Devils Panties 12/18/2024

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maybe a little less sweet

I see what you did there

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Lead and heavy metals will be added to spices by unscrupulous middlemen to increase apparent yield, and lead in specific is, for some reason, used in some older industrial spice grinders and will leave an intolerably high residue.

Optional

So instead of a recall, there should be a class action?

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It's complicated to hold the people responsible responsible, since they're largely outside the US jurisdiction. The US companies that sold the product were, as far as anyone knows, ignorant of the contamination, buying from people ignorant of it who bought from people ignorant of it.

But yes, there should be, and are, lawsuits about the issue in addition to the recall.
Recalls are about public safety, and lawsuits about assigning blame or correcting wrongs. They're not exclusive or substitutes.

TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)

It started with a bunch of kids getting lead poisoning from applesauce pouches. They then traced that back to how most spices are sourced from poor countries using basically slave labor. So, these people are both not the most careful in preventing contamination, but those paid by weight of spices are almost incentivised to cut the spice with a heavy metal or something to get more $/per lbs. for example.

Optional

The US companies that sold the product were, as far as anyone knows, ignorant of the contamination, buying from people ignorant of it who bought from people ignorant of it.

A fair point. But in criminal law when you don't know the guy in the passenger seat is going to jump out and shoot someone you still get life in prison for it. Civil litigation is not even bound by that and I would think a finding that they burned all their internal documentation to avoid discovery that they knew very well there was lead in it would be enough to award damages.

HubertManne

what? Im sitting next to some guy and he kills someone and you think there is some sort of criminal penalty for me??? Whats the distance limit on that law? one seat over. 10 feet. is it like covid?

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For those who don't, it's because lead tastes sweet. That's why the Romans drank wine out of lead vessels and that's why little kids eat paint chips.

Optional

You'd have to check with your local criminal lawyer or DA who would likely point out such exciting charges as accessory to a crime, accessory to murder, aiding and abetting a crime, criminal conspiracy, and 8 or 12 other extremely similiar charges which would all be dropped simultaneously on you and you'd either have to hope a competent attorney can navigate those charges for you and convince a judge and jury you ain't done nothin', or, as they'd prefer, you plea to something like manslaughter and only spend a few years in prison and a decade on parole, or, just sign the paper that your friend did it and talked about it and only get six months and 8 years on parole (which is $350/mo, usually). Bear in mind you'll be in jail until all that is settled, which hopefully is less than a year but no promises. Unless you have $50,000 on you, cash.

Oh, btw, the justice system is super fucked up.

HubertManne

whos to say its your friend. im still curious on the distance. murders happen in the world we live in. are we all accessories?

Optional

I'm not sure if there's a feet-and-inches thing, but if you're in the same car that counts.

HubertManne

what if your tied up in the trunk?

Captain Aggravated

At least some pre-ground pepper is cut with wood shavings or other such. buy a mill and peppercorns.

Daniel Quinn

How the hell do I find cinnamon that didn't have lead in it?

Optional

You probably would roll on the shooter pretty quick, i'd think. but hey - depends on how competent and interested in hosing you the DA is. Maybe you planned to be tied up in the trunk to avoid being accused.

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I think he's referring to the getaway driver in a robbery where you get part of the stolen money.

The company is profiting from the poisonous cinnamon.

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and lead in specific is, for some reason, used in some older industrial spice grinders

Because lead is cheap and easy to cast, I bet.

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What is that thing sitting to the right in the first panel? A young sibling covered in mashed potatoes?

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Like I said, there are lawsuits and there should be, because a business is ultimately responsible for what it sold and who it chose to do business with to a fundamentally higher standard than an individual is.
The consumer facing businesses can turn around a sue their suppliers to continue the chain.

Finding they destroyed documentation that they knew something would indeed be a pretty big smoking gun. There's no real reason to think that they did though, since the businesses in question aren't actually making any money off of it or in a position to benefit. They actually loose money by having to pull stock and destroy it.

In at least one case, we know which company added the lead and which potentially knew about it, they're just in Ecuador.

Also, felony murder requires that you have intent to commit a criminal act. As written, not necessarily as applied, it would apply if you agreed to drive to a gas station robbery and your passenger killed someone. If you just agree to give someone a ride and then they kill someone you're not culpable, assuming you said "oh hell no" and then didn't continue to give them a ride post-murder.

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True, but in the modern era so is aluminum, and I would have expected essentially everywhere to have updated by now since we're more than a century into knowing lead and food don't mix.