Evil In Contamination of Food and Medicine.

It is hard not to applaud the Chinese for their decision to execute officials for the contamination of milk sold domestically and abroad, even for those generally opposed to the death penalty. Unfortunately, the Chinese may have been motivated more by the impact of the unfavorable publicity than real concern about the larger moral evil lurking like a cancer in the cells of commerce. Two articles appearing in the New York Times today underscore the metastasis of that evil in the world community. One story involves Nigeria and the other the United States.

The first story “84 Children Are Killed by Medicine in Nigeria” by Lydia Polgreen recounts the story of teething medicine contaminated by the substitution of diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and ingredient in brake fluid and antifreeze for the more expensive glycerin.  According to Ms. Polgreen,

“The chemical causes kidney and liver damage as well as attacking the central nervous system, causing paralysis that hampers breathing. Children in Nigeria began to get sick in November with un-explained fevers and vomiting. Some stopped urinating and many had diarrhea. Across the country children with similar symptoms turned up at hospitals amid rising anger and panic.´’

But that of course is Nigeria and haven’t many of us received email invitations from lawless Nigerian officials with access to large amounts of cash seeking U.S. assistance to help access it, but with an object of conning the unsuspecting. Isn’t that the Dark Continent where all sorts of genocide and unsavory things go on?

It’s shocking to realize that we in this country are not immune to that kind of evil. The other article, “Sales Drop 25% As Parents Shun Peanut Butter” by Andre Martin and Liz Robbins recounts the reaction of the peanut industry to a salmonella outbreak and food recall by a Georgia peanut plant, operated by the Peanut Corporation of America. Peanut Butter for Gods sake!

There is no little irony in this story. The same old fox in the hen house.

“The company’s chief executive, Stewart Parnell, was removed from the Agricultural Department’s Peanut Standards Board, which advises the agriculture secretary on quality and handling standards.”

This does not appear to be just another case of negligent behavior.

“The peanut company is under criminal investigation for its role, and has been accused by federal regulators of knowingly shipping products that had tested positive for salmonella.”

This outbreak has apparently led to 578 illnesses and 8 deaths. If true, should we treat these perpetrators as anything different from mass murderers?  The calculated commercial venality behind this abhorrent behavior seems at least as reprehensible as those horrific crimes committed by frequently defective and abused human detritus inhabiting the dark margins of our communities.

Comments

[HelpLine]

I felt very sad reading about the contamination of food and medicine. There is no doubt that a very stringent quality checking should be introduced by Government of the country to fight with such issues…

[April]

I believe that this company should be held accountable for it's actions. They have purposely harned many babies, children and adults for what? A little extra income, have fun with that income now. This is exactly the same as mass murder in my eyes. I personally have about ten boxes of meal packs that were meant to go to needy families, but they are all contaminated because they have peanut butter in them. This company is making it hard for those of us who want to help to help! If anyone thinks that they have injested this poisoned peanut butter they should seek medical help right away. Medical questions can be fairly hard to answer especially when everyone has a different opinion and answer but you can visit Ask A Nurse to have all of your questions answered! http://www.callcarenet.com/products-nursecare.asp