What the FDA Considers Acceptable Yucky Stuff in Food

by Heidi Stevenson

Do you wash your food before eating it? Do you toss moldy food? Do you make sure that flies don't land on your dinner? Is the thought of poo on your food just plain disgusting? Do you think that the FDA assures the same things? Here's a shock for you: The FDA considers up to 40% mold count in tomato puree to be acceptable. Catsup is allowed up to 55% mold count. Wheat is allowed up to 9 mg. of "rodent excreta pellets" per kilogram. Sesame seeds are allowed 5 mg. of "mammalian excreta" per pound.

Is that enough for you? On the chance that you think these are the exceptions, Gaia Health has reproduced the FDA manual, The Food Defect Action Levels. The contents of the entire manual are duplicated here. Take a look and decide for yourself: Who does the FDA work for? The public or agribusiness?

After the recent peanut fiasco, in which it came out that the FDA was powerless to produce a warning to the public about peanut butter dangers, is there any area in which we can trust that the FDA is truly serving the public? Again, we'll leave it to the reader to decide.