Another food controversy

I'm not giving up bacon or sausage.
Really, I used to listen to this stuff but food and politics are so closely intertwined, that I just don't believe a lot of the 'warnings' put out there supposedly for our benefit.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/26/news...-organization/

The report outlined that simply eating 50 grams of processed meat each day -- the equivalent of two slices of ham -- can increase the risk of such cancer by 18%. However, the authors say the risks are relatively small to begin with.

The article doesn't say what the actual risk level is. If the risk is originally 0.02%, an 18% increase is only 0.0002/0.18 = 0.001, or 0.1%. It may be a biologically insignificant difference.

Didn't we already kind of suspect this was the case. It isn't really going to change my eating habits. I try to eat somewhat healthy but despite what the health nuts say I think a healthy diet tastes like crap and its a PITA to prepare and its expensive. Those are my opinion based on my experiences and no one is going to change my mind. It really pisses me off when people try to tell me that eating healthy can taste as good as eating unhealthy. Is there healthy Bacon? If not then no, healthy food can not taste as good as food that is bad for you.

Well, fact of the matter is, we are all going to die sooner or later. So would you rather die (maybe) later eating stuff you really don't like, or die (maybe) sooner eating stuff that you enjoy?

Quite frankly, you really might not live longer eating "health" foods. It will just seem like life is dragging along longer than you want it to.

It seems to me that food recommendations are like women's fashion, they change regularly. Some claims made years ago have completely changed.
There ARE food recommendations I take seriously: I refrigerate mayo, I don't order fugu.
But the claims about the current controversy don't provide convincing info, and I believe there are other agendas, such as water conservation, the claims of worsening rep and job performance of the FDA, and so on that may be at play here.

As a general personal policy, I just flat out REFUSE to knowingly eat anything that comes out of China. Period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls

If it can happen with pets, I seriously doubt it can't happen with human food.

And as for USDA inspecting this stuff....

http://ecowatch.com/2013/05/09/food-...ck-inspection/

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/0.../#.Vi-gtis34Wc

Bon appetit!

Here's the article we've all been waiting for to clear up the confusion/misinformation.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...Kov-kjalREe5gg

Here is an article released by the Smithsonian that explains the findings of the original article published by WHO. As expected, WHO used strong terminology in excess of the actual risks.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...ook.com&no-ist

Originally Posted by WebSlave

As a general personal policy, I just flat out REFUSE to knowingly eat anything that comes out of China. Period.

That is a rational and intelligent decision. Giving up the bacon, ham, and sausage that my local hog farmer produces and sells is not.

We've taken to read labels on just about everything we buy at the grocery store lately to see where it is actually made. Some things are surprising. Connie really likes candy corn, so she picked up a back of Brach's at the grocery store. -> http://www.brachs.com/products/candy-corn/

Notice the "America's Candy Maker"? Guess what? The candy is actually made in Mexico. Says so right on the bag if you look hard enough when you have the bag in your hand.

And a lot of offerings will only tell you "Packaged in the USA", not where the PRODUCT itself actually originates from.

And do you think the USA government is really going to do anything to restrict food imports from Daddy Warbucks China?

I'm really surprised that China doesn't have a huge manufacturing facility in a town in China that they rename "USA" (which will be short for "Uncle Sam we Ain't". I mean, you go to Harbor Freight and buy products with labels of "Pittsburgh Tools" and "Chicago Tools" and have to wonder why those Chinese made tools are labelled such. So apparently China has COMPANIES with those names within it's borders. Renaming a city would just be a very small step from that subterfuge.

Anyway, Connie and I rarely eat out any longer, simply because you can't read the labels on the food they are cooking in those kitchens at the restaurants. Darn good chance they are just buying the cheapest product they can, which pretty much guarantees that most of the food is imported. We hear of people we know getting sick after eating out quite often. Coincidence, maybe?

You have to ask yourself, why is China importing OUR food and exporting THEIR food? Local seafood is hard to find around here. Want to know why? Most of it is being shipped to China. Yet many of the local restaurants along the Gulf of Mexico are serving imported seafood. Go to Crisfield, Maryland, touted as the Blue Crab Capital of the World. Guess what? You can't find local seafood at the restaurants there. We tried several years ago, and there was only one place that had local crabmeat. Placed called Linton's.

So should this all be worrisome? You are what you eat. So what do YOU want to be?