Sssssssssneaky?
After the travesty that was the pet food poisoning by Chinese manufacturing processes, it seems that the poor little animals are not the most tragic victims.
Something was wrong with the babies. The villagers noticed their heads were growing abnormally large while the rest of their bodies were skin and bones. By the time Chinese authorities discovered the culprit — severe malnutrition from fake milk powder — 13 had died.
Chinese foods (not take out, mind you) are increasing on the global market. From personal experience, I’m finding fruits traditionally from New Zealand being imported from China now. Vegetables grown locally with ease are being imported from China, and then labelled Organic by the USDA (bullcookies!). Chinese products are making huge headways globally, but the quality is questionable.
By value, China is the world’s No. 1 exporter of fruits and vegetables, and a major exporter of other food and food products, which vary widely, from apple juice to sausage casings and garlic. China’s agricultural exports to the United States surged to $2.26 billion last year, according to U.S. figures — more than 20 times the $133 million of 1980.
China has been especially poor at meeting international standards. The United States subjects only a small fraction of its food imports to close inspection, but each month rejects about 200 shipments from China, mostly because of concerns about pesticides and antibiotics and about misleading labeling. In February, border inspectors for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocked peas tainted by pesticides, dried white plums containing banned additives, pepper contaminated with salmonella and frozen crawfish that were filthy.
Since 2000, some countries have temporarily banned whole categories of Chinese imports. The European Union stopped shipments of shrimp because of banned antibiotics. Japan blocked tea and spinach, citing excessive antibiotic residue. And South Korea banned fermented cabbage after finding parasites in some shipments.
Then again, maybe it’s not bad, poisoned food. Maybe it’s just good ole fashioned protectionism…
Chinese authorities, while conceding the country has many safety problems, have claimed other countries’ assessments of products are sometimes “not accurate” and have implied the bans may be politically motivated, aimed at protecting domestic companies that compete with Chinese businesses.
My locally grown / organically grown groceries are now the only option for my family and me. Has globalization failed providing the best for less again?
So, the culprit??
Is that MOST of the USA foods ARENT Organic??
Arnt editable??
Oh ECA… You are the end!
I’m a frequent visitor to Asia and, man, the food you get there is way different than what you get at PF Chang’s. I’m extremely careful about what I eat when I’m there, even in my in-laws own household. I mean, they eat the parts of the animal that we in the US throw away. The whole pet food thing should be a warning, and maybe there should be a country of origin label on foodstuffs, like there is on manufactured goods.
#3: I never understood why food products are not required to have the country of origin listed. I care less about knowing where a $.88 plastic flashlight comes from than I do for someting I injest into my body. Let’s get Congress cracking on this one. The only real resistance will be greedy companies that do not wish to disclose the true nature of their suppliers…
I would never, ever, knowingly eat any food produced or grown in China, or anywhere else in Asia. It’s not worth the risk. I can’t do the 100 mile diet thing–eat only what’s produced 100 miles from home–or I’d be living on parsnips and carrots all winter, but I come as close to it as I can. Not organic necessarily, but certainly not Chinese…
4 – Jason – And those who wnat to hide the source would be the middlemen, who neither produce nor consume and have no investment in anything but the arbitrage. You’re right, they should have to label imported foods,
I was really upset over the pet food thing, but now humans are dying. When are we going to wake the fuck up and make China accountable for not only this but all other human rights violations against its own people. We wont, we’re too busy bringing democracy to people who could give a shit about it.
It wouldnt suprise me if it were an attempt at population control through poisoning.
Having lived overseas for a decade — and seeing first-hand the growing conditions in developing countries — I think food is one of the last things America should outsource.
There is no way to do assure that outsourced food is safe.
#5
Sure, sure.. You can always go back to your hick ways of eating roasted roadkill, boiled mudbugs and possum pie.
9,
There ARE things called greenhouses you know. And most livestock survives winter these days.
Of course, if you LIKE tainted food from foreign despotic countries that their own people don’t trust, knock yourself out! BTW, how’s the guinea pigs in Honduras?
1. dont look at the list of items in our Food to hard.. Esp what you buy in the store…
2. it hasnt been that Long ago that WE ate most of every animal without disgust…OR concern…
#10
“if you LIKE tainted food from foreign despotic countries that their own people don’t trust, knock yourself out!”
I think that despotic nation where its people don’t trust their goverment is called The United States of America.
The joke’s on you, most of what is grown here is exported to the USA and the pesticide Nemagon (which is claimed to produce birth defects including the famous one where babies are born okay BUT THEIR BRAINS WERE MISSING) used by Chiquita Brands in their banana plantations was used until the mid 90s.
After all, it’s better to eat weird but healthy animals than to eat overprocessed and E. Coli ladden food products made with pride in the USA.
infant mortality? int the world’s most populated country!? Surely, you jest…
like the chineese couldnt stand to lose a few hundred nillion people
Labeling imported foods with the country of origin sounds like a good idea. That would also give the neo-cons another reason to gripe about the over regulation of our food industry.
A second idea would be to have the importers post a bond that all their foods were safe and / or met federal standards. They could also then have independent labs test the foods before the bond would be returned. Countries with safety standards comparable to the US would be exempted.
#14
The bond idea is a good one — as long as it is HUGE.
In most developing countries, expect the company just to disappear if tainted or tampered-with food kills a bunch of people in the US.
And expect local authorities to throw up their hands and claim that there is nothing that could have by done nor can be done now.
If I am not mistaken most of the oriental countries use human feces as the primary fertilizer. This is one of the reasons Americans usually get diahrrieha when eating overseas. Our bodies are not used to anything but cattle produced fertilizers. I would have serious concerns about importing fruits and vegetables grown with human dung fertilizer, and am surprised the FDA allows imports of fruits and vegetables from countries where this is the practice, in the first place.
Kent — yes, they do use human feces in some countries but that’s not the main issue, IMHO.
In the developing countries I’ve seen, there are simply enforced no sanitation standards, anywhere regarding anything. Field workers are given no place to deficate nor to wash their hands. So, all that mixes right in with the picked crops. Of course the workers are not checked for communicable diseases.
But worse than that is the water — quite literally it would kill you if you drank it. Now, using bacterially lethal water to irrigate is actually OK for many crops because the plant can screen it. out. But water with toxins, pesticides, heavy metals can get right into the produce.
In my observation — which is fairly wide but certainly not authoritative — most farmers and most workers would have absolutely no idea what might be in the water not even have any concept that poisoned water might be a problem.
Many countries might have an agricultural department with staff assigned to watch these things but the people paid to monitor health conditions or water sanitation might not even show up for their jobs or — if they do — be only interested in taking bribes.
I think this sounds really critical — but it is the plain truth as I’ve seen it. That’s why I say that America should think very carefully before they outsource their food to developing countries.
Everyone in U.S. knows America has the most enermy in the world. Everyone hates American.Why I didn’t see anyone is not knid to China?
How can you guys be respected by others while you guys are cursing others’ culture and people and country?