Underage Children Slaving In Meat Packing Plant

Apparently, all was not kosher at this large-scale kosher meat packing plant/slaughterhouse. Agriprocessors, a huge kosher meat packing/slaughterhouse in Iowa, has been indicted for employing underage workers in their plant. Children younger than 16 were charged with operating heavy duty machinery, saws, and various other dangerous equipment utilized in the slaughtering process.

The meat packing corporations across the country have finally been the focus of investigations and charges for unsafe, hazardous and public endangerment. Now, add illegal hiring practices of minors. Of course, the inhumane treatment of the animals to be slaughtered always manages to slip lower and lower down the list of priorities for investigators.

This raid on Agriprocessors is one of the largest in the meat industry's history for employing either illegal aliens and/or underage children. Working conditions were not only hazardous, but overall salaries for all employees (including no pay for overtime), was deplorable. Remember, these children were responsible for safe handling and processing of meat to the meat-eating public. Children. It's bad enough most of these slaughterhouses are using downed, ill animals, overworking illegal alien employees and paying by the pound - so the more and faster they kill and process, the more they're paid - but having children working at that breakneck speed doesn't require rocket science to calculate there's more than an even chance tainted meat reaches the supermarket shelves on a regular basis. Most of which goes unreported.

It's only when enough people become significantly ill and/or die, and a connection can be made between, is the meat packer circumspect. By then, for those poor unfortunates, it's a bit too late. Which also goes to point a guilty finger at the sham that is supposed to be regular quality-controlled inspections by the USDA. Agriprocessors was just one that was caught. This time.

I know it doesn't help the animals or the children, but this is yet another reason I'm glad I'm a vegetarian.

Lead-Loaded Childrens' Vinyl Lunchboxes

It's not what's in your child's lunch that's could be a health hazard this time. It's what your child's lunch is in.

California-based Center for Environmental Health (CEH) recently released to The Associated Press over 1,500 documented reports, interoffice memos and emails and other data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) which reveals the skewed criteria and fudged numbers charting the lead levels in children's vinyl lunchboxes.

After filing over a year ago through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the CEH disclosed the manipulated results of these studies which showed that more than 20% of the lunchboxes tested had over 600PPM of lead. California's federal safe lead level. Other levels detected were as high as 9,600PPM, more than 16 times the federal standard.

The AP story quotes a CPSC spokeswoman:
"When it comes to a lunchbox, it's carried. The food that you put in the lunch box may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn't direct exposure. The direct exposure would be if kids were putting their lunchboxes in their mouth, which isn't a common way for children to interact with their lunchbox." Indicating the test swipes of the boxes were only performed on the outside of the boxes. Dismissing any parent's or teacher's observations of children rummaging around with their little hands inside lunchboxes for that juicy red apple, pear or any other raw, uncovered food item that junior promptly puts in his mouth. Apple or pear... hands and all.

A typical test is done with a "swipe". Initial swipes revealed the highest lead levels. But numerous swipes - in the same spot - lessened the lead numbers. Because the CPSC did not do a cumulative account and rather an average, their average lower lead level conclusions (which allowed for those numerous same-spot swipes) recorded lead levels as within standards.

The fuzzy logic of the director of chemistry for CPSC: "The more you wipe, the less lead you actually find. With fewer wipes we got a higher detection of lead presence. We thought more wipes was closer to reflecting how you would interact with your lunchbox. It was more realistic."

Yet another example of bureaucratic agencies working under the guise of protecting the public and really protecting the vinyl industry and manufacturers of these products. All of which were outsourced to Chinese manufacturers for American distribution. The CEH has a complete data sheet detailing the most circumspect lunchboxes as well as reprints of interoffice memoranda.