Think wheat gluten's the only thing we have to worry about? Think again.

[babylonsister]

http://newsgrinder.blogspot.com/

Think wheat gluten's the only thing we have to worry about? Think again.

A new AP report is a real appetite killer, at least as far as imports from China are concerned. Pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums and crawfish contaminated with salmonella -- all from China -- had officials' attention before the public got wind of the contaminated wheat gluten that made its way into our pet food supply.

The report says there are now "sharpened concerns over China's food exports and the limited ability of U.S. inspectors to catch problem shipments."

So what will the U.S. do about its increasing reliance on imports from China? They're sending us everything from produce and processed foods to meat -- but meanwhile, according to the AP report, "China's Health Ministry reported almost 34,000 food-related illnesses in 2005, with spoiled food accounting for the largest number, followed by poisonous plants or animals and use of agricultural chemicals."

Only a small percentage of the shipments we receive each year are being inspected. But the AP report reveals "shipments from China were rejected at the rate of about 200 per month this year, the largest from any country, compared to about 18 for Thailand, and 35 for Italy."

The reasons for rejecting the shipments? Contamination from pesticides, antibiotics and other potentially harmful chemicals, and false or incomplete labeling.

Despite all the threats to people that arrive from China, it may be the threat to our pets that brings about more stringent rules to safeguard our food supply.

The full AP report located here:

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070413/D8OFI2A00.html

[merh]

1. what's the old saying?

"great men are dead, greater are dying and I don't feel so good myself." :puke:

That is the worst thing about this admin, we don't know who to trust or what to trust. Living in doubt and concerned all the time wears on a person. :(

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the bastards. :cry:

[tsuki]

2. Six years ago, we expanded our garden. Now, most of our vegtables

and fruits are from our yard. I walked into the grocery story last week-end and it frightened me more than a red alert.

Something needs to be done.

[Eurobabe]

29. You are one of the wise ones

Others can only hope that more CSA programs catch on in the US. :hi:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. kick

[Rydz777]

What next?

Now we're importing food from China! It's bad enough that all my clothes, electronics (including light bulbs), plates, forks, and spoons, are imported from there. However, there's always something to be thankful for. When I was last in a Chinese restaurant, I discovered that the fortune cookies were made in New York City.

[Rydz777]

4. What next?

Now we're importing food from China! It's bad enough that all my clothes, electronics (including light bulbs), plates, forks, and spoons, are imported from there. However, there's always something to be thankful for. When I was last in a Chinese restaurant, I discovered that the fortune cookies were made in New York City.

[jedr]

5. as a food inspector myself, the situation will only get worse;

We hold our producers and processors to high standards and imported food that has little or no quality control. Products are relabeled and repackaged under 100's of different labels with poor trace-back trails. The thing that bothers me most is the fact that the answer to this will be the cutting back inspectors and inspections. In Bushland you always kill the messenger.

[cascadiance]

14. The problem is that even our OWN food isn't well tested or doesn't have high standards!

Study how much diabetes has risen amongst young people since we allowed corporations to use HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) as sweetener in just about everything we have here and we in fact go after places like Mexico to force them to use HFCS too instead of the old tried and true cane sugar for sweetener through the WTO, purely for business reasons and not for health. They then use that and subsidized corn products to put the local sugar farmers in South America out of business so that multinational businesses and those country's IMF-beholden elites go and buy up their land and use it for outsourcing corporations where they turn around and hire those desperate and broke farmers to work at for slave wages.

And Europe and Japan both have more stringent laws than either the U.S. or Canada do in terms of how we enforce feed standards to prevent Mad Cow disease. They don't allow cattle to be fed to poultry/pigs or pigs/poultry meat to be fed to cattle (since its been found that poultry and pigs are carriers of Mad Cow, even if they don't catch the disease). Neither Canada or the U.S. have these standards in place, in effort to placate businesses who want to keep their costs down in terms of feeding animals. Can you say another ticking time bomb?!!!

The bottom line is that if the FDA were on the ball and putting forth decent standards to measure food quality with and actually enforcing them, whether the food is coming from China, here or somewhere else, it shouldn't make a difference. It would still be better quality food. But our corporatocracy doesn't allow the FDA to have any proper teeth to do this, and therefore we will continue to have these health messes until the American people say "enough" and figure out that they need to throw off "for profit" government everyplace.

[jedr]

17. won't argue with your statement;

However , on sight inspectors is more stringent than no inspection at all. Also to my mind HFCS will be the death of us all, avoid it as much as possible.

[truedelphi]

24. You make very excellent points that everyone should consider. n/t

[kurth]

6. "Over the past 25 years, Chinese agricultural exports to the U.S. surged nearly 20-fold"

Scary shit.

[jillan]

7. This administration is probably happy about it

It means more $$$$$$$ for their pharma buddies.

They don't care about us. They only care about their $.

[az chela]

8. So how can we tell if the ingredients in food come from China???

Makes me want to move to the country and grow my own food.I get all our meat from Iowa,it is corn fed and no hormones but now I am worried about the vegetables

[lakeguy]

9. buy local and organic...

it's not a 100% gaurantee, but it's better than not knowing at all.

[jedr]

11. Often those selling at farmers markets buy thier products;

At wholesale houses and are not their own production...be sure to ask.

[kath]

19. Yes - our "farmers' market" here includes people who buy their produce from the same wholesalers

that the supermarkets do, and sell it at inflated prices. "Farmers' market", my ass - this pisses me off to no end. When I lived in Evanston, IL they made sure that all the goods sold at the farmers market were locally grown and sold by the folks who grew them.

[LuckyLib]

31. ITA -- this makes me madder than hell. You really know if it's "out of season" fruits and vegetable

that it's been driven in in large quantities and the farmer's market seller is just another chain in the system.

[Mabus]

22. We do and I cook from scratch a lot

I use as little processed foods as possible when I cook. We've had a farmer's market here in town for years. I only buy from vendors I know are legitimate locals who grow/produce the goods they sell. Most of the time I can buy from the same people via the local co-op. I've learned that even the little things are important. I make most of my seasoning blends for tacos, spaghetti, etc. from things I buy at the local co-op, grow myself or trade with neighbors. I avoid cooking with oils and make a pretty good non-oil salad dressing with fresh limes, Bragg's amino acids, filtered water and various spices lying around the kitchen.

[jedr]

10. you can't

Produce may be grown in central America, shipped to Mexico and relabeled, shipped to California and relabeled and then to a processing plant and made into a salad mix etc. and relabeled, all with poor trace-back information prior to arriving in the states

[az chela]

12. I used to work in a health food store that sold all organic

vegetables but i have read a lot of articles that say you cant be sure they are organic!!!

[jedr]

15. Until the late '90's there were no laws defining "organic"

The term meant just as it said, it was carbon based . Now there are USDA laws as to the marketing term organic and certain criteria need to be met. The term "Natural" meant only that it is a natural form , thus if eggs are "All Natural" it means that they are not plastic.

[Mabus]

23. The thing you've got to also remember is the water

Around these parts the water is polluted with herbicides and pesticides and probably good portions of antibiotics from both humans and farm animals that have passed into the eco-system. I'm aware of that and realize that even when I buy from the local organic farmers that the water they use is more than likely polluted and that it gets into the produce in spite of their best efforts. I'm just hoping (or maybe deluding myself) that by eating as organically as possible my system won't get as highly dosed as eating the stuff they spray and the animals they shoot full of anitbiotics.

[54anickel]

13. Oh I so did not want to hear that! Thanks Jedr, time to expand the garden. n/t

[cascadiance]

16. And Monsanto's GMO seed pollution spreads everywhere too through the wind!

And then they have the nerve to sue those folks for trying to sell products with their pollution in it, saying that they own DNA of the seed and haven't been compensated for it.

[jedr]

18. The jury is still out on GMO's

It's a real crap shoot. Read an article the other day as to the fact that GMO's may be what is killing bees.

[cascadiance]

21. Yup, I've heard that too...

And also selective growing of "seedless" bananas may be sterilizing them to the point of dying out too...

[truedelphi]

25. I'd love it if you could trace down the article

I have <heard> that GMO is killing the bees, but want a more authoritative source than that.

otherwise I can be accused of simply writing about something based on my prejudices against GMO.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. as woody harrelson says.....

"be a radical...grow your own food.

watch his "Thoughts From Within" message

http://www.voiceyourself.com/03_thoughtsfromwithin/03_movie.php

[TreasonousBastard]

26. As I've been saying for years...

all imported food is subject to inspection, but they just don't get to see all of it, and they seem to be seeing less now.

Instead of worrying about "terrorists" and wasting scarce resources on bullshit searches for imaginary threats, why not just probperly do the jobs that we've bee ndoing for years?

[intheflow]

27. You don't have to go to China for contaminated catfish and crawfish!

Plenty of contaminates here on the Mississippi Coast.

http://www.sunherald.com/102/story/19076.html

[kenny blankenship]

28. i look at pet food can labels and think

Ok so I'm avoiding products with wheat gluten in them (for now), but why wouldn't "brewer's rice", which is another frequently seen grain extender in petfood, be subject to the same problem? Rats eat wheat, but they also eat rice. If agribiz companies overseas are using high levels of rat poison on wheat what's stopping the same thing from happening to rice? If on the other hand the problem was melamine fertilizer, what's to stop melamine from being used as a fertilizer for rice, or for any other grains?

[RestoreGore]

30. As long as the American people suffer a govt that caters to them for $$$$

What else do you expect?