill!

[Tigress DEM]

24. Cali has poisonus jet fuel leeching into their lettuce, milk etc.

The Perchlorate is the responsibility of the Department of Defense to clean up, but they voted not to back in 2003 or 2004.


Environmental Working Group has an article about the food bill, but it also has archives about the jet fuel situation.

I think California DEMs and other politicos are worried about Cali getting totally shunned with awareness of this problem and of their economy tanking - kind of like the knee jerk reaction to beef in general when "mad cow" disease was announced.

I am not saying it is right, but possibly they have made some deal with devil George to actually clean up the underlying problem. Kind of like how Ford is all of the sudden doing the hybrid thing after the Energy Bill bought them some years to do it without bankrupting US companies and NOT letting Toyota earn the just rewards of being first.

http://www.ewg.org
<snip>
House Sides With Food Companies, Not Families

09 MAR 2006 | The House has voted to remove many states' food safety standards, including a California law requiring notices about food products containing chemicals linked to birth defects or cancer. Did your Representative vote for big food corporations or your family's health? >>>>


http://www.ewg.org/issues/siteindex/issues.php?issueid=5013

<snip>
Rocket Fuel Contamination in California Milk
June 2004 - Findings Indicate State's Proposed Standard Too Weak to Protect Children -- In the first study to look for perchlorate in California supermarket milk, EWG found the rocket fuel chemical in almost every sample tested -- 31 out of 32 samples. Milk from some California cows may expose infants and children to higher levels of perchlorate than what the U.S. EPA deems safe. >>>>

Suspect Salads
April 2003 - Lettuce grown during the winter months may contain higher levels of toxic rocket fuel than is considered safe by the EPA. -- In the first-ever tests of perchlorate in off-the-shelf supermarket produce, EWG found contamination averaging 4 times more than what the EPA says is safe in drinking water. EWG estimates 1.6 million American women of childbearing age are at risk. >>>

Perchlorate in Drinking Water
March 2003 - New data show widespread nationwide contamination -- More than 20 million Americans drink water from public and private sources known to be polluted with perchlorate. This figure includes customers of 81 contaminated water systems in California and all residents of California, Arizona and Nevada who get at >>>>>

Rocket Fuel in Lettuce
December 2002 - Eating lettuce or other vegetables grown in fields irrigated by the Colorado River may expose consumers to toxic pollutants -- Test results never before made public show that leafy vegetables grown with contaminated irrigation water take up, store and concentrate potentially harmful levels of perchlorate, a thyroid toxin that is the main ingredient in rocket fuel. >>>>

[eppur_se_muova]

43. Well, please get the facts straight -- NOT jet fuel.

Perchlorate salts are used in solid rocket boosters, and pyrotechnics of all kinds, including fireworks, as an OXIDANT, which is used in combination with a fuel. However, it is probably also produced as a byproduct of the chloralkali industry, which manufactures bleach and chlorine. The same plants that make chlorine and bleach can, with some modifications, produce chlorate and perchlorate as well.

Perchlorate also occurs naturally in Chilean nitrate fertilizer, which contains small amounts of perchlorate and periodate, and has been widely used in the US. It is hardly surprising to see it showing up in agriculutural produce.

[depakid]

25. More Republican corruption

"Lawmakers seeking to curtail food warning labels have personal ties to food industry lobbyists, critics said Monday.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and several other lawmakers support a bill that would keep states from adding warnings beyond federal rules.

The lawmakers have family, friends and former staff among the lobbyists for the bill. "This helps explain why the food industry has blocked any efforts to have hearings," said Ben Cohen, attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group.

"They think they've got it greased by using well-connected lobbyists to slip this thing through the full House without following the normal procedures," Cohen said.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060307/BUSINESS/603070329/1003

[natrat]

38. more democratic corruption

The measure passed 283 to 139, with the support of many Democrats.

[depakid]

46. This is why we lose

and from the looks of it, aim to keep on losing.

There's no public policy purpose behind this bill at all. It's pure corruption and every Dem who voted for it needs to be defeated.

[Miss Chybil]

26. So what do we need state governments for again?

I need a refresher. To ban abortion perhaps? Legalize marijuana? Make deals with foreign governments for oil?

[stepnw1f]

27. No... That's How Fucked Up the GOP is...

and we need to let others know.

[allisonthegreat]

28. we are screwed now

But look it is just another chink in the armour. Bush is crazy. I believe the world has.
well i will say this much all the years I used sweet n low..i knew it caused cancer in lab rats, so I took my chances. i am more concerned about mercury being in the fish population.

[goforit]

29. if we don't get rid of these clowns in office soon humanity will be not be

[LibertyorDeath]

30. This is so fucking typical

A Big Fuck You to Americans from the
Corporatists in both parties.

The message

Eat Shit & die....

[NVMojo]

31. The Republicans are set on genocide in this country ...one way or another

[Rex]

33. Lab rats.

Why would Corporate America want to label food? Labels cost money and pharmaceutical companies would just love domestic test subjects, outsourcing is probably more expensive in the long run. Domestic test subjects should become abundant when people start getting sick from unhealthy food. People would have to guess if food is good or bad. Why did we go back to the Dark Ages again? I forget now.

[lovuian]

34. Its obvious they want to mess with American food supply

whats up with that!!!

[agincourt]

35. A Tammany Hall congress,

only Boss Tweed probably had a little bit of a heart, unlike the scum which make up our congress now, especially Delay and his ilk.

[TygrBright]

36. ummm.... "State's Rights," anyone?... Anyone...? n/t

[area51]

41. states rights

Exactly what I was thinking. Where are all the nazi party members screaming "States' rights!". Fscking hypocrite nazi party members.

[rfkrfk]

37. what is the congress 'bill number' ?

thanks for any comment

[Buns_of_Fire]

39. HR 4167...

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/votes060302.cfm

[Ben Ceremos]

42. Gosh, looks like

you may have to boycott America...

[OnionPatch]

47. You know, this may be the one

that finally decides it for me. If I can't feel safe eating the food here any longer the government has become beyond useless. It's time to move somewhere I can at least trust the food. Did you know this bill will allow them to pump that gas into the meat that makes it pink? In other words, meat that has turned brown will be made pink by them and we'll be buying it thinking it's fresh. :puke: I've had it.

[LiberalGuy000]

44. How did each member vote?

What's the quickest and easiest way to see how each member voted on a bill? Thanks!

[OnionPatch]

45. Here's the link for this one

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll032.xml

I can't believe it!! Ted Strickland?! Jackson-Lee? Those were two Dems I had respected and trusted! :mad: