Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Zetia, Beef, Milk, Pork, Poultry

What do these things have in common? The FDA. I have talked and talked and talked about how the FDA is failing us as a citizens of this country. It is disheartening to realize that the FDA has no real interest in protecting the health of US citizens. A quote from an FDA spokesperson regarding the approval allowing cloned meat (and milk) into the US food supply: "The meat we eat from cloned food is as safe as they food we eat today."

That pretty much sums it up. Zetia was given the stamp of approval by the FDA. Now meat and milk join their ranks. Is it worth the risk? Do you go to a major food purveyor and just grab something "off the rack" and consume it knowing you'll be safe and healthy? Well, if you take Zetia, maybe you will. Maybe you won't.

I realize I am talking in what some would say are exaggerated terms by associating the Zetia factor together with the food cloning issue. However, it is the same governing body allowing both products to be sold to consumers as safe. One, the drug you are prescribed are to assist your body in sloughing off cholesterol, has now been shown to have no effect in keeping you healthy. The other cloned meat and milk in the food supply are deemed safe for human consumption with no ill effects on the human body. Do you see the connection? Both times the FDA has approved for sale items that say they are safe for human consumption.

And what makes it worse is the fact that the FDA is not requiring cloned food companies to tell you about the origin of their food. Yes, that's right, they will not require cloned food to be labeled as cloned. So you won't be able to tell if it is cloned or naturally grown meat.

Time to get to know a farmer. Really well.

This was my favorite statement from a news story on the cloning: "government officals were seeking a voluntary moratorium on the release of cloned foods in order to buy time for the products to gain acceptance here in the US and abroad." Hah! They don't want to stop it, they just want to give us time to get over it and realize we will be eating something that may not be good for us. We'll find out in twenty years why it wasn't such a good idea to consume it, but then it will be too late.