US vs. European food standards

buckytom said:
I will abstain as it is a poorly placed question for several reasons.
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I think you are right in a sense - but in the UK we are facing some potentially big changes in terms of our food sources and regulations. Its probably a much more important question to the UK than to anywhere else in the world.

Hey ho! Its bonkers here. No-one knows what Brexit might mean for anything!
 
morning glory said:
I think you are right in a sense - but in the UK we are facing some potentially big changes in terms of our food sources and regulations. Its probably a much more important question to the UK than to anywhere else in the world.

Hey ho! Its bonkers here. No-one knows what Brexit might mean for anything!
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What the heck is Brexit anyway?
 
morning glory said:
A very good question. If only we knew! The UK voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.* Since then everything here is bonkers and no-one has a clue what will happen.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum,_2016
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Ok i just spent the last few minutes reading that. Like you, I still have no clue.
Pretty much in 2 years, you don't know if you will be self-sufficient or have to depend on the kindness of others.
It did look like for Britain's benefit, we have the right president.

Now next question, is most of your food imported?
 
BrExit - basically British Exit. As in, dismembering itself as a member of the European Union. Like November elections on this side of the pond, many people didn't know exactly what they were getting into when they decided they were going to vote for "Change".

You have to be careful where you source information from on the internet. There are reliable sites, those from universities or government agencies entrusted with maintaining the quality of food sold in the United States, and those run by activist organizations that jumble facts with hysteria. Doctor Ax, Dr. Mercola, The Science Babe are three sites right off of the top of my head that will toss out way more conjecture and supposition than tested and proven results. BTW, those are the sites that will tell you you cannot trust anything you read from universities or government sites...

Personally, I am careful about what comes into our house and read labels voraciously with a decent knowledge of what all of those thousand-letter words mean. However, I do not make an effort to buy organic. Just because it's called "organic" doesn't mean it will be healthy or safe. After all, arsenic is organic and it's not exactly a good thing to consume. :wink: In the U.S., there are certain chemicals that are considered safe for organic farming that I still wouldn't use if I were growing my own. Oddly enough, many of the recall notices for contaminated products are for the high-end, organic grocery stores like Whole Foods. :scratchhead:
 
morning glory said:
Yes it worries me - it isn't just the food safety standards which could be affected but also animal welfare standards which are currently high in the UK compared to the US.
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@morning glory

This is a huge knock on effect and worry .. The plants / herbs / roots etcetra are eaten by the livestock / animals of all types domestic farm and wildlife ..

This worries me too .. We can read labels and make wise choices not to eat imports from certain countries .. The animals cannot ..

What a mess the world has become ..
 
Lynne Guinne said:
BrExit - basically British Exit. As in, dismembering itself as a member of the European Union. Like November elections on this side of the pond, many people didn't know exactly what they were getting into when they decided they were going to vote for "Change".

You have to be careful where you source information from on the internet. There are reliable sites, those from universities or government agencies entrusted with maintaining the quality of food sold in the United States, and those run by activist organizations that jumble facts with hysteria. Doctor Ax, Dr. Mercola, The Science Babe are three sites right off of the top of my head that will toss out way more conjecture and supposition than tested and proven results. BTW, those are the sites that will tell you you cannot trust anything you read from universities or government sites...

Personally, I am careful about what comes into our house and read labels voraciously with a decent knowledge of what all of those thousand-letter words mean. However, I do not make an effort to buy organic. Just because it's called "organic" doesn't mean it will be healthy or safe. After all, arsenic is organic and it's not exactly a good thing to consume. :wink: In the U.S., there are certain chemicals that are considered safe for organic farming that I still wouldn't use if I were growing my own. Oddly enough, many of the recall notices for contaminated products are for the high-end, organic grocery stores like Whole Foods. :scratchhead:
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You are right, it is very rarely the cheaper foods that get contaminated.
Though for a giggle, the last Whole Foods recall was because their chicken salad turned into tuna salad.

I am always suspect of something or someone when they say don't believe anything others say.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Though for a giggle, the last Whole Foods recall was because their chicken salad turned into tuna salad..
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A lot of the recalls here are not because there is anything wrong with the food but rather that something (usually notification of an allergen) has been omitted from ingredients list or has not been in bold print on the label - in fact, over the last few months there have been far more recalls for this reason than any other.

When there is something wrong with the food , there can be several items mentioned because the same manufacturer supplies the same product to various stores, supermarkets etc under different brand names. For instance, in the last few days there has been a major recall of one manufacturer's products, because not only do they produce items under their own brand names, but they also produce the same items for Lidl and Marks & Spencer. This is a recall because of concern over the company's hygiene procedures so it affects everything they produce. This is the exception rather than the rule, however. Usually a recall will cover only one of two products from a particular supplier, and often means that the problem only affects a limited amount of [whatever product] but the whole production run is recalled to be on the safe side.
 
I do believe that is why everything has batch or lot numbers anymore.
So if a product needs recalled, it is easy to know exactly where it was shipped.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Ok i just spent the last few minutes reading that. Like you, I still have no clue.
Pretty much in 2 years, you don't know if you will be self-sufficient or have to depend on the kindness of others.
It did look like for Britain's benefit, we have the right president.

Now next question, is most of your food imported?
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From what I can gather from our National Statistics data, we are pretty much neutral on food import/export. I think the whole EU project has distorted food production - we import things that we can produce perfectly well ourselves, likewise we export things that we actually need because it's more cost effective to do so. Either way I doubt we'll need to depend on the kindness of others! One of the main issues being raised here is the idea that when we leave the EU, we will have to lower our food standards, not only allowing the import of foodstuffs hitherto banned, but also undermining our own farmers whose business model is based on higher standards of production.
 
epicuric said:
From what I can gather from our National Statistics data, we are pretty much neutral on food import/export. I think the whole EU project has distorted food production - we import things that we can produce perfectly well ourselves, likewise we export things that we actually need because it's more cost effective to do so. Either way I doubt we'll need to depend on the kindness of others! One of the main issues being raised here is the idea that when we leave the EU, we will have to lower our food standards, not only allowing the import of foodstuffs hitherto banned, but also undermining our own farmers whose business model is based on higher standards of production.
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What gets me is that they say we can import from other markets such as India, Australia etc. Have these people ever looked at where the food in our supermarkets comes from? A quick look in my cupboard and fridge shows very little food from the EU other than UK produced food. Most of the rest comes from India, South America, Australia and the like already - and it is just normal food.
 
If you think the US is the bad ol' boogeyman, wait until you start to import foodstuffs from China.
 
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