Originally Posted by
stapfam
This is the problem with Horsemeat and I don't care if I eat it or not but I would prefer not to have the "Illegal" stuff that has not been checked and verified for Drugs. But animal husbandry means that any meat entering the food chain will be Contaminated with drugs in some way. To eliminate Disease in animals there are antibiotics that have been deemed to be safe-Hormones to increase weight of the animal and the food they are fed can come from some most unsavoury sources. The same can be said for Fruit-Vegetables- grain and other commercially produced foods.
You don't really know what you are eating and you will have to a fanatic to ensure that you only eat organic produce. I am afraid that my pocket cannot afford to be that finickity.
I would only add two thoughts:
1) Not even organic is safe. As I remember, one of the last food scares was over "organic" bean sprouts. (But, like you, I can't afford that stuff anyway!)
2) Starting yesterday, because of the sequester, the US is letting go even more food inspectors -- when they didn't have enough to begin with! [That's not a political statement, it's a factual one]
I think the food industry has changed hugely since we were growing up -- but the general public still sees it as the same as it has always been. They don't realize how squeezing every last penny out of the system is pushing it to the very edges of safety -- and sometimes beyond.