common Chinese expression: "Put a lid on it and it just gets stinkier (慾蓋彌彰 Yùgàimízhāng)"
Toyota Owners Report Problems in Japan to No Avail - NYTimes.com
... Critics say many companies benefit from Japan's weak consumer protections. (The country has only one full-time automobile recall investigator, supported by 15 others on limited contracts.) In a case in the food industry, a meat processor called Meat Hope collapsed in 2008 after revelations that it had mixed pork, mutton and chicken bits into products falsely labeled as pure ground beef, all under the noses of food inspectors. A 2006 police inquiry into gas water heaters made by the manufacturer Paloma found that a defect had resulted in the deaths of 21 people over 10 years from carbon monoxide poisoning. <...> The most active was the Japan Automobile Consumers Union, led by Fumio Matsuda, a former Nissan engineer often referred to as the Ralph Nader of Japan. But the automakers fought back with a campaign discrediting the activists as dangerous agitators. Mr. Matsuda and his lawyer were soon arrested and charged with blackmail. They fought the charges to Japan's highest court, but lost. Now, few people are willing to take on the country's manufacturers at the risk of arrest, Mr. Matsuda said in a recent interview. "The state sided with the automakers, not the consumers," he said. ...
... Critics say many companies benefit from Japan's weak consumer protections. (The country has only one full-time automobile recall investigator, supported by 15 others on limited contracts.)
In a case in the food industry, a meat processor called Meat Hope collapsed in 2008 after revelations that it had mixed pork, mutton and chicken bits into products falsely labeled as pure ground beef, all under the noses of food inspectors.
A 2006 police inquiry into gas water heaters made by the manufacturer Paloma found that a defect had resulted in the deaths of 21 people over 10 years from carbon monoxide poisoning.
<...>
The most active was the Japan Automobile Consumers Union, led by Fumio Matsuda, a former Nissan engineer often referred to as the Ralph Nader of Japan. But the automakers fought back with a campaign discrediting the activists as dangerous agitators. Mr. Matsuda and his lawyer were soon arrested and charged with blackmail. They fought the charges to Japan's highest court, but lost.
Now, few people are willing to take on the country's manufacturers at the risk of arrest, Mr. Matsuda said in a recent interview. "The state sided with the automakers, not the consumers," he said. ...
Whether correctly or not, Americans in urban areas tend to grow up with the impression that raw food is dangerous, and that even something like eggs sunny-side up, or rare steak, can be life-threatening.
In part, I think this is a way to let American food industry off the hook for their lax cleanliness and safety procedures. In part, I think this is part of the deliberate campaign to make Americans scared of basic food stuffs, and to make them forget what real food tastes like. When a whole generation is raised thinking Chef Boyardee tastes good, they're less likely to learn how to cook for themselves.
That's a typical cover-yer-ass disclaimer to fend off lawsuits. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
It is preferable (but not for agribusiness) to have more stringent food safety regulations et the level of food production and processing so people can eat things without nuking them out of all flavour. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
