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Something else for Dan to offer for sale..

Dan Noren said:
beat you to the punch on that one don, i have genuine minnesota dehydrated water, and yard sticks.
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In my previous life I worked in the food regulatory business. Early in my career I was given the task of following up on a complaint.

I contacted the complainant who showed me a little can upon which a label that read "Roadkill Possum" was affixed. The can was about the size of one of those 3 ounce cans of potted meat marketed by Armour Foods. I turned the can over and sure enough it had a USDA registration number which would indicate that it was processed in an inspected facility. But there was no other information on that can; no net weight, no ingredient statements, no nutritional labeling, etc. etc. etc. There was a manufacturer name and a city. I knew of this manufacturer and I knew that they were not registered with the USDA and they did not have the licenses or the equipment to package anything in cans like that. I was curious what was going on.

So I called upon them in my best "I'm from the government and I'm here to hep you!" I had previously been in their facility so they knew me well.

I asked them what and how were they packaging anything in these cans and where did they get the license to use another firm's USDA registration number. Their response was, "Oh no, we are not packing this here. It is just cans of potted meat we bought at the store. We are peeling off that label and putting our label over it. We figured it would be better to use a meat product so that if anyone opened the can they would find just that: a meat product; you know roadkill possum."

I didn't know whether to put them in jail right then and there or wait for the Armour Company to do it. USDA would put them in jail for relabeling a USDA inspected product. This is taken very seriously. I could just envision a SWAT team showing up to put these folks under the jail.

They were including a can of "Roadkill Possum" in each of their gift baskets. Okay I understand, but you cannot use an inspected product, tear off its label and then relabel with your label while retaining the USDA registration number. "Oh, I see what you are talking about.....We'll just clean off the USDA number on the bottom of the can."

I started reaching for my hand cuffs.....Not really but this situation had to be resolved right then and there.

I convinced them that they could not relabel an inspected product PERIOD of any variety. They had to stop sending this gag product out. When I showed them that what they were doing in ignorance and without malice was violating dozens of Federal Laws punishable by possible jail terms and fines they decided to stop shipping this product out.

Sometimes strange things happen for the simplest of reasons. It was a cute idea but.....
 
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