(NaturalNews) In its supposed efforts to improve food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the opening of its third Latin American facility located in Mexico City. Since an increasing quantity of fruits, vegetables, and medical devices are being imported into the U.S. from Mexico, FDA officials believe setting up outposts there will improve the food safety process.
Throughout the past year, FDA has opened ten facilities around the globe. Because of numerous recent contamination outbreaks, regulators claim that establishing permanent international offices will improve their ability to operate effectively.
The agency plans to work collaboratively with international governments and food regulators to harmonize regulatory standards, establish new food safety guidelines, and improve product handling safety protocols.
U.S.-based staff is now working in FDA facilities in China, India, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and several European countries. Native regulatory agencies in these countries are still said to be in charge of monitoring food safety, but FDA is there to provide an additional point of control for helping these agencies meet U.S. safety standards and avoid food contamination and other problems.
Dr. Murray Lumpkin, FDA Deputy Commissioner for International Programs, says that at the new Mexican facility, FDA staff will work with the Mexican government and its regulatory bodies to establish certification programs that will help them to conform to U.S
safety expectations. He believes the relationship will help foster openness and allow for better oversight of the import and export process between the two nations.
Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
I find it fascinating that the FDA is opening "safety" offices around the world, and yet at the same time it refuses to even conduct safety testing of pharmaceuticals right here in the USA.
Did you know that the
FDA conducts no tests whatsoever on the drugs it approves? Instead, it relies on drug companies to conduct their own clinical trials, and then
the FDA just believes whatever the drug companies say.
So why not do the same thing with
food? Don't test anything yourself, but rely on the food companies to test all their own food while automatically believing their results...
The reason this isn't done is because
companies tend to lie about the results of their own testing. They obviously have a financial incentive to find no problems. This is true with food companies and it's just as true with drug companies, which is why there's so much fraud in Big Pharma's clinical trials.
But when it comes to pharmaceuticals, the FDA isn't really interested in safety. It's only interested in promoting more drugs and boosting the revenues of the drug companies. That's why the FDA doesn't even bother to test drugs in the first place.
Sources for this story include:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-expands-presence-outside-...
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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