How we're scammed into eating phony food

Re:How we're scammed into eating phony food by JoeAltmaier on Monday July 11, 2016 @10:37AM (#12071306)

I get decent meat from my neighbor, who raises hogs and cattle. Bud dresses it for a reasonable price. Make my own horseradish from plants I inherited from my father. Hot as I like it. Chocolate from my sister's shop, who gets it from the Winan family who have been making it for 4 generations - they temper their chocolate only with more chocolate so no wax or junk. They get their chocolate liquor from their Nicaraguan plant that processes beans on site. Doesn't cost any more. My brother makes wine from grapes grown on my southern hillside.

But I live in rural Iowa (USA). Not everybody can live this way.

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Re:How we're scammed into eating phony food by ethbro on Monday July 11, 2016 @11:00AM (#12071499)

Unfortunately, a lack of standards and enforcement removes the ability of consumers to knowledgeably choose their food.

If organic / grass fed / 100% / fish species meant something, then consumers could decide whether they wanted to spend more for quality or save money on alternatives. With a lack of differentiation, race to the bottom prevails.

PS: The shenanigans from international importers are criminal. Trade pacts should include a clause where one-sided tariffs can be legally imposed as punishment for a lack of export policing on the sending country's side.

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Re:How we're scammed into eating phony food by JoeAltmaier on Monday July 11, 2016 @11:08AM (#12071547)

That's hard because each country has different standards. Why should Spain have special customs/inspections for goods destined for America? Makes it very hard to export. Simpler by far to inspect inbound with a uniform policy.

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Re:How we're scammed into eating phony food by ethbro on Monday July 11, 2016 @12:59PM (#12072408)

As the proportion of international:domestic trade continues to increase, I'm pessimistic it's ever going to be effective to inspect inbound shipments.

Aka blacklist vs whitelist computer security policies

It's too easy for a willful infringer to cloak their goods in the sheer volume of imports. The vast majority of which, by economic necessity, will never be searched in a thorough manner.

Furthermore, if you do detect counterfeit/dangerous goods on the inbound, what can you do without cooperation of the exporting country? About the only option you have available is "ban all X from Y" until the other party does something.

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