# Conspiracy? (al Qaeda and lost/tainted food) \[ed. title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 16, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320 "2007-04-16T12:26:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lovelybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@lovelybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelybean)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/1 "2007-04-16T12:26:12Z")
So, let’s see…in the past year or so there have been major cases of bacterial infection from eating at fast food chains (like Taco Bell’s e. coli lettuce that hit 4 states), fresh spinach gave some 200 people e.coli across 26 states, there’s rat poison in the pet food, and the bees are mysteriously vanishing (and no other creature will enter the abandoned hives). I haven’t taken the time to do much research, but it seems like there may be a connection here. Are all the farms and hives that are the original source of infection located in the South? Who is working on these farms? Could workers have been paid to contaminate our food? I guess what I really want to know is IS AL-QUEDA POISONING US?? Are they trying specific “test markets” to see how they can take us down easiest or where are weak spots are? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/2 "2007-04-16T12:56:20Z")
I think it’s a miracle that the food distribution and retail business is as good as it is as selling us safe, clean food. Really, the recent issues with food safety are a blip in the grand scheme of things. The bee thing is weird, but I’ve been hearing about disappearing bees for as long as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/3 "2007-04-16T13:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Could workers have been paid to contaminate our food? I guess what I really want to know is IS AL-QUEDA POISONING US?? Are they trying specific “test markets” to see how they can take us down easiest or where are weak spots are? Let us not forget Hanlon’s Razor - “Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetance.” In the absence of any actual evidence that a secretive plot to taint the food supply is underway, it’s far more likely that these recent highly-publicized events are unrelated, isolated incidents stemming from a failure to adhere to proper food safety protocols. Anyone who works in food production, distribution, or preparation can tell you that it only takes a few seconds of inattention to produce a potential food hazard that can affect hundreds, or thousands, of people down the line. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/4 "2007-04-16T19:29:00Z")
As we eliminate and defund the agencies that once protected our food supply, more incidents would occur. We will have more. When food safety meets profits, profit wins. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/5 "2007-04-16T19:38:09Z")
Whats the point of a terror attack that no one knows is an attack. The “testing our defenses” idea doesn’t make a lot of sense either, since each time there’s a scare the more monitoring and scrutiny go into watching whats being done to our food and the better the defenses they’re “testing” would become. It’s counterproductive (or I guess if your a terrorist, counterdestructive). And the bee thing is going to mainly affect farms that use bees to pollinate. So the theory is that Osama spent millions in biological warfare agents to…use against bees and cut into the US almond crop? I mean, that would suck for the growers and counsumers of almonds, but it seems a little “meh” as evil masterplots go, especially given the effort it would take to pull off such a scheme. ---
**Author:** ![lovelybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@lovelybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelybean)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/6 "2007-04-16T20:21:18Z")
Very good points, all. The bee problem affects a bit more than just almonds, of course. If almond growers don’t have bees, they need to get them from growers of other things, and then those things don’t have enough bees for pollination, and then…what? Do we start using killer bees? I don’t know. It’s nuts. And I guess it doesn’t really seem that any of the outbreaks get taken seriously enough to increase monitoring and such, though maybe I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/7 "2007-04-16T20:30:49Z")
Somebody needs to tell Al Qaeda to knock it off with the weather. It rained like crazy here the last couple of days, and lots of people have flooded basements. What with the inevitable mold problem this engenders, it’s tantamount to biological warfare! ---
**Author:** ![lovelybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@lovelybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelybean)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/8 "2007-04-16T20:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Somebody needs to tell Al Qaeda to knock it off with the weather. It rained like crazy here the last couple of days, and lots of people have flooded basements. What with the inevitable mold problem this engenders, it’s tantamount to biological warfare! [/QUOTE] Ha! Hey, I wouldn’t put it past 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/9 "2007-04-16T21:49:48Z")
Al Quaeda goes for the big and flashy. Not something that can be explained as an accident. When they attack again, we’ll know it, and fast. They aren’t stealing our bees. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/10 "2007-04-16T21:53:21Z")
When tainted food is outlawed, only outlaws will have tainted food. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/11 "2007-04-18T03:31:42Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] counterdestructive [/QUOTE] Blessings to you and yours for that ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/12 "2007-04-18T15:00:13Z")
[QUOTE=lovelybean] Do we start using killer bees? [/QUOTE] We’ll need to, if only to counter Osama’s bees with frickin’ lasers on their heads. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/13 "2007-04-18T15:14:00Z")
There was a case of deliberately tainted food in Oregon that I think was one of the most heinous acts in the US because the intent was to undermine an election by having people stay home sick and not go to the polls. I don’t think it ever got the coverage it deserved. Details [here.](http://www.wbur.org/special/specialcoverage/feature_bio.asp) ---
**Author:** ![lovelybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@lovelybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelybean)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/14 "2007-04-19T13:58:40Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] There was a case of deliberately tainted food in Oregon that I think was one of the most heinous acts in the US because the intent was to undermine an election by having people stay home sick and not go to the polls. I don’t think it ever got the coverage it deserved. Details [here.](http://www.wbur.org/special/specialcoverage/feature_bio.asp) [/QUOTE] A-ha! So, I’m not crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-al-qaeda-and-lost-tainted-food-ed-title/400320/15 "2007-04-19T15:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] There was a case of deliberately tainted food in Oregon that I think was one of the most heinous acts in the US because the intent was to undermine an election by having people stay home sick and not go to the polls. I don’t think it ever got the coverage it deserved. Details [here.](http://www.wbur.org/special/specialcoverage/feature_bio.asp) [/QUOTE] Wow! What a strange story. I mean, one would expect it to be a fiction story,but no. Eeek! :eek: Still, I suppose it is sort of clever thinking in its own very nasty way. 😃 Hmmm, so, then, let us turn our thoughts to the proliferation of certain burger chains all over the globe … hmmmmmmmm. 😃 (N.B. only joking)