New U.S. legislation impacting the import of toys?

[mrboshek]

I'm going to throw some random shit at the wall without taking a good deep dive in the subject.

"Approximately 10 to 17 children aged 14 and younger die annually in the U.S. due to toy-related incidents, according to CPSC data. While around 3 billion toys are sold annually, these incidents are rare, but often involve choking on small parts (like balloons or balls) or accidents with riding toys, such as non-motorized scooters."

"In the United States, contaminated food causes an estimated 3,000 deaths annually. Produce is a major contributor, responsible for 46% of foodborne illness outbreaks. While exact annual death tolls specifically for only produce are difficult to isolate due to underreporting, produce-related outbreaks, such as those involving leafy greens or melons, are a significant portion of the total.
USDA (.gov) +4"

...makes you think twice when reaching for that cantaloupe, eh? That doesn't even include what I'm mostly concerned with, that would be the long-term effects all the pesticides on my strawberries and spinach are having on me.

 

[mrboshek]

The thought of under washed blueberries keeps me up at night.

 

[Damien]

True story.. I have never washed a fruit before eating it in my life. And I probably never will.

 

[joshsquash729]

I don't think I have either. Used to always get told about "good germs" and how it helps your body's defenses. I was a total believer in the "5 Second Rule" as well with dropping things on the ground. And honestly? They may have been right. Aside from a little gas or bloat here and there, food doesn't really ever effect me. I can't remember the last time I really even felt nauseous after eating. Food poisoning is for wussies!

I suppose eating too many unwashed fruits could be what turned me into a fruit, but I digress.

 

[canprime]

I don't think I have either. Used to always get told about "good germs" and how it helps your body's defenses. I was a total believer in the "5 Second Rule" as well with dropping things on the ground. And honestly? They may have been right. Aside from a little gas or bloat here and there, food doesn't really ever effect me. I can't remember the last time I really even felt nauseous after eating. Food poisoning is for wussies!

I suppose eating too many unwashed fruits could be what turned me into a fruit, but I digress.

Hate to break it to you but they have already determined what food makes you "gay." Oh and what is a "straight" food.

Warning for language if needed:

 

[Alt]

Eating hot dogs for the shape, not the taste, maybe.

 

[mrboshek]

True story.. I have never washed a fruit before eating it in my life. And I probably never will.

I'm in no way a religious person, but I'm sending my thoughts and prayers.

Read a little further and see @joshsquash729 also doesn't prewash fruits. Both of you, please stay away from honeydew melons.

But seriously, not that I want to see a dozen or so kids die per year, but I wonder if the resources could be used better, when there's a lack of food and drug inspectors.

 

[mrboshek]

Just thought of something, I'm old enough to have mail away Boba and I missed rocket firing Battlestar Galactica ships, but I did have a set of very pointy lawn darts.

 

[joshsquash729]

I'm in no way a religious person, but I'm sending my thoughts and prayers.

Read a little further and see @joshsquash729 also doesn't prewash fruits. Both of you, please stay away from honeydew melons.

But seriously, not that I want to see a dozen or so kids die per year, but I wonder if the resources could be used better, when there's a lack of food and drug inspectors.

I can assure you, the honeydews are safe; melons of any sort aren't my speed. Don't care for the taste, don't care for the sounds. Take that however you will.

I can't really recall any big toy-related injuries that were prevalent growing up for me. I know those Sky Dancer things were considered dangerous, as were those spinny ankle things. God, I busted by ankles so many times on those things. Sock-Em-Boppers too; I never had any myself, but a bunch of my friends got black eyes and such. You're just inviting kids to punch each other in a slightly more safe manner.

 

[fac]

But seriously, not that I want to see a dozen or so kids die per year, but I wonder if the resources could be used better, when there's a lack of food and drug inspectors.

So also seriously, given that 350 million people have to eat in the US, and do so on average 3 times a day, 365 days a year, 3,000 deaths out of 400 billion meals made of trillions of ingredients is about as low as it might ever get, especially as many of those cases are probably not due to something that could be caught by inspection but contamination after inspection during prep (at home) - in other words doubling the inspections might not impact the numbers all that much. It is much harder to protect from illness than injury - and most toy related deaths are injuries. But in both situations most of the issues are random and not systemic at this point.

Toy deaths are very low due in part to the standards that have been enacted over the last 50 years, and as noted it is mostly due to "misuse" or accidents. Design flaws or toxic materials are almost non-existent at this point.

 

[joshsquash729]

I know the article specifically mentions contaminants, but I wonder if it includes allergy-related deaths as well, or if that's tallied separately. Allergies- known or unknown- I'm sure play a big part in food related illness/death; would they consider cross-contamination in the same category as well, or a different one?

I think the biggest red flag to me is the underreporting- of that, but I'm sure any other illness or contaminant. So many people can't afford to go to the doctor, so you have to wonder just how many more cases there are that never get found out.

 

[Damien]

Food poisoning is for wussies!

Come to think of it -yeah- I've also never had food poisoning in my life, as far as I can recall. And I have no allergies.

I suppose eating too many unwashed fruits could be what turned me into a fruit, but I digress.

I'm straight - so maybe it depends on what kind of unwashed fruit you eat? Or maybe you ate more unwashed fruit than I did? Maybe I only ate enough unwashed fruit to occasionally give the eyebrows to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.