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The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

theguardian.com

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Re: The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

#2

Post by jsvaughan »

tldr: it wasn't the oil: "without any doubt, the contaminated foodstuff was tomatoes, and it was the pesticides on them that were responsible for the epidemic"

(This relates to the separate NYP post about phony food, which says "Fake olive oil...has killed people...more than 20,000 people were poisoned in Spain...")

Re: The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

#6

Post by cies »

jsvaughan wrote: post #2

tldr: it wasn't the oil: "without any doubt, the contaminated foodstuff was tomatoes, and it was the pesticides on them that were responsible for the epidemic" (This relates to the separate NYP post about phony food, which says "Fake olive oil...has killed people...more than 20,000 people were poisoned in Spain...")

Just like that the symptoms supposedly caused by the "Zika virus" is more likely to be a result from food by contaminated by pesticides/herbicides.

The last line of the article is most telling indeed:

> "Under no circumstances should the general public be informed."

This is the main problem. We would all be much more selective when it comes to our food if we knew how flaky the quality is. But instead we trust the gov't in controlling the food supply; which the quote shows we should not be doing.

Re: The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

#7

Post by nextos »

willvarfar wrote: post #5

Are particular politicians implicated? Why does no Spanish TV station do a documentary on this scandal? What is the situation and dynamics of the 'free press' in Spain today?

I think you are wrong. This scandal is incredibly well-known in Spain.

It's gotten massive press coverage throughout the years. In fact, most people that used to use cheap cooking oils switched to olive oil after the scandal. (For those who are not familiar with the matter, the scandal involved using chemicals on industrial-grade rapeseed oil to remove dyes and re-sell it to consumers.)

Re: The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

#8

Post by ethomson »

nextos wrote: post #7
willvarfar wrote: post #5

Are particular politicians implicated? Why does no Spanish TV station do a documentary on this scandal? What is the situation and dynamics of the 'free press' in Spain today?

I think you are wrong. This scandal is incredibly well-known in Spain. It's gotten massive press coverage throughout the years. In fact, most people that used to use cheap cooking oils switched to olive oil after the scandal. (For those who are not familiar with the matter, the scandal involved using chemicals on industrial-grade rapeseed oil to remove dyes and re-sell it to consumers.)

I'm sorry if I misunderstand you, but your comment quite suggests that it has _not_ gotten any press if the takeaway is to switch oils.

Are you suggesting that you still see evidence of people responding to the misinformation reported in this article? And that the news is still reporting this as fact?

Re: The Spanish cooking oil scandal (2001)

#10

Post by willvarfar »

nextos wrote: post #7
willvarfar wrote: post #5

Are particular politicians implicated? Why does no Spanish TV station do a documentary on this scandal? What is the situation and dynamics of the 'free press' in Spain today?

I think you are wrong. This scandal is incredibly well-known in Spain. It's gotten massive press coverage throughout the years. In fact, most people that used to use cheap cooking oils switched to olive oil after the scandal. (For those who are not familiar with the matter, the scandal involved using chemicals on industrial-grade rapeseed oil to remove dyes and re-sell it to consumers.)

The article says it wasn't cooking oil, and that cooking oil was the scapegoat coverup. Politicians let people die by not tackling the root causes.

And, scarily, it says that pesticide use in Spanish fruit is still high, and that a similar mass poisoning recently in Mexico was also covered up and another non-cause blamed.

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