Is China really into our food to this extent?

K

karennoca

Well-known member
This was in our local paper opinion page....maybe someone who is in the business can report on the validity of this disturbing information.

Letters to the Editor: Dec. 3, 2008

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

What are we eating?

Per Lou Dobbs on CNN last week, China's latest food scandal, milk laced with melamine, has killed at least four infants and sickened tens of thousands of babies in China. Melamine is an industrial waste that many Chinese food processors scoop up and use as a filler. Due to melamine's high nitrogen content, it can fool testing and pass as a protein. The result is kidney damage.

We in America need to investigate the origin of our food products, because, yes, Chinese ingredients (including milk products) are on the shelves of area grocery stores offered by Nestle, Cadbury, and Mars Inc., in products such as Oreos, Snickers and M&Ms.

After 15 minutes of trying to dodge the question, a Kraft Foods representative reluctantly admitted to me that every ingredient used in Kraft products is imported from China, with the exception of wheat. That cured me of Kraft. (Oscar Mayer, Maxwell House and Capri Sun are Kraft subsidiaries, by the way.) The only apple juice that appears to be a product of the U.S. is Martinelli's - the rest is from China. Does the U.S. not have enough apples? Albertsons recently recalled its ginger (from China) due to melamine content. Remember melamine-tainted dog food and the melamine-tainted blood-thinning drug Heparin? Again, from China.

When expressing my concerns at supermarket staff, the frequent and dull response I hear is "Yuk, yuk, there's something wrong with everything." Not everything, but consistently products from China.

But it's not just melamine; it's also lead, and thankfully, the FDA has banned five different types of Chinese fish farmed in raw sewage. It's time to educate ourselves as to the sources of our food and medicine, and we need to demand better labeling. Remember, there is tremendous power in boycotting.

Kathleen Moffett

Redding

 
Oh yes. I stopped buying shrimp 3 years ago for just that reason. Wild shrimp is so

difficult to find.

And I read one report a year ago that stated that some of the wheat was coming from China as well. That really is scary.

We are fortunate to live in such a resource-rich area here. I bought bags and bags of local apples at 25 cents a pound so that they would last the winter. And squashes, cabbage, potatoes, anything that will last awhile and that I don't have to worry about in the winter. The amazing prices are just an extra bonus, but how fortunate we are.

I was making a comment a few weeks ago here that even though products say they are made in Canada or US, we still don't have the assurance of the origin of the individual ingredients. Don't forget the huge pet food scandal of 3 years ago; the food was canned in the US and sold there while Canada purchase some beef from the US and canned it in Canada...not knowing it was meat from China. Lots of dead and seriously ill pets in CAnada and the US.

I think the Chinese are finally reporting only about 8 babies' deaths as a result of the melamine poisoning but who knows how many there really are. The news casts showed dozens of parents there with very sick babies, some of babies who had already died (in a country where they are allowed one per family).

(stepping down from my shaky soapbox now)

 
And this morning I read China is concerned about melamine tainted eggs. That could affect a lot of

products that are imported from China, scary indeed.

 
I believe it may be powdered ginger. I wish I knew of a way to track the foods

and where the ingredients come from. Must be someone who knows how to do this.

 
I won't buy dried mushrooms from China despite the tempting price and

this morning I rejected a pkg of plastic zip bags which I noted had been made in China. Not a brand name BTW. But Wheat and Milk from China??? I thought we were still subsidizing production here in the U.S???

 
I believe it's the lack of regulations on fertilizers, pesticides, etc.. that we need to worry about

It's just the far opposite end of the 'organic' scale.

I think the problem is that we just don't know since there is far less control and scrutiny over production of everything there.

I have such a difficult time finding California garlic here. Ginger is quick & easy to grow but garlic has to wait for summertime.

 
I just spoke with Starbucks customer service. They said they use chinese milk sources only for...

...Starbucks stores in China. Nowhere else.

Whew! Thought my non-fat-double-shot-on-ice-venti was a goner!

Michael

 
below is a list of barcodes that identify which country foods came from.

This is part of an email that was forwarded to me. I cannot attest to its validity.

The whole world is scared of China made 'black hearted goods'. Can you differentiate which one is made in the USA, Philippines, Taiwan or China ? Let me tell you how... the first 3 digits of the barcode is the country code wherein the product was made.

Sample - all barcodes that start with 690.691.692 until 695 are all MADE IN CHINA.
471 is Made in Taiwan

This is our human right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products 'made in china', so they don't show from which country it is made.

However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits is 690-695 then it is Made in China .

00 ~ 13 USA & CANADA
30 ~ 37 FRANCE
40 ~ 44 GERMANY
49 ~ JAPAN
50 ~ UK
57 ~ Denmark
64 ~ Finland
76 ~ Switzerland and Lienchtenstein
628 ~ Saudi-Arabian
629 ~ United Arab Emirates
740 ~ 745 - Central America

All 480 Codes are Made in the Philippines.

Please inform your family and friends for them to be aware.


http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fp121.htm

 
Thanks for calling my attention to this. As for China, I can say this: a friend of mine...

...works for a very, very large and prominent electronics manufacturer. She is a professional in many disciplines, and her job is to check out foreign businesses that seek to provide parts for the megacorp she works for.

She has flown to practically any country you can name in the last 20 years, and she sets up shop and does a fine-tooth-comb inspection of every aspect of the business she is scouting. She is so thorough and efficient, when she's through with them, they feel like they've had the same procedure Katie Couric had on national television.

She spent a combined total of 6 years in China. She says, bluntly, that the cutthroat attitudes in China are worse than any country she's ever seen (including Russia), and businessmen at all levels operate with no regard for the safety of the consumer -ESPECIALLY if the product is being exported.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Michael

 
Is this how you get your insights into Mexican produce as well? You made me permanently

wary a couple of years ago about that.

And it is all too easy to buy Mexican all winter.

Maybe I should just move to permanent sunshine and grow my own.

 
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