Vegetables With A Dangerously High Level Of Pesticide Sold At High-End Markets: Bangkok

[PoodMaiDai]

These gender-bending pesticides could explain the high rate of transgenderism in Thailand.

For sure that has something to do with it.

Also Google BPA (Bisphenol A) and look into its gender confusing properties, along with cancer. Then look at all the plastic the Thais eat their burning hot food in.

There is a reason why this region of the world has so many transgendered people (and very high cancer rates), and it doesn't have anything to do with their fake openness.

My God has anyone told Yingluck about this?

She's not taking my calls.

[kerryk]

At least post some kind of tourist warning. Eating in Thailand causes men to want to be lady boys.

[PaullyW]

To all the guys instructing on how to wash or rinse the veggies in various acidic solutions, the issue is really that most people here, I would imagine, buy food from vendors who have prepared it. Most of us don't cook, so those instructions are useless.

Do you think your friendly restaurant and stall vendors soak their vegetables for some amount of minutes in some kind of solution to make it safer for consumption?????

[kerryk]

Heck I cook but I have noticed I still get a yen to wear a sarong some times.

[Thai at Heart]

The same happens in the UK. Lots of fruit and veg sold in leading supermarkets have been found to be contaminated with pesticides. The UK even gave the world mad cow disease. You are seriously mistaken if you think this is just a Thai problem. And in the US millions of tons of unfit meat has been sold. It should have been recalled but wasn't. In the USA the FDA as let many drugs be sold that they knew were unsafe. So let's not single out Thailand here. Take a look at your own countries. Their food and drug safety standards are shockingly bad and riddled with corruption.

Quite incredible that yours is the 64th post and finally a voice of reason!!

Clearly many westerners are totally unaware of how dangerous and poisonous foods are back in their home nations.

And no-one in the whole thread has mentioned that these nasty dangerous chemicals are all IMPORTED. Chemicals and pesticides are created and sold by (mainly) american, german, and uk pharmaceutical corporations. It is they who began the 'green revolution' of pesticided and herbicided mass farming techniques. When their chemicals finally get banned, they push the surplus onto countries like thailand, and then bring in a new chemical to use at home.

All these poisons are MADE IN THE WEST, so don't go dissing the poor thai farmers who make very little money for their hard work, and don't know about the dangers of pesticides until it affects their heatlh. Let's remember thousands of indian farmers are committing suicide every year.

Let's remember the western corporations and the billions of dollars they make in profits by pushing their toxic chemicals on the WHOLE WORLD, not just thailand.

Most vegetable produce in england and australia is TOTALLY TASTELESS. How did they manage that eh?

Really, i suggest people do a bit of research about how their own nations produce and supply foods. Why is it that americans are getting themselves so obese, and dropping down with cancer like flies? Why is it that IT'S THEIR FOOD SYSTEM that is being pushed onto all of us wherever we live?

Yeah, just blame the drug buyer, never the drug pusher.

Thailand if one of the centres of the worlds food production with dominant players in rice and chicken. Half the worlds s staple diet. CP and others are at the very centre of this.

Don't criticise the rest of the worlds problems when they actually have a massive control system in place. In any chicken slaughterhouse on any day they are viscerating chicken someone from the fda us present for cleanliness. Does Thailand have any similar regulation?

tesco and cp have a massive business connection for chicken exports, if there is any fault on the quality of chicken in tesco frozen meals it sits in Thailand

Edited July 12, 2012 by Thai at Heart

[PaullyW]

As an aside, I wonder how much is 'lost in translation' on account of the journalism/reporting being so horrendous here, and on the fact that the Thai language itself, and Thais themselves are world renowned to be anything but precise.

In other words, are they just not reporting well and these issues are being exaggerated?

[kerryk]

The same happens in the UK. Lots of fruit and veg sold in leading supermarkets have been found to be contaminated with pesticides. The UK even gave the world mad cow disease. You are seriously mistaken if you think this is just a Thai problem. And in the US millions of tons of unfit meat has been sold. It should have been recalled but wasn't. In the USA the FDA as let many drugs be sold that they knew were unsafe. So let's not single out Thailand here. Take a look at your own countries. Their food and drug safety standards are shockingly bad and riddled with corruption.

Quite incredible that yours is the 64th post and finally a voice of reason!!

Clearly many westerners are totally unaware of how dangerous and poisonous foods are back in their home nations.

And no-one in the whole thread has mentioned that these nasty dangerous chemicals are all IMPORTED. Chemicals and pesticides are created and sold by (mainly) american, german, and uk pharmaceutical corporations. It is they who began the 'green revolution' of pesticided and herbicided mass farming techniques. When their chemicals finally get banned, they push the surplus onto countries like thailand, and then bring in a new chemical to use at home.

All these poisons are MADE IN THE WEST, so don't go dissing the poor thai farmers who make very little money for their hard work, and don't know about the dangers of pesticides until it affects their heatlh. Let's remember thousands of indian farmers are committing suicide every year.

Let's remember the western corporations and the billions of dollars they make in profits by pushing their toxic chemicals on the WHOLE WORLD, not just thailand.

Most vegetable produce in england and australia is TOTALLY TASTELESS. How did they manage that eh?

Really, i suggest people do a bit of research about how their own nations produce and supply foods. Why is it that americans are getting themselves so obese, and dropping down with cancer like flies? Why is it that IT'S THEIR FOOD SYSTEM that is being pushed onto all of us wherever we live?

Yeah, just blame the drug buyer, never the drug pusher.

Thailand if one of the centres of the worlds food production with dominant players in rice and chicken. Half the worlds s staple diet. CP and others are at the very centre of this.

Don't criticise the rest of the worlds problems when they actually have a massive control system in place. In any chicken slaughterhouse on Abby day they are viscerating chicken someone from the fda us present for cleanliness. Does Thailand have any similar regulation?

Yes

[Thai at Heart]

The same happens in the UK. Lots of fruit and veg sold in leading supermarkets have been found to be contaminated with pesticides. The UK even gave the world mad cow disease. You are seriously mistaken if you think this is just a Thai problem. And in the US millions of tons of unfit meat has been sold. It should have been recalled but wasn't. In the USA the FDA as let many drugs be sold that they knew were unsafe. So let's not single out Thailand here. Take a look at your own countries. Their food and drug safety standards are shockingly bad and riddled with corruption.

Quite incredible that yours is the 64th post and finally a voice of reason!!

Clearly many westerners are totally unaware of how dangerous and poisonous foods are back in their home nations.

And no-one in the whole thread has mentioned that these nasty dangerous chemicals are all IMPORTED. Chemicals and pesticides are created and sold by (mainly) american, german, and uk pharmaceutical corporations. It is they who began the 'green revolution' of pesticided and herbicided mass farming techniques. When their chemicals finally get banned, they push the surplus onto countries like thailand, and then bring in a new chemical to use at home.

All these poisons are MADE IN THE WEST, so don't go dissing the poor thai farmers who make very little money for their hard work, and don't know about the dangers of pesticides until it affects their heatlh. Let's remember thousands of indian farmers are committing suicide every year.

Let's remember the western corporations and the billions of dollars they make in profits by pushing their toxic chemicals on the WHOLE WORLD, not just thailand.

Most vegetable produce in england and australia is TOTALLY TASTELESS. How did they manage that eh?

Really, i suggest people do a bit of research about how their own nations produce and supply foods. Why is it that americans are getting themselves so obese, and dropping down with cancer like flies? Why is it that IT'S THEIR FOOD SYSTEM that is being pushed onto all of us wherever we live?

Yeah, just blame the drug buyer, never the drug pusher.

Thailand if one of the centres of the worlds food production with dominant players in rice and chicken. Half the worlds s staple diet. CP and others are at the very centre of this.

Don't criticise the rest of the worlds problems when they actually have a massive control system in place. In any chicken slaughterhouse on Abby day they are viscerating chicken someone from the fda us present for cleanliness. Does Thailand have any similar regulation?

Yes

Thai fda or paid for overseas checking?

[Geekfreaklover]

I saw some onoins the size of footballs in Tesco the other day. Wow. Had to buy them.

Are pesticides and hydroponics a Thai creation? Hell no. It's a western invention that Thailand has embraced and profited from. Fair play.

There is a new bird flu scare. Nobody cares. We all know our chickens were born in factory, pumped full of steroids, a fully fat bird at the age of two months. None of the poultry in Thailand is free range anymore. None of the fruits and vegetables have been grown naturally. This is not just Thailand, it is the world over. This is what food is today.

What can you do? Grow your own? Or simply eat the cheep stuff and hope that the scare mongering is just that. .

[Hugh Jarse]

Siam Paragon!

High price doesn't ensure a better product.

Will be boycotting them, as well as Tesco's Makro etc.

[PoodMaiDai]

At least post some kind of tourist warning. Eating in Thailand causes men to want to be lady boys.

Could explain my sudden fondness for wanting to wear stockings.

[Thai at Heart]

I saw some onoins the size of footballs in Tesco the other day. Wow. Had to buy them.

Are pesticides and hydroponics a Thai creation? Hell no. It's a western invention that Thailand has embraced and profited from. Fair play.

There is a new bird flu scare. Nobody cares. We all know our chickens were born in factory, pumped full of steroids, a fully fat bird at the age of two months. None of the poultry in Thailand is free range anymore. None of the fruits and vegetables have been grown naturally. This is not just Thailand, it is the world over. This is what food is today.

What can you do? Grow your own? Or simply eat the cheep stuff and hope that the scare mongering is just that. .

31 days in thailand for a chicken. It's warm over here. 1.6 kilos of food in 1 kilo meat out.

[DeepInTheForest]

For the most part...anyone in the Thai government/administration should look at the expats forums online. The expat community can offer solutions to the problems this country is apparently inundated with. If they don't take sound and good advice/solutions and act upon them, it will continue to revert back to the Thailand of the past, if not worse.

I'm sure they can hardly wait to embrace the offered "solutions" from here.

However bad our vegetables are, i'm afraid your meats and dairy are far worse. You should investigate the living conditions of the 'cows' and the food they are fed in the USA. All your hamburgers are made from this 'meat'. I'm afraid the whole food supply in the modern world is a nightmare, and you can thank codex alimentarius, and the incessant demand for massive profits, even if in getting these profits people's lives are made miserable or snuffed out early.

Do a wee bit of research into SAD - standard american diet, and food production and supply in the US, and learn about why we have to eat all these toxins over here in thailand. Not that long ago they grew their foods without these chemicals.

And nobody mentioned GM foods that are in our food chain now, thanks to the silence of the thai governments and the mad corporations like monsanto and dow that push their spliced foods on us all.

It's an epic nightmare that posters here would do well to find the real source to vent their anger and shock at.

Did anybody mention the pills that are made by the same companies that make all these herbicides, pesticides, and GM foods???

It may be worth pointing out that this article was prompted by work done by Thai organizations: the Foundation for Consumers, and BioThai. Their websites (in Thai) are below. You can bone up on your Thai by investigating the websites, or perhaps ask a Thai friend to help with translation (thai-language.com and translate.google.com can be helpful, too). Incidentally, the testing was done by the Public Health Ministry's Medical Science Department. Without their work we wouldn't even be discussing the matter on this forum, so let's give kudos where it is due. Thai organizations are indeed trying to change things for the better.

http://www.consumert.../main/index.php

http://www.biothai.net/

But better yet, why not put our actions (and maybe a few spare baht) where our mouths all seemingly are, and support these organizations? Foreigners living in Thailand can be a strong force for change, if we go about it in a conscious and thoughtful way. Why not support organizations that are trying to make change that you want to see? And hey, let's get after it and be the change we want to see. After all, if we are not exerting effort and pushing in the right direction, our gripes about the state of things ring rather hollow-- right? Here is a contact page for BioThai.

http://www.biothai.net/contact

(Although their website has an "English" link, it doesn't work-- it's all Thai.)

Edited July 12, 2012 by DeepInTheForest

[surangw]

" . . drooling, headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, abdominal muscle cramps and loss of coordination . . "

Sounds a lot like the warnings they put on the ads for meds sold on American tv

[cdnski12]

I would be more interested to know the level of E Coli on all Thai Foods. Since most small towns & villages have septic systems, anytime it rains, the water flooding spreads the Coli Bacteria everywhere. I'm always amazed @ Thai's eating "Jumping Krong" (shrimp), whenever I visit a Thai Beach. I told my Thai GF not to eat it, because the shrimp are grown in sewer infested swamp/field water. She never listens to me, so she gets sick 50% of the time.

[easybullet3]

Yikes! For this reason I don't support my local neighbourhood market. Shopping at Tescos is marginally safer hopefully, even the expensive luxury supermarkets and delis don't seem to escape this.

i disagree.

I always knew that siam paragon supermarket does not have an honest business ethic when it comes to vegetables.

I really don't trust their labelling of vegetables, (i never have). they ALWAYS re-label dates on vegetables (after the first label has expired) - you can see multiple date changes if you scrutinise labels carefully).

Also: you can EASILY see in many cases that many products in paragon are labelled as organic, but they are definitely not! i found out from the ministry of Agriculture (at the bkk food expo) that ALL organic certifications MUST bare a certification number together with the organic symbol.

if you check produce in Paragon you will often see they just stick an Organic Sticker on their veggies to sell them at a higher price, (but there is no certification number on these vegetable packets). so it contradicts the ministry of agricultures codes of practice.

all organic stickers should be together with a certification number under the organic logo.

about street veggies and tesco lotus and non-organic vegetables, its even worse... there is only a few schemes in thaialnd.. (the Q - Quality scheme, and HCAAP and GAP.

GAP and HCAAP are similar. (they let veggeis stand for a period of time to allow some of the chemicals to dissipate . though you have to TRUST that the farms adhere to this code of practice.

and, "Q" does not mean organic!! (many people seem to think so) but its far from it.

there is not much refereeing and checking of farms and products in thailand.

-try to buy chemical testing kits... or even water testing kits... (its hard to find in thailand),,

farms are checked only once a year.. and they are WARNED long in advance of the upcoming check. so it gives the farms plenty of time to cover-up or hide any issues.

a person that I know is married to a thai family that owns a large farm around chiang mai. he told me that MANY organic farms in thailand will have a real organic farm, but they buy LOADS of non-organic vegetables which they repackage and re-sell in the stores (using their organic farm certificate).

he says he knows a few farms around chiang mai that do this. (but i dont know which ones). and 'reckons' that this is common practice in thaialnd.

the only way to prove it is by self-testing food yourself. (but as I said earlier) its so hard to find any chemical testing kits in thailand!

i am happy to 'go the distance' and help with some sort of complete testing of many vegetables,,, but i would need some knowledgeable farming people to advice me along the way.

anyone (preferably in bkk) that wants to find out if the vegetables we are having are hazzardous, or if organic is real or not, then people send me a message.

thanks

[easybullet3]

I always knew that siam paragon supermarket does not have an honest business ethic when it comes to vegetables.

I really don't trust their labelling of vegetables, (i never have). they ALWAYS re-label dates on vegetables (after the first label has expired) - you can see multiple date changes if you scrutinise labels carefully).

Also: you can EASILY see in many cases that many products in paragon are labelled as organic, but they are definitely not! i found out from the ministry of Agriculture (at the bkk food expo) that ALL organic certifications MUST bare a certification number together with the organic symbol.

if you check produce in Paragon you will often see they just stick an Organic Sticker on their veggies to sell them at a higher price, (but there is no certification number on these vegetable packets). so it contradicts the ministry of agricultures codes of practice.

all organic stickers should be together with a certification number under the organic logo.

about street veggies and tesco lotus and non-organic vegetables, its even worse... there is only a few schemes in thaialnd.. (the Q - Quality scheme, and HCAAP and GAP.

GAP and HCAAP are similar. (they let veggeis stand for a period of time to allow some of the chemicals to dissipate . though you have to TRUST that the farms adhere to this code of practice.

and, "Q" does not mean organic!! (many people seem to think so) but its far from it.

there is not much refereeing and checking of farms and products in thailand.

-try to buy chemical testing kits... or even water testing kits... (its hard to find in thailand),,

farms are checked only once a year.. and they are WARNED long in advance of the upcoming check. so it gives the farms plenty of time to cover-up or hide any issues.

a person that I know is married to a thai family that owns a large farm around chiang mai. he told me that MANY organic farms in thailand will have a real organic farm, but they buy LOADS of non-organic vegetables which they repackage and re-sell in the stores (using their organic farm certificate).

he says he knows a few farms around chiang mai that do this. (but i dont know which ones). and 'reckons' that this is common practice in thaialnd.

the only way to prove it is by self-testing food yourself. (but as I said earlier) its so hard to find any chemical testing kits in thailand!

i am happy to 'go the distance' and help with some sort of complete testing of many vegetables,,, but i would need some knowledgeable farming people to advice me along the way.

anyone (preferably in bkk) that wants to find out if the vegetables we are having are hazzardous, or if organic is real or not, then people send me a message.

thanks

[DeepInTheForest]

Thailand if one of the centres of the worlds food production with dominant players in rice and chicken. Half the worlds s staple diet. CP and others are at the very centre of this.

Don't criticise the rest of the worlds problems when they actually have a massive control system in place. In any chicken slaughterhouse on any day they are viscerating chicken someone from the fda us present for cleanliness. Does Thailand have any similar regulation?

tesco and cp have a massive business connection for chicken exports, if there is any fault on the quality of chicken in tesco frozen meals it sits in Thailand

You seem to be defending the developed world's food inspection regime. One wonders whether you are serious.

The bit about the US Food and Drug Administration (I think this is what is referred to above) having an inspector in every plant is worth a second look, since it has recently become the subject of contentious debate. A new rule will allow lines to process 175 chickens per minute, while privatizing much of the inspection process (turning it over to the corporate producer). The group Food and Water Watch says:

... it is designed to privatize inspection by turning critical inspection functions over to poultry company employees and reduce the number of government inspectors assigned to the slaughter facilities.

...line speeds will be allowed to increase to 175 birds per minute in all poultry slaughter facilities under the proposed rule. Proper inspection cannot occur at these excessive line speeds whether conducted by a trained USDA inspector or a company employee. The agency readily admits that the poultry industry will stand to earn an additional $260 million per year by removing the cap on line speeds. The agency believes that the use of a chemical cocktail at the end of the slaughter process is enough to deal with any food safety issues that might be missed by company employees or the one USDA inspector assigned to the slaughter line. This proposed rule furthers the industrialization of the food supply and needs to be rejected.

http://www.huffingto..._b_1431619.html

Between fiscal 2004 and 2008, the Food and Drug Administration inspected fewer than half of the 51,229 facilities that it regulates, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services said.

... "If the FDA does not routinely inspect food facilities, it is unable to guarantee that these facilities are complying with applicable laws and regulations," the inspector general reported.

http://www.washingto...0040604251.html

A Texas legal firm advertises:

A recent report reveals that less than 25% of FDA-regulated food plants were inspected annually, and more than half of the plants were not inspected at all, during a five year period from 2004 through 2008. Inspections at plants considered high risk also dropped off. At the same time, consumers were seriously injured and even died from tainted peanut butter, vegetables and other food products.

Like many government agencies, the FDA is stretched thin, having experienced a staff decrease of 18% since 2003. Fortunately for consumers, Congress has recently authorized filling a number of vacant positions. However, even after these additions, the FDA will still have 145 fewer inspectors on staff than it did in 2004.

http://www.txinjuryb...lly-inadequate/

"tesco and cp have a massive business connection for chicken exports, if there is any fault on the quality of chicken in tesco frozen meals it sits in Thailand" -- Again, do you really think this is a practical approach? If Tesco food made people ill, do you think a court of law would accept that it was really the fault of producers in another country?

[me313]

Is this another one of those buyer beware things? Meaning if you get sick or die, its your fault

because you had a choice of not using these products.

Kind of like getting on a bus or a boat and being injured or killed. it was your choice, so its your fault, as a few TV posters always argue.

The other question I have. Why is Thailand alowing these chemicals to be used when so many developed, developing and 3rd world countries have banned them, for there danger?

Easy answer.. Thailand is a country where the people who spray these chemicals have absolutely no regard for the effects they may be inflicting on the consumers, they only look at the benefits that they may reap at the markets where they try to sell their goods.

I have even seen vegetables sold by a farmer under the guise of "organic produce" from land that was under a metre of flood water up until early this year, god only knows what was in the water or what effect it would have on anyone who consumed the produce, he couldn't give a dam_n as he walked away with a huge smile & a good deal !!

Thailand is a country where early mortality is an acceptable form of death & any investigation or bad publicity which would only cause grief to those who are trying to make an dis-honest living is NOT acceptable !!

Ohhhh purely a personal opinion Thailand should be ranked as below a third world country..

From all the conspiracy theory stuff I have (briefly) read coming out of the US, supposedly governments want the population poisoned with chemtrails, and pesticides, and water contaminants (flouride) and all kinds of garbage is being put in people's bodies--not just in the 3rd world--for depopulation control. It all sounds pretty scary. I feel safer eating veggies from local Thai markets than I do buying them from the nice safe packaged boxes I find at the "high end" Farang markets. I actually feel safer eating junk food now.

[Keesters]

No wonder the kids won't eat their 'greens'!

[RHCP]

I have long suspected that a lot of the foods on sale in this country would not be allowed in much of the Western world due to the levels of chemicals/pesticides/preservatives that they contain. The lack of will on the part of Governments to do something and also the powers that the food conglomerates hold in this country will ensure that nothing will be done.

I recalled a conversation a while ago with someone in the milk industry here and I asked him why the taste differs so much compared to more developed countries and why I often see fresh milk with long expiry dates of up to 2 weeks. He conceded as I had suspected that higher levels of preservatives are used. He mentioned that this is on the insistence of retailers so that they have less chance of stock on the shelves having to be disposed of.

[maidu]

It doesn't surprise me a bit, if as easybullet3 mentions, Thai shops selling produce labeled 'organic' are not being truthful in their labeling.

A Thai friend, who has managed a restaurant for 15 years, says hill tribe grown produce is even more chemi-ridden than produce grown in mainstream vege farms in Thailand. Even so, I still buy hill tribe produce because I want to support those at the bottom rungs of the social ladder.

I don't believe an earlier poster who said no chickens are 'free run' anymore. I see multitudes of chickens roaming around every Thai village. There were some large chicken farms here in Chiang Rai, but after the SARS thing, they closed down.

True story: A hill tribe lady friend of mine, when she was in her mid-teens, her mother died (father had died years before that). All the girl had to inherit were some chickens. However, the mean step father, went to the mother's rented shack (while she was in the hospital dying, daughter by her side) and took all the fowl away, leaving nothing for the girl.

[blix99]

For the most part...anyone in the Thai government/administration should look at the expats forums online. The expat community can offer solutions to the problems this country is apparently inundated with. If they don't take sound and good advice/solutions and act upon them, it will continue to revert back to the Thailand of the past, if not worse.

Arrogant nonsense, and just the sort of bilge that will have exactly the opposite of the intended effect.

[PaullyW]

" . . drooling, headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, abdominal muscle cramps and loss of coordination . . "

Sounds a lot like the warnings they put on the ads for meds sold on American tv

Right. Meds sold in a regulated environment with clear labels as required by law and which normally must be prescribed by a doctor.

[kaptainrob]

I have long suspected that a lot of the foods on sale in this country would not be allowed in much of the Western world due to the levels of chemicals/pesticides/preservatives that they contain. The lack of will on the part of Governments to do something and also the powers that the food conglomerates hold in this country will ensure that nothing will be done.

I recalled a conversation a while ago with someone in the milk industry here and I asked him why the taste differs so much compared to more developed countries and why I often see fresh milk with long expiry dates of up to 2 weeks. He conceded as I had suspected that higher levels of preservatives are used. He mentioned that this is on the insistence of retailers so that they have less chance of stock on the shelves having to be disposed of.

I doubt preservatives are used. Much of Thailand's milk is reconstituted from milk powder, possibly NZ-sourced. When was the last time anyone noticed a dairy herd on their travels? Thailand simply does not have the raw production capacity to meet demand.

Why add hydrogen peroxide or sodium diacetate to fresh milk when pasteurisation is a simpler, safer method of killing organisms?

Reconstituted milk not only lasts longer but also tastes slightly different.

[femi fan]

Lot of sense in femi fan's post...... I seem to remember Nestle some years ago off loading infant milk to Africa because it was so bad it could not be sold in western countries.

These corporations also do this with pills. I ended up with an antibiotic that had been banned in america and was the subject of a massive lawsuit concerning its multiple and toxic side-effects.

If people want to get clean food they have to aim their sights at the pharmaceutical companies who poison our food and who poison our medicine.

[femi fan]

Thailand if one of the centres of the worlds food production with dominant players in rice and chicken. Half the worlds s staple diet. CP and others are at the very centre of this.

Don't criticise the rest of the worlds problems when they actually have a massive control system in place. In any chicken slaughterhouse on any day they are viscerating chicken someone from the fda us present for cleanliness. Does Thailand have any similar regulation?

tesco and cp have a massive business connection for chicken exports, if there is any fault on the quality of chicken in tesco frozen meals it sits in Thailand

That 'massive control system' you talk of is a joke then. Just look at the health of western citizens, and the shape and size they have become since the mid-70s. And look at the massive rise in diabetes and cancer and heart attacks and other fatal diseases.

Mad cow disease, frequent salmonella outbreaks from eggs which you have to cook thoroughly in order to avoid getting such illnesses, chickens that are fed hormones to make them grow quicker and bigger to make more profit but which then need antibiotics to cure them of the illnesses they get from humans' feeding them shit.

Cattle that are nominally 'cows' but more accurately meat producing organisms which are kept in filthy conditions and fed lots of unnatural food including gm corn and other stuff. Vegetables pumped full of chemicals, irradiated so they last ages on the shelves, totally tasteless. Processed foods full of salt sugar fat and es and all manner of things like hfcs, msg, aspartame etc etc.

The controls you talk of are very very dangerous to human health, and this post would be very long if i continued to give examples.

I'm afraid you labour under the illusion that western nations have safe food supply. You just could not be so wrong. As for buying frozen chicken that was kept in diabolical living conditions in tescos, well, you are open to any number of health problems.

[femi fan]

I saw some onoins the size of footballs in Tesco the other day. Wow. Had to buy them.

Are pesticides and hydroponics a Thai creation? Hell no. It's a western invention that Thailand has embraced and profited from. Fair play.

There is a new bird flu scare. Nobody cares. We all know our chickens were born in factory, pumped full of steroids, a fully fat bird at the age of two months. None of the poultry in Thailand is free range anymore. None of the fruits and vegetables have been grown naturally. This is not just Thailand, it is the world over. This is what food is today.

What can you do? Grow your own? Or simply eat the cheep stuff and hope that the scare mongering is just that. .

I've watched thailand embrace the 'green revolution' in their food production and supply, which has picked up pace in the last few years. Many years ago i would encounter totally tasteless vegetables in england and australia, and now that is starting to happen in thailand. Thailand is now following the western ways in many things, and unfortunately for us that means our food has gotten much more dangerous now. Thai food even today is far safer and healthier than any western counterpart - standard american diet anyone? - but many years ago it was so much better. Now, like you say, in virtually all the countries of the world we end up with the american model. Hence the noticeable increase in the number of overweight thais. 20 years ago spotting a fat thai was a rare sight.

[femi fan]

It may be worth pointing out that this article was prompted by work done by Thai organizations: the Foundation for Consumers, and BioThai. Their websites (in Thai) are below. You can bone up on your Thai by investigating the websites, or perhaps ask a Thai friend to help with translation (thai-language.com and translate.google.com can be helpful, too). Incidentally, the testing was done by the Public Health Ministry's Medical Science Department. Without their work we wouldn't even be discussing the matter on this forum, so let's give kudos where it is due. Thai organizations are indeed trying to change things for the better.

http://www.consumert.../main/index.php

http://www.biothai.net/

But better yet, why not put our actions (and maybe a few spare baht) where our mouths all seemingly are, and support these organizations? Foreigners living in Thailand can be a strong force for change, if we go about it in a conscious and thoughtful way. Why not support organizations that are trying to make change that you want to see? And hey, let's get after it and be the change we want to see. After all, if we are not exerting effort and pushing in the right direction, our gripes about the state of things ring rather hollow-- right? Here is a contact page for BioThai.

http://www.biothai.net/contact

(Although their website has an "English" link, it doesn't work-- it's all Thai.)

I'll get my wife to help me with those links later. Cheers.

We're lucky up here in chiang mai, we have a lot of awareness of the dangers of embracing the american corporations' green revolution. We have several outlets for organic produce, brought straight into town by the farmers themselves. Local supermarkets have three stages of orgnaic labelling depending on the levels of chemicals used.

We have some farmers, with farang input, who do big boxes every week for those that subscribe.

We have countless numbers of vegetarian resaturants, including some which only use organic produce. We can easily buy eggs from properly raised chickens fed their natural diet. We can get grass-fed beef, we can get non-farmed fish. And so it goes on.

Yes it costs more, but drinking less beer each week easily makes up for that...!

There are a lot of farangs doing good things up here, and around thailand, in terms of creating healthy foods that utilise sustainable practices.

[femi fan]

I recalled a conversation a while ago with someone in the milk industry here and I asked him why the taste differs so much compared to more developed countries and why I often see fresh milk with long expiry dates of up to 2 weeks. He conceded as I had suspected that higher levels of preservatives are used. He mentioned that this is on the insistence of retailers so that they have less chance of stock on the shelves having to be disposed of.

Fresh milk in western nations, in any nation, is dangerous to your health. Very much so. The only milk you ought to drink is raw milk from grass-fed cattle. Anything else and you are accumulating illness.