Rogue Suppliers and Food Security

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Henhouse woes caused the recall of half a billion eggs from the shelves of dealers following the outbreak of salmonella that affected 1960 residents and thousands of birds in Iowa and 22 neighbouring states. The recall had been due to the affected eggs supplied from just 2 producers Wright County Eggs, that accounted for 380 million recalled eggs Hillandale Farms for the remaining 170 million eggs. Wright County eggs owner Austin Jack Decoster is incidentally a serial offender and has been penalised for multiple violations since 1990. Why was he not blacklisted or even subject to special regulatory checks. History showsthat it is rogue suppliers (habitual violator like BP, Koch Industries or Monsanto)always are causing major crisis in the world because small fines which they pay when caught are negligible when compared to costs they would have incurred for systemic process improvements. Whereasthis may be bad for the oil industry it is deadly for the mass produced food industry like meat, eggs and GM Foods.Now these food giants who dominate the US markets are trying to enter the impoverished Asian markets, after being selectively rejected by EU nations.



Entry Into Unsophisticated Markets

Several of the US farm and Animal merchants along with GM food major Monsanto have been trying to penetrate the Indian, Chinese and other Asian market. It is important to carefully weigh the proposed expansions of such mass producing animal and food corporations as they extent their global footprints. For these are poor nations with no cure or quick recall to any harmful or fatal strains found in mass-produced foods . This is especially important issue because of the size of recall,...... half a billion eggs supplied by just two distributors spreading to 22 states with an area of 1.5 million square miles and a population of just over 100 million.

The Demand Equation

Iowa has over 80 producers having 600 million hens that lay over 15 billion eggs per annum and supply to 30 of its neighbouring states. It is one of the primary egg production centres of the US that produces a sixth of the total US produce. As per the International Egg Commission IEC the annual egg consumption in the US is 255 eggs per person, whereas the consumption in India where the population is nearly 4 times is only 40 eggs per capita. The world’s largest producer , consumer and exporter of eggs is China where 900 million hens lay 250 billion eggs annually which is almost 3 times the US production. The condition of hens in China are said to be much worse than those in the US and has been the home to the now famous avian flu crisis





Regulatory Control And Its Absence

The big question is what happens when the disease virus or bacteria spreads from the mass produced foods, eggs and meat. In the US where each egg is batch coded and can be identified and recalled. Not so in China and India once they leave the henhouse. In US the FDA Food Safety Modernisation Act introduced by the Obama Government has moved past the Congress and awaiting its clearance in the Senate. It will ensure major changes that will include refrigeration, periodic testing of water and chicken feed, monitoring of non-pasteurized eggs and farms for salmonella, rodent and pest control beside bio-security measures. These protections are far-reaching and if properly regulated will control the outbreak of diseases from laying hens and their eggs.

Need For A Food Liability Bill

But what happens when a bacteria or a virus infected food product from mass produced eggs or meat escapes amongst the vast impoverished, uneducated population in China or India or in any Asian or African country. What happens when the more complex GM foods penetrate the impoverished markets of Asia and muscle their way to high demand centres with low regulatory control. When the artificial inoculation fails and when transgenic problems appear with livestock , tomatoes or brinjals that affect immunity it has from disease when grown under natural conditions. Where is the Food Liability Bill aka the Nuclear Liability Bill where suppliers are penalized with transgressions.

Keeping Rogue Suppliers Out

The length of arguments against and for GM foods are thousands but what is critical is the blacklisting of rogue suppliers worldwide like Monsanto and Wright County Eggs both in the US and elsewhere as they try to spread roots. The charges of violation against Decoster are few compared to GM food major Monsanto . In 2000, Decoster was cited for hog-manure runoff into waterways and a few months ago Maine Contract Farming (successor to Decoster Egg Farms) was cited for animal cruelty. However GM food major trying to enter India in a big way through BT Brinjals and BT Tomatoes has numerous transgressions and has been guilty of manipulating the US regulatory system time and again. The extent of this can be found in the video on Monsanto which says it all. Should such rogue suppliers and habitual offenders be blacklisted from the markets…..or doled out mere fines which they pay easily and get away with?