2009 Jelly Bean Rant

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -

Great Jelly Bean Rant!!



In January 1994, Canada, the United States and Mexico launched the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and formed the world's largest free trade area. NAFTA created the great jelly bean offshoring to Mexico. If you are concerned at all about the food you and your family are ingesting, I challenge you to go pick up any package of jelly beans in the Easter candy aisle of any grocery or drug store, and see where those jelly beans came from. American brands such as Brach’s, Brocks, Starburst, and even some of the Great Value jelly beans at Wal-Mart – ALL are manufactured in Mexico – a third world country.

Americans are once again spending billions of dollars on jelly beans this Easter, eating these and feeding these to their children. Mexico is a third-world country! There is no FDA in Mexico. There is no oversight as to cleanliness, bacteria, vermin, (mice, rats, roaches, etc., or their waste products) pesticides, lead, or other undesirable substances in the billions of jelly beans Americans are consuming. Are candy makers in Mexico washing their hands? Wearing gloves? Wearing caps to keep hair out of the candy? Some Mexican candy was recalled by the FDA in recent years because it contained unsafe levels of lead.

I’ve searched local retailers and the story is the same – only very few jelly beans are still being manufactured in the USA. When the President and Congress agreed to and signed the NAFTA trade agreement, American candy manufacturers started closing down American factories that had been in business for generations, and moved their facilities offshore to Mexico. They claimed it was over the price of sugar, but the main issue was the cost of labor. But, third-world countries don’t have the same standards of sanitation or level of quality in their daily lives as America and other nations do. Even if there is some branch similar to the FDA in Mexico, it is probably corrupt, because their government is corrupt, or so we are told in the media.

If you do your own research, you’ll figure out why I’m sounding the alarm. And why I’m on a political rant.

The US State Department warns travelers to Mexico not to drink the water because it is unsafe to drink. 80% of Mexican water is unsafe for human consumption. Yet, candy is made with water. So are other products like Crest toothpaste (made in Mexico) and off brand toothpastes. The water is unsafe to drink, but we are to believe food products containing their water is okay? See how schizoid our government is? Water is unsafe but food made with the same water is fine....give us a break!

Our politicians have sold out American jobs and food production to Mexico and other third-world nations, but we don’t have to buy those products – and ultimately, we have the final say according to what we buy and what we will our allow our families to consume. I’ve made it a practice to read all food labels to find the country of origin.

Wal-Mart’s Great Value jelly beans (found in the regular candy aisle, not the Easter candy aisle) is made in Canada. And Gimbal’s Gourmet Jelly Beans (found in the regular candy aisle) are still made in the USA. So are Jelly Bellys.

While I'm at it, I don't want my onions to come from Peru, I don’t want my grapes to come from Chile…..not when we grow them right here in the USA! I don't want my shrimp and catfish to come from farms in China - we have our own farms here in the USA. Read the labels - right now (until Congress changes it), they have to list country of origin if outside the US. Nearly all fish and seafood at Krogers comes from China. Same with Wal-Mart. Nearly all the chain supermarkets have produce from third world countries like Mexico. (Politically correct is "developing nation") They use human waste for fertilizer in Mexico. There is documentation for all of this out there on the web.

Here are a few links I found back in 2006, but they might now work now.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR2006020601467.html


http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1110

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0408/p01s02-usec.html

http://www.sugaralliance.org/desktopdefault.aspx?page_id=19&news_id=268

And, BTW, if you want to pass this Rant on, please do so with my Blessings!

/RANT END

This rant was updated in 2009, originally ranted in 2006.

And yes, we can thank BOTH political parties for this and a couple of Presidents, too.