G****a
发帖数: 10208 | 2 Over the summer, we were alarmed to learn that the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) will allow four Chinese facilities to process poultry
raised and slaughtered in the United States, Canada, or Chile, then export
the cooked poultry products back into the United States for human
consumption.
China has an unusually troubling record when it comes to food safety.
Specific instances include: dangerously high levels of mercury found in
Chinese baby formula; more than 16,000 diseased pig carcasses dumped in a
river to rot; more than $1 million worth of rat and other small mammal meat
sold to Chinese consumers as lamb; and more than 300,000 Chinese children
sickened, with several dying, from melamine-tainted milk powder.
Last year, according to news reports, a Chinese poultry supplier provided
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in China with chicken fattened by large
quantities of illegal drugs. And in the U.S., the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) recently warned pet owners not to feed their pets jerky
treats from China. Since 2007, approximately 600 dogs and cats in the
United States have mysteriously died, and 3,600 have been sickened from
eating Chinese pet treats, including those containing chicken or duck.
Yet despite these concerns, chicken can now be processed in China and sent
back to this country for human consumption even though there will be no on-
site USDA inspectors in Chinese processing facilities to ensure food safety.
Furthermore, Chinese-processed chicken does not have to bear “Country Of
Origin Labeling,” which means that consumers will not know if they are
purchasing or eating chicken processed in China.
To make matters worse, under USDA rules, Chinese-processed chicken can be
used in the National School Lunch Program and other federal child nutrition
programs, despite the fact that children are particularly vulnerable to
foodborne illnesses and dangerous chemicals.
Even more alarming is that chicken raised and slaughtered in China may
eventually be imported directly into the United States, despite the fact
that a December 2013 USDA audit found that China’s poultry slaughter system
is not yet equivalent to that of the United States in terms of food safety
practices.
Given the many reported, critical lapses in China's enforcement of its food
safety laws, both Chinese-processed and Chinese-slaughtered poultry could
pose a potential threat to public health in the United States, and immediate
action by Congress and the President is needed.
By starting this petition, we urge Congress, President Obama, and his
administration to stop chicken from, or processed in, China from reaching
our supermarkets and the meals we feed our school children by:
(1) Ensuring that Chinese-processed chicken is not included in the National
School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food
Program and Summer Food Service Program; and
(2) Preventing funds from being used to implement any rule that would allow
poultry raised or slaughtered in China to be exported to the United States.
Fourteen members of Congress have already publicly supported these goals in
an open letter to the Agricultural Appropriations Committee.
We, Bettina Siegel, Nancy Huehnergarth, and Barbara Kowalcyk, are concerned
parents who care a great deal about food and food safety. Please join with
us and these lawmakers to show Congress, President Obama, and his
administration that American consumers care about food safety for themselves
and their families. Thank you!
【在 G****a 的大作中提到】
: http://www.change.org/petitions/congress-keep-chinese-chicken-o
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