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Friday, July 18, 2008

Made in U.S.A.



I have no objection to people in other countries making a living creating products and selling them to citizens in the U.S.A., if we had equity or balance in those trades which is questionable. However, I would also like to see more oversight to restore my confidence in the products I use. I'm not a fan of de-regulation.
As was discovered in A Year Without Made in China, it is hard to buy all products made in the U.S. I am less concerned about items that don't threaten my safety with their contents. Clothes, or other non-consumables are less objectionable. When we hear about lead or other harmful substances going into things ingested or put on the body, it tends to result in a loss of confidence in those products and to question the quality of those products. That is not to say that everything made in the U.S.A. is safe and things made elsewhere are not. I would like trustworthy disclosure on labels. I read labels and see "distributed in the U.S.A." by company XYZ. I look for "Made in the U.S.A." labels. When I see "Made in the U.S.A. with U.S. and non-U.S. components, the red flags go up. What are those non-U.S. components and from where? I know labels are tiny, but I would like to choose products that I hope are safe. If it said lead-based eye makeup from Timbuctoo, I wouldn't buy it. Therein lies the reason many products just say "Distributed in U.S.A. by Company XYZ. Truth in Labeling does not mean omit what producers don't want the consumer to know. Why should I have to guess what is in that skin cream that made my skin turn red? People have serious allergies that need complete Truth in Labeling.


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