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Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

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Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#181

Post by e40 »

perihelions wrote: post #55
OJFord wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you need to worry buying it from a store that's imported it properly - the article says it was found in the US in Bangladeshi communities where it had been brought back to the US in their suitcases. The difference could be due to sun-drying (I assume?) on your family's farm vs. industrial scale freeze/spray drying, for example. Or some (non-lead, non-colouring) additive that prevents it oxidising and du…

No, it's definitely in the US supermarket supply chain (though it's not nearly as bad as in SEA), https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... ( "[Consumer Reports] tested 126 products from McCormick, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and other popular brands. Almost a third had heavy metal levels high enough to raise health concerns" ) You may (or not) be surprised that there's actually no general testin…

And it will only get worse, given the current political climate.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#182

Post by AlecSchueler »

Gud wrote: post #130
steveBK123 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I'm 100% against the dismantling of our foreign aid programs, USAID included.. However, the world playing both sides of the coin on "US World Police" being bad when it does stuff but also bad when it doesn't do stuff is part of how we end up where we are. It's a minuscule part of our budget, but an easy sell for right wingers to say "well the world isn't grateful for it and its all a bunch of waste so we are k…

This argument makes absolutely no sense. You can be against empire x taking action y while being positive it’s taking action z.

You can also be against American hegemony and include USAID in that while recognising that suddenly stopping it without any attempt to pivot towards a better balance makes no sense for anyone in the world.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#183

Post by datavirtue »

Gud wrote: post #141
ceejayoz wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world lets us take action y (which they don’t necessarily like) because we do a lot of action z.

No, the US imposes its will on the rest of us by having an awesome arsenal and an eagerness to use it.

You forgot freedom and dignity. There is one source for that in the world, the US.

You can flail all day but you won't be able to point to another power that preserves that chance for everyone.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#184

Post by datavirtue »

wtcactus wrote: post #177
mathgradthrow wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in the article it asserts that the farmers didn't know the effects of lead chromate on human health, they were just "expanding their business". I guess since it's just fraud and negligence, we should forgive it?

Well, it’s more about the origin of the farmers than anything else. If they where American or European farmers, you can be sure NPR would mark them as the villains of this story.

Yeah, NPR is on a rapid course to becoming the third leg to FOX and CNN.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#185

Post by amy214 »

abeppu wrote: post #93
phendrenad2 wrote: post #57

I think this NPR article is too quick to put a positive spin on this. They have made a nice little story here with a happy ending. Farmers had blackened turmeric -> they used a random yellow die they found -> massive lead spike in everyone's bloodstream -> Americans came in with a xray gun and saved the day -> no more lead in the blood. But if you ascribe even the slightest but of agency to any of the non-Americans i…

> But if you ascribe even the slightest but of agency to any of the non-Americans involved, you have to wonder if this problem will come back. From the article: > And recently they are celebrating some big news on the lead fighting front: This week, UNICEF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new $150 million initiative to combat lead poisoning. Americans have disassembled US…

>Americans have disassembled USAID. The agency of Americans is also contributing to this reccuring.

I didn't realize all non-American societies were doomed to terrible things if not for the pleasure of America's free handouts' interfering

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#186

Post by Amezarak »

oliwarner wrote: post #180
ericmay wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The agency of Americans is also contributing to this reccuring. I’m going to push back very, very hard on ascribing any sort of blame on anyone other than those who are committing these acts. Least of all the American taxpayer, regardless of whether or not dismantling USAID is a good idea. If the rest of the world is so helpless that all hope depends on Americans to solve even problems such as this and it’s our fau…

If a major consumer of a product decides it doesn't care to inspect and regulate an import, the global supply for it gets tainted. You're so busy cutting red tape, you lower the standards everywhere. I do absolutely agree, it's not your fault that cheaper, dirtier, methods of production are being used, but your lack of standards is a major contributing factor. This is the reason the EU and UK exclude so much US produ…

The article is principally about tumeric that was brought by individuals into the US, not tumeric that was imported by companies for sale in the US.

Imports are regulated, the FDA actually inspects foreign food facilities that are exporting to the US, and outbreaks are carefully monitored and traced back to their origin.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#187

Post by liveoneggs »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #57

I think this NPR article is too quick to put a positive spin on this. They have made a nice little story here with a happy ending. Farmers had blackened turmeric -> they used a random yellow die they found -> massive lead spike in everyone's bloodstream -> Americans came in with a xray gun and saved the day -> no more lead in the blood. But if you ascribe even the slightest but of agency to any of the non-Americans i…

you mean like when those farmers in china poisoned baby formula? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#188

Post by _DeadFred_ »

abeppu wrote: post #157
BobbyJo wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But is it really so strange to you to think that the richest and most powerful country might have some role to play in international problems that arise from comparative poverty? I think this is a mischaracterization of parent's point. He didn't say it was strange , and he didn't say we had no role to play. > that the use of our military is more criticized than any other. But we're big and rich and powerful and we'…

Ok, so ericmay was not entirely explicit and perhaps we read his point differently. > then I don’t want to hear a peep about us taking any other actions in the world that we deem just I think the noteworthy peeps are not about the mere fact that we involve ourselves in the world outside our borders but that we often do it pretty badly. We attack Iraq with "shock and awe" over WMDs that do not exist, and create the Ab…

Adding because this has somehow been forgotten around Iraq/911. We attacked Iraq because we were attacked on 9/11. Justification for the attack was stated in part because of American troops in Saudi Arabia. American troops were in Saudi Arabia because of Iraq's prior invasion of Kuwait. Changing the government of Iraq would allow us to remove troops from Saudi Arabia and remove it as a cause for terrorism. This was a discussed cause for going into Iraq at the time, just not the main one everyone publically glommed onto. But there was a reason the US wanted to take out Iraq. Iraq was tied to 9/11 by being an indirect motivator of 9/11.

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#189

Post by [deleted] »

Filligree wrote: post #129
steveBK123 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I'm 100% against the dismantling of our foreign aid programs, USAID included.. However, the world playing both sides of the coin on "US World Police" being bad when it does stuff but also bad when it doesn't do stuff is part of how we end up where we are. It's a minuscule part of our budget, but an easy sell for right wingers to say "well the world isn't grateful for it and its all a bunch of waste so we are k…

The rest of the world may think it's bad when the CIA does things, and bad when USAID doesn't do things. The nature of the thing which is being done is relevant.

[deleted]

Re: Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

#190

Post by [deleted] »

Gud wrote: post #130
steveBK123 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I'm 100% against the dismantling of our foreign aid programs, USAID included.. However, the world playing both sides of the coin on "US World Police" being bad when it does stuff but also bad when it doesn't do stuff is part of how we end up where we are. It's a minuscule part of our budget, but an easy sell for right wingers to say "well the world isn't grateful for it and its all a bunch of waste so we are k…

This argument makes absolutely no sense. You can be against empire x taking action y while being positive it’s taking action z.

[deleted]
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