Xiaoming Guo 郭晓明
We really cannot complain about the cause that we don’t know. There are some mystic diseases, such as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. And there is an increasing trend. We assume we know the cause of some illnesses, yet we can never stop their increase with the leap and bounce of advanced medicine, medical technology, and knowledge. We know there must be some causes, but we don’t know where and how those causes are.
One thing we know for sure is that some of the illnesses emerge and increase with modernization, connected to industrialization. So we scrutinize food contamination and environmental pollution. We suspect some harmful elements get into our food from food engineering, manufacturing, processing, transportation, packaging, etc. If our food is not invented, such as some fancy candies using artificial flavors or additions, contamination can still happen through processing, packaging, preservation, and transportation.
Even with our careful precautions, some causes are so subtle that we may not notice the effect of the cause, just like the beauty products we may not notice any effect after using it for weeks. The effect may be accumulative so that when we get a noticeable illness, we don’t know the cause.
Whether the food is contaminated in the processing or packaging processes, some industrial materials used in processing and packaging may be contaminated with hazardous substances during transportation.
In 2009, in the UK, a cargo tank carried diesel fuel, then, without proper cleaning, carried orange juice. Consumers complained that the orange juice tasted a diesel smelt. In 2014, in the US, a milk tank was not properly rinsed after cleaning with caustic soda, resulting in the milk being contaminated with the cleaning agent, made some consumers reported illness after drinking the milk. These are noticeable illnesses caused by food contamination. What if the contamination is subtle, unnoticeable, and in our foods for years? In an industrialized society, we rely on the due intelligence of experts who provide authentic certifications and a variety of industrial documents.
The culprit of cross-contamination lies in the improper cleaning of cargo tanks. Each year, on US highways, the cargo tankers transport 3 billion tons of petroleum products, 880 million tons of chemical products, many of them hazardous materials, and 100 million tons of liquid food products. The chance is that the tanks used for transporting food products were previously used for chemical and petroleum products, not to mention the cross-contaminated industrial products may be used in food processing, preservation, and packaging.
Raymond Zhuo, a whistle-blower, reported to Transport Canada two years ago that using falsified tank cleaning tickets is common practice in a few transport companies. Yet Transport Canada replied that this issue is not in their jurisdiction. He then reported to the US Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. He got a reply for the case filled but hasn’t gotten any follow-up status for a long time.
Raymond Zhuo is a driver who has worked for transportation for 17 years and changed a few companies. According to Zhuo, some companies used falsified tank cleaning tickets. If a client requires a tank not used for loading some specific materials in previous transportation, the company fills a blank ticket as the client wishes, not necessarily reflecting the real situation. If the tank fails the vacuum test, a test to prevent leakage, leaking outside or inner layers, the company will false a ticket for passing the vacuum test. In some cases, the company will use a low-standard tank wash service, but falsify a ticket of cleaning in a creditable wash service. This worried Raymond Zhuo, the whistle-blower. The irresponsible businesses create man-made contamination for their profit.
The practice of falsified tank cleaning tickets benefits the cleaning service because they can lower the cost by doing a quick job, the drivers can shorten the waiting time, and the transport company can save costs. However, it is a potential threat to public health and transportation safety.
Let’s have our fingers crossed that the FDA and the FMCSA can have this case followed through, sooner.
