[ExI] bees again

[BillK]

On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 11:58 AM, Anders Sandberg wrote:
> Nah, food fraud have always been with us. Today we are just seeing the
> collision of 1) very long and complex supply chains, 2) much better
> detection methods thanks to DNA fingerprinting, and 3) the ability to do
> very broad media reporting. The result is that things look much worse when
> it might actually be improving (a bit like crime).
>
>

Yes, but.......
In earlier times contaminated food was mostly due to a lack of
regulation (and a lack of knowledge about bacteria). But nowadays,
food fraud is deliberate ignoring of regulations for profit. i.e.
criminal intent. As the saying goes, if you buy 10 burgers for a pound
you are lucky if there is any meat at all in them, even horse meat.
The article is also referring to commercial practices, like, reducing
the weight of package contents slightly, putting small amounts in a
larger box, reducing the alcohol contents of drinks, etc.

I agree that crime stats have to be read very carefully. If you take
iPhone thefts out of 'crimes of violence', there's not much left!  :)


BillK