To the One who Eats Dog Food.

Dear Ann,

While I can certainly understand your love for your pets, I feel that the stage for packaged human food isn’t so different either.  For example, a European investigation recently revealed that certain brands of ground beef contained significant amounts of horse meat.  Not that horse meat isn’t edible, but the thought is hardly palatable when you are in the supermarket and are considering on purchase angus beef patties. 

Other stories are far more insidious: in Taiwan a few years back, whistleblowers uncovered that plasticines were being put into sports drinks and other commercial beverages as emulsifiers.  The media backlash was strong enough to warrant food and drug regulations for the country. 

There were even scandals in the United States—in the early 1900’s, inquisitive journalists uncovered deplorable conditions in meat packaging factories that sickened both workers and consumers alike—these journalists ultimately became known as “muckrackers” for the scum they were uncovering to the public.  So great and many were their findings that the time between the Civil War and WWI in America became known as the “Gilded Age”: a multitude of serious problems hidden by a very thin layer of gold. 

I do not know if the 21^st century will become the new “Gilded Age”: the Food and Drug Administration was erected in the US in response to these muckracking activities—and I hope that some kind of response is dealt with the current scandals of today.  The important thing is that there must be people who are willing to go where no one else feels like going or dares to; I applaud your dedication to exposing corporate dishonesty, and in your quest to find the truth… even if it is just about dog food. 

Sincerely,

Wei-fan Chang