Because of the tainted pet food fiasco and other issues with foods imported from China last year, China has recently agreed to follow the higher food safety standards of the US in several categories including pet food, fish, low-acid canned goods, and raw materials like wheat gluten.
This makes sense, right? Imported goods should follow the safety standards of the nation they are being brought into. Americans shouldn’t have to worry about eating substandard food. Or buying harmful things from other nations. Nobody should.
So why does the US keep insisting that Japan lower its standards and import American beef that isn’t acceptable here? In Japan all cows, 100% of them, are tested for BSE (mad cow disease). In America, not even 1% of cows are tested. Even if you want to test all your American cows, you can’t. It is illegal.
This really annoys me. How dare the US insist that exporting countries following their standards, yet also insist that importing countries abandon any stricter standards. You can’t have it both ways. That is hypocritical.
Barak Obama lost any chance at my vote today when I read he told ranchers that Japan should lower its standards:
“You can’t get beef into Japan and Korea, even though, obviously, we have the highest safety standards of anybody,” he told a town hall meeting in Watertown, South Dakota. “They don’t want to have that competition from U.S. producers.”
“Highest safety standards?” Helloooooo? Test all your cows and you can export as much as you like to Japan. “Don’t want competition?” No. Don’t want disease. Honestly, Mr. Obama, get your facts straight here. You are wrong.
The US really makes my blood boil sometimes (lots of times). Do you know that they force Japan to buy rice it doesn’t need? That’s another post in itself. Maybe tomorrow.
