Man Arrested for Tainting Food with Mercury, as Government and Corporations Go Free
April 4, 2012 by admin
Filed under News Stories
April 5, 2012
Natural Society
By Anthony Gucciardi
“Talk about corruption.” –KTRN
Is tainting food with mercury a crime? Apparently only if you’re a citizens and not a major corporation or a United States government agency. One retired pharmacist was rightfully arrested after contaminating cafeteria food with heavily toxic mercury, yet no action has been taken against processed food manufacturers whose products are known to contain mercury. Nor has action been taken against the FDA, the organization that sits idly by as consumers continue to eat mercury-laden processed foods that make up on average about 90% of the US food supply.
It’s no conspiracy theory, the Washington Times — a mainstream news publication — was actually the first to report on the crisis back in 2009. Now more than 3 years ago, activist groups expressed serious outrage over the findings. Two individual scientific studies found the presence of the hazardous element mercury in nearly half of all high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) test samples. HFCS, of course, is a ubiquitous and oftentimes genetically altered ingredient that pervades the vast majority of processed foods. It makes sense, then, that mercury was identified in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products which listed high-fructose corn syrup as the first-or-second-highest labeled ingredient.
Despite calls by scientific organizations for the FDA to take action regarding the findings, they did nothing:
“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.
Retired pharmacist Martin Kimber was arrested for adding mercury to Albany Medical Center cafeteria food, finding a small metal ball of liquid in one individual’s chicken finger meal. Of course what Kimber did was truly horrible and he should be rightfully charged, but are what these major food manufacturers doing differently? Furthermore, is the FDA any better for letting it happen? What’s more is that Kimber’s attempts of mercury contamination only affected a small number of diners, whereas the presence of mercury in processed foods affects the entire globe.
Click here for the full report.
Pharmacist Denies Inhaler to Woman Having Asthma Attack For Being a Dollar and Change Short
October 19, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
October 19th, 2010
Natural News
By: Jonathan Benson
A New Jersey woman suffering a severe asthma attack was recently denied an inhaler at her local CVS pharmacy because she was a little short on cash. According to a recent report at Fox 5 in New York, the pharmacist at the CVS in Garwood, N.J., left Katherine O’Connor to suffer on the ground because her boyfriend Jack only had a $20 bill, which was a dollar and some change short of covering the total cost of the inhaler.
“I had exactly a twenty-dollar bill. It came to twenty-one and change,” Jack said to Fox 5. “I offered him my cell phone, my wallet. I said I live right around the corner. I come in here all the time.”
But the pharmacist would not comply, said Jack. The couple ended up leaving the store empty-handed, Katherine still having an attack. Jack ended up calling a paramedic friend who was able to arrive quickly and treat Katherine. She recovered, but the couple is shocked at the way they were treated by the pharmacist.
When asked about the situation, the CVS store manager allegedly had no comment. The CVS corporate office, however, responded with a statement saying that “[t]he well-being of our customers is our highest priority and we are looking into this matter.”
CVS was recently implicated in a government lawsuit for illegally selling over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to criminals who used them to make methamphetamines. The pharmacy chain pleaded guilty to the charges, agreeing to pay a $75 million civil penalty and forfeit $2.6 million in profits from the drugs.
