The tiny Sept. 13 Kyodo article "Inedible rice barred" -- about the tainted rice debacle -- includes the following gem: "Imported rice that fails to qualify as edible . . . is sold . . . for use in . . . animal feed." Where is the alarm in Japan? What kind of animals are eating it? Cows and pigs? The same animals we end up eating?
So it's OK for "animals" to eat "moldy" rice with "higher-than-allowed-levels of pesticide," but the fact that human beings will then eat the same animals doesn't merit any mention? Why aren't people in this country up in arms about the kind of scams pulled on them on a daily basis?
"Concerns over food safety seem to be never ending," as one "committee chief" put it. I wonder, perhaps "tainted rice" should be eaten in large amounts by Cabinet members or the royal family. Then, when one of them gets sick as a direct result, maybe something will be done. Till then, I guess eating anything in Japan is about the same as playing a game of Russian roulette.
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