| Subject: |
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The American Tomato scare |
| Name: |
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Grant |
| Date Posted: |
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Jun 28, 08 - 1:22 PM |
| Email: |
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gperkc@aol.com |
| Message: |
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Junkfood Science has an item on this apparent Salmonella in which Sandy observes that so far the Government agencies have not found a single infected tomato suggesting that a serious financial loss for tomato growers may well have been caused by creating a panic about the wrong source. One wonders how such a thing can happen based on the intelligence and experience of those involved who work within one of the most scientifically advanced and controlled countries in the world.
It put me in mind of the Spanish 'contaminated oil' saga from the early 80s.
A quick Google came up with this piece from the Grauniad:
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,542111,00.html
It makes interesting reading on may counts though the unsubstantiated allegations about the fertiliser companies, which may or may not have substance, are an indicator of author's leanings.
Towards the end are some observations that seem to have relevance to many scientific 'report' aimed at public consumption as we experience these days.
The final paragraphs of the article summarise things nicely.
"The enduring feature of the TOS saga is that it provided a blueprint for the international scientific community. If even a theory as palpably bogus as the "toxic oil" syndrome can be sustained internationally, then suppressing the truth must be remarkably straightforward. All it takes is a series of epidemiological reports, accredited by scientists of a similar persuasion, and then published in reputable scientific journals. There are, as Disraeli might have said, lies, ****ed lies and peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Given increasing privacy constraints, the media can never independently verify the data, and just have to report whatever they are told.
Moreover, we could discover the truth about the Spanish epidemic for two reasons: because the two-year trial ensured that otherwise unavailable information reached the public domain (and the authorities haven't made that mistake again); and because I was able, in 1990, to spend almost three months in Spain researching and filming the epidemic. A decade later, it is now inconceivable that journalistic investigations on such a scale would be supported. In future, without even the remote possibility of a bunch of journalists turning up years later to ask inconvenient questions, it will be even easier for international science to organise its cover-ups.
An internal German government memo was recently leaked to Der Spiegel. According to this, the monitoring of imported produce had revealed that there continued to be unsafe pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables from Spain. Some peppers were "highly contaminated" and the residues had "reached levels we can no longer tolerate". It was the last line of the memo that was most telling: "Under no circumstances should the general public be informed." "
I'm not sure I have the time to read through all the other Google references but I rather suspect that American Tomatoes are safe to eat should the growers decide to ship them east to find a market somewhere that might help them to survive.
Grant |
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