>Open a drawer or cabinet in any kitchen in the U.S
When will Americans actually implement proper consumer rights and enforcing the laws that guarantee the quality of goods for sale? Isn't that one of the FDA's responsibilities?
Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
91–100 of 134 posts
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm pretty sure the EU has stricter food safety regulations than the US. Interestingly, the US is notable for having just about the highest food safety and quality standards in the world, and these regulations systematically block the import of many food goods into the US. Per this source [0], the US is second after Canada; other sources move the countries around a bit but the US is always right up around the top.…
I thought the US was not as good because of the conditions locally in slaughterhouses, using "pink slime" in burgers etc. Those things definitely don't fly in the EU. I read about these in "Fast Food Nation". I have a feeling the US is stricter when it comes to importing foods but not as strict with locally produced items. But I don't have a good reference of this. If I'm wrong I'm sorry.
Don't listen to Americans on 'food safety' the majority of our 'food' contains fillers and food additives that cause cancers and birth defects but you _can't_ buy sausages and cheese that Europeans have been eating for centuries
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm pretty sure the EU has stricter food safety regulations than the US. Interestingly, the US is notable for having just about the highest food safety and quality standards in the world, and these regulations systematically block the import of many food goods into the US. Per this source [0], the US is second after Canada; other sources move the countries around a bit but the US is always right up around the top.…
I thought the US was not as good because of the conditions locally in slaughterhouses, using "pink slime" in burgers etc. Those things definitely don't fly in the EU. I read about these in "Fast Food Nation". I have a feeling the US is stricter when it comes to importing foods but not as strict with locally produced items. But I don't have a good reference of this. If I'm wrong I'm sorry.
The US has prohibited a number of meat products from the EU for import into the US expressly because many EU slaughterhouses did not meet US standards. As a well-known example, Iberico ham was banned from the US for decades because Spanish slaughterhouses could not pass certification by US inspectors. Historically the workaround for this was to send animals to countries like Denmark, which had slaughterhouses that could pass US certification but that made everything much more expensive. The US import standards are essentially the same as the domestic standards -- certain kinds of food are very difficult to produce in the US too (in recent decades they've been easing up on that to allow some "traditional" foods).
The US definitely has its share of highly-processed and engineered food products of dubious value. On the other side, things like high-quality meat are cheap in the US compared to the EU, so people generally don't bother with oddly processed meat unless you are buying something that is explicitly expected to be highly processed.
This is also very regional. The US produces vast amounts of agricultural goods of all types; depending on where you live, the local agricultural goods approximately round to "free" for the average consumer. As cheap as beef is in the US generally, for example, if you travel to where it is produced you can get amazing -- better! -- product for almost no money. Similarly, when my parents lived in Alaska, crab and salmon was essentially free.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if those plants are just particularly good at leaching lead from soil. Phytoremediation is an area of active study for cleaning toxic soils.
Arsenic in rice is due to exactly that, pulling naturally occurring arsenic from the water used for irrigation.
I was under the impression that the majority of the arsenic concentration in rice fields is actually an unintented consequence of pesticides used in the 1800's that persist in the soil still today.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
> We lived in a house with lead for a few years. I had my kids tested every six months. > It worked, we never saw elevated lead levels. How does testing them for lead levels result in them not inhaling or ingesting lead?
It doesn't. They meant that their plan to take action if the lead levels rose was a workable one, i.e. they were able to execute the plan. They also said that lead levels in their children never rose. The sentence might have been more clear with an 'and' after the comma, although it was clear enough in context (IMO) without it.
By the time lead is detectable it has done meaningful damage. Yes it’s better to prevent more at that point so don’t stop testing. But testing is a poor prevention mechanism. Lead also does damage below the threshold of detection.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Uhh there is no amount of lead anyone should have in a day That's very easy to say, but it's another thing to require that products with lead above the level of detection should be kept from markets and destroyed. Start clearing products with any detectable heavy metal content, and you'll start clearing shelves.
> Start clearing products with any detectable heavy metal content, and you'll start clearing shelves. Great. And maybe then producers will take it more seriously?
Clean, pre-industrial air contains about 1 ng lead per m³ which is easily detectable. This means you can detect lead in any thing that lives or has lived.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#97Why do these articles never bother to mention or even speculate on how heavy METAL got into a bunch of crushed LEAVES. It boggles the mind. Is it obvious to everyone but me? Are we supposed to not wonder? Does nobody know the mechanism?
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't. They meant that their plan to take action if the lead levels rose was a workable one, i.e. they were able to execute the plan. They also said that lead levels in their children never rose. The sentence might have been more clear with an 'and' after the comma, although it was clear enough in context (IMO) without it.
By the time lead is detectable it has done meaningful damage. Yes it’s better to prevent more at that point so don’t stop testing. But testing is a poor prevention mechanism. Lead also does damage below the threshold of detection.
I don't remember all the details now, but the test we were using was extremely sensitive. I believe it was detectable within 1/20 of maximum allowable levels in children.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless they were eating paint flakes you never were going to see elevated levels.
ISTR that lead dust from wear and tear can be an issue as well though obviously less of one unless you're sanding the paint.
I'd think painting over old leaded paint with modern lead free paint should help alleviate that concern. Unless you're sanding the old paint before applying a new coat.
Re: Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead
#100I hate this. I’m up to my eyeballs trying to keep my newborn away from all the toxic shit that’s in every part of his life, BP* in plastics, flame retardants in clothes and mattresses and rugs, heavy metals in baby food and now in herbs, micro plastics in food, radioactivity and mercury in farmland around coal fired power plants, etc etc etc. The negative externalities on dangerous chemicals is so very high; what am…
Best solution is to not having kids. This is if you think for the kids first. There is no reason to have kids that is for the benefit of the potential child.
But nobody likes that. People's selfish wish always comes first before the potential kid's benefit. So kids will have these toxins in their body in the end and any problem that comes with it.