Matt Rosenberg’s Recent Comments

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  I agree for the most part.

  I would add that I have never forgiven Taylor for the concept of "Substantial Equivalence." He seems to love GMOs. However I disagree about HACCP. It is not simply making salmonella tainted food safe to eat. It establishes procedures to prevent contamination to begin with. It can also be implemented on a scale so that it is not onerous to small producers. Let's not forget that even small producers need to make safe food. (Bill Marler has discussed this.)

  I also agree with you that his approach will likely cause consolidation in general and be much friendlier to large corporations.

  In general I don't like Michael Taylor but I am hoping this was like the Vilsack appointment in that it will keep big ag happy while at the same time making life difficult for them to continue in their ways. Unfortunately I fear it's much more likely to be a case that big ag wants the regulation so they can cover their ass when things go wrong. This could save them a lot of $$, kind of like big tobacco having surgeon general's warnings to cover them. 

  In the end it's probably more about the dollars than sick people and animals.

  On Monsanto's man Taylor returns to FDA in food-czar role posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago 14 Responses

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  Why would Peterson feel the way he does about climate change? Hmmm, let us count the ways:

  Donations to Peterson by industry in 2008:

  Industry	Donation	% of total
  Agribusiness	$542,134	49.7 %
  Labor	$129,500	11.9 %
  Finance/Insur/RealEst	$111,929	10.3 %
  Misc Business	$88,192	8.1 %
  Energy/Nat Resource	$43,494	4.0 %
  Lawyers & Lobbyists	$43,480	4.0 %
  Ideology/Single-Issue	$28,606	2.6 %
  Health	$26,200	2.4 %
  Transportation	$23,600	2.2 %
  Construction	$19,400	1.8 %
  Communic/Electronics	$18,750	1.7 %
  Defense	$7,500	0.7 %
  Other	$7,500	0.7 %
  Total:	$1,090,285

  On House ag chief Peterson: what, me worry about a warming planet? posted 5 months, 1 week ago 17 Responses

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  Interesting chart but I think it's a bit confusing and I am not sure it's easy for most people to understand when you compare it with a simple list that can be carried in the wallet. I completely agree that an iPhone Ap would be great!

  it also differs from The Environmental Defense Fund on a number of fish. King and Spanish Mackerel are not the same. King should not be eaten at all while Spanish can be eaten on a limited basis (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=17694) and Conger eel have enogh toxins that they should not be placed on the best part of the toxins section, middle would be more accurate.

  Another useful tool is from The Blue Ocean Institute. Just text the message FISH followed by the name of the fish you want to know about to 30644 and you will get a text back. If it's a red flag fish, they'll suggest alternatives.

  On A new tool for navigating around overfishing and mercury taint posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 3 Responses