Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by joecool1029 2340 days ago
So, I fail to see the issue with the chemical currently used. Chlorine had obvious negative health issues, but peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide both decay quickly when exposed to air: http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/m...

I understand the concerns about using such processes over having a clean processing facility but I don't trust the cheap labor (prisoners, migrant farmers, etc) the US uses to not cause an outbreak. For those doubting this logic please look at the shit lettuce outbreaks we have every 2-3 months.

2 comments

There's a decent amount of chicken farming and processing in my area (southern Mississippi). I know a few people who work for Southern Hens. The job isn't great, but the benefits are ok and the pay is fairly good for the area (probably doesn't compare well to other parts of the country, though). Better compensated than the majority of unskilled or even semi skilled labor in the area that I've seen. Certainly not cheap migrant or prisoner labor.
I understand it isn't the case everywhere, but slave labor in the US poultry industry is a thing: https://thinkprogress.org/the-hellish-conditions-facing-work...
Tyson is apparently not a great employer, but I'm not sure I would call that slave labor.
Apologies, I grabbed the wrong link. The one I meant to send is about a supplier for Tyson: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/thought-going-rehab-ended-...
The (socialist) European way then would be to regulate the industry, to ensure certain standards. Basically trying to attack at the root of the problem instead of the outcome. We are not necessarily very good at it, but we try and it does work reasonably well on average.
What exactly is socialist about this?
Sorry, forgot the /s on "socialist". Just being a bit snarky about anything government related easily painted as socialism in some subsets of the US population.