Food for thought...Chinese style

[Gary Keedwell]

I only caught part of the news headline, but apparently we only inspect 1% of food products from China entering the USA. So far they have discovered contaminated dog food and toothpaste. Looks like some kind of shake-up is due for the FDA. ( Food & Drug Administration)
Looks like out-sourcing has reached it's limits?

Gary K.

[Bonnie Campbell]

They have also found contaminated seafoods and fish.

Me thinks it's time we banned Chinese products until they get some kind of quality control over there (and here for that matter!).

Also there was some meat food product that they were using CARDBOARD as a 'filler'....:eek:

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I only caught part of the news headline, but apparently we only inspect 1% of food products from China entering the USA. So far they have discovered contaminated dog food and toothpaste. Looks like some kind of shake-up is due for the FDA. ( Food & Drug Administration)
Looks like out-sourcing has reached it's limits?

Gary K.

So many cute women. It can't be the food.

[Gary Keedwell]

I guess I'll have to be more vigilant with my food products. It never dawned on me to look for the "made in China" on food labels.:eek: Hey Cliff....ya gotta look out for those cute ones.:p

Gary K.

[Randal Stevenson]

We inspect 1% of the food, isn't entirely correct. We inspect what is LABELED as food. A report I saw here showed that some of the stuff they had shipped (that contained the melamine), was labeled as inedible (bypassing several different inspections).

Outsourcing reached it's limits? When you can't get an honest assessment of your import verses manufacturing capabilities due to a national security response, I think we passed that point some time ago.

[Gary Keedwell]

We inspect 1% of the food, isn't entirely correct. We inspect what is LABELED as food. A report I saw here showed that some of the stuff they had shipped (that contained the melamine), was labeled as inedible (bypassing several different inspections).

Outsourcing reached it's limits? When you can't get an honest assessment of your import verses manufacturing capabilities due to a national security response, I think we passed that point some time ago.

Could you expand on that comment? I hope it isn't politics, again.:rolleyes:
Gary K.

[Randal Stevenson]

Which part?

It was about 2 to 3 years ago, that I saw the slashdoted story about the reporter who requested under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), about our ability to manufacture. When the reply came, it said the information was not available due to national security concerns.

The other part should still be able to be readily found. What I caught (trying to watch while getting stuff done).

[Rob Bourgeois]

chinese catfish...

first off aren't "real " catfish.
secondly the are raised in home ponds were the house is built over the pond. Everything drains into the pond.. no septic system.

This was allowed till the senators from MS realized it was hurting their aquaculture industry. Politics won one for us that time...

All of you who shop at Walmart. There isnt a single USA frozen seafood item in the store. Down here Chinese crawfish have decimated the industry...I can tell the difference. The Chinese ones smell like....feet.

[Dennis Peacock]

Well, let's just say that I'm far less satisfied with the "made in China" products. Recently, the LOML purchased a thermometer for our refrigerator. Zero in the center, warm temps to the right and cold temps to the left.
I put it in the frige and waited for about 1 hour. Opened the door and it was 82 degrees in the refrigerator according to the thermometer. I took out the thermometer and placed my hand on the back of it and watched the dial more slowly to the "cold" side of the thermometer. :mad: Needless to say that this was Backwards to what it is supposed to be. We took it back to the store and no, it wasn't Wal Mart, and aired our displeasure with yet another China made product. :mad:

Now we look long and hard to find products that are NOT made in China. ;)

[Kyle Kraft]

I will not buy anything that goes in my pie-hole from China. I'm a bit leery of other foodstuffs from other countries as well, but as a hard and fast rule, no Chinese imported anything goes down my food chute.

Start reading the labels on everything you buy, a lot of candy and cosmetic items are from other countries too. I have instructed my wife not to buy my girls any of the "kiddie cosmetics", lip gloss and the like unless it is made in the good ol' USA.

[John Shuk]

Well we need to get our wheat and fish from there since we can't produce that stuff here. It just won't grow in the US.

[Steven Wilson]

You should read the book A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni (Hardcover - Jun 29, 2007) . She's a freelance writer and has had a few article in CSM on this subject. I heard a report about her book on NPR this morning and it sounds like a very interesting book. In a nutshell, good luck avoiding China.

[Jim Becker]

I just returned from Shanghai last night. Trust me, the Chinese government is keenly aware of the issues...the papers there are full of articles about this and in my private conversations with folks, they indicated that the reactions/actions appear to be real.

In the mean time, Tyson (and other brand) chicken products from the US are not flowing in that direction due to salmonella contamination. So it works both ways.

[Belinda Barfield]

If you are interested in really controlling where your food comes from, check out the Localvore program. For those who aren't familiar with this program, you basically commit (for whatever amount of time you desire) to eat only things grown within a 100 mile (I think) radius of your home. One, it makes you more aware of what is and can be grown in your area, and two, it helps out the local farmers. Just think, if for some reason the food transportation industry shut down completely, what your dietary options would be if you only had access to local sources.

The Eat Local program has motivated farmers in some areas to "branch out" and expand the variety of foods they are planting. It has also motivated some families to actually plant a garden and "grow their own".

For more info check out www.eatlocalvt.com (http://www.eatlocalvt.com).

Just my 0.02 if you don't want to eat a cardboard meat substitute.;)

[Bonnie Campbell]

Good luck with reading the labels. They don't list country of origin for ingredients. If they did I'm sure a LOT of products would not be bought anymore. Best thing I can think of, as much as I hate the 'sue' mentality, is to sue any company that sells a product that they find contaminated ingredients in. Once it gets more expensive paying out lawsuits, than buying a good tested ingredient, they might change their minds about where the bottom line is.

[Pat Germain]

Jim is right about this. The Chinese government recently executed a former minister of food and drug control (similar to our FDA) for taking bribes and allowing bogus medicines to be distributed. Let me say that again: the guy was executed.

FYI, the cardboard meat substitute was found in a small, Chinese bakery. They weren't exporting those "treats". Of course, it's still disturbing.

I think we have some very large problems with our food distribution system and Chinese imports are just a small part of it. Belinda's suggestion to "eat local" is a good one. I also think it represents the future of food distribution.

Eating local takes a lot of research. There are a lot of terms used which don't make sources apparent. For example, I recently learned "Atlantic Salmon" is another term for "Farmed Salmon". That's right, it came from a hatchery and not a river. However, I don't think there's any way to know specifically where; could be Norway or many other places. Typically, Atlantic salmon is fine, although not as tasty as wild salmon, but it is more likely to have higher levels of mercury.

[Greg Peterson]

"I will not buy anything that goes in my pie-hole from China."

We have no way of knowing where our food comes from. And buying foods labeled organic is no assurance that the food is actually organic.

Buying foods locally grow and produced is probably the best all round solution. I'm all for keeping my dollars as close to home as possible by supporting local, small business.

[Belinda Barfield]

We're pretty lucky here in Savannah. We have a decent Farmer's Market, and a summer organic market. Of course, as mentioned by someone else, I have no proof that the foods sold at the organic market are truly organically grown. One of the largest sellers at the Farmer's Market has huge farms, so of course they use pesticides, etc. All in all, I still feel pretty comfortable with the quality of the food.

My parents, who live in a small town, still grow what they call a "garden", which provides fresh vegetables for several families. My mother canned 14 quarts of tomatoes just last week. We all buy pork from a cousin, and my parents buy half of a cow at the beginning of the winter. They buy eggs from a local hen house. Thy buy staples, dairy, and poultry from a locally owned grocery store. They are a true case of producing their own and buying as much locally as possible. However, my mother still loves to go to the book section in Wally-World. :rolleyes:

[Gary Keedwell]

To me, it is another wake-up call. I will be a little more vigilant and start to read labels that I ignored in the past. You just never know. There are alot countries that have different definitions of what they consider edible and clean. Don;t mean to sound snobish but it is a fact of life.:o
I really like the summers for the fresh local veggies. I sure miss my garden. I never used pesticides. I had some bug problems but always grew more then I needed and gave the rest away. Oh well, when home sales pick up, I'll be looking to get another house and glady leave this condo life to others.:)

Gary K.