Posted on 07/18/2007 7:12:29 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
Consumers turning to organic food in the wake of warnings about antifreeze-laden toothpaste, poisoned pet food, and antibiotic-laced fish may be in for a surprise. The same country blamed for those scares, China, is quietly muscling in on the organic market.
Upscale grocery chains like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods now import popular organic snacks such as edamame and canned staples such as kidney beans from China. That has made some buyers looking for pristine, all-natural food a bit skittish.
......Organic produce imported from China carries the U.S. Department of Agriculture's organic logo and is certified by private firms authorized to approve use of the label. However, consumers who view that as a guarantee that the produce is pesticide-free are mistaken. The federal rules establishing the organic certification do not include routine testing for pesticide contamination.
"I think that is a weak part of the standards," a food-safety scientist at Consumers Union in Yonkers, Urvashi Rangan, said. An official with an American nonprofit group that certifies Chinese farms as organic, Jeff See, confirmed that testing is not required to get approval to use the logo.
......Mr. See said his group has two full-time employees in China who oversee organic certifications for about 250 growers and food processors. The process relies primarily on paperwork audits and on-site inspections looking for unapproved chemicals. All producers are visited at least once a year. "We don't have inspectors in the field 100% of the time," he said. "They do quite a few verification inspections unannounced where they have maybe a day's warning at most. … They're pretty thorough."
......"It's not a food safety program. It's a marketing program," an Agriculture Department spokeswoman, Joan Shaffer, said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Organic...as in shredded cardboard? Is that what they mean?
I bought green onions the other day that were from Mexico. What do we produce here anymore? I mean it’s summertime, I should be able to get American green onions, right?
And as for China, if I pick up something that says product of China I put it right back on the shelf.
Organic, oh yeah, I beleive it.
Crikey - this is going to force me into doing the work many Americans gave up doing - I must carry on in my Mother’s footsteps in the kitchen: canning/freezing/processing local produce only. If I can’t trust my organic garlic powder from the local SDA health food store, than who can I trust???
Organic antifreeze and melamine? Our government can’t be trusted to guarantee food safety when there are campaign funds to be cashed from free traitors.
oh, yeah, CHINA! ORGANIC food! we’ll buy that! har har! NOT!
That’s what I’m doing. I got my own raspberry, blueberry, strawberry plants. I’ve been expanding my garden. The more I can grow myself, the happier I’ll be. Too bad the growing season is so danged short in NY.
China’s idea of organic is probably worse than our idea of polluted.
Organic garlic powder??? From a health food store???
Isn’t that a contradiction? Shouldn’t you be using fresh garlic? If I buy fresh garlic from an ordinary grocer, and you by garlic powder from a health food store, who is more natural, me or you?
Let’s see, out in a distant field somewhere in China growing organic produce when <- BAM ->, you just *have* to go for a #1 and a #2.
“Organic produce” from China suddenly has a whole new meaning for me.
Oh Boy! All organic? You’re sh***ing me!
Ping, mom4...
Looks like your concerns in this thread (Say It Ain't So, Whole Foods...When Your Favorite Company Takes the Stonewalling Approach) regarding Whole Foods carrying Chinese products was well founded. Any why they've been stonewalling you!
And in case you missed it:
Regulators Launch Informal Investigation Into Whole Foods CEO's Anonymous Postings
Now that’s a very good question. You may not accept my answer, but here it goes. The majority of the so-called fresh garlic that you buy in your grocery store comes from China, and from what I have read, it is irradiated so that it won’t spoil by the time it gets to the grocery store. I want to buy American fresh garlic, but the stores don’t offer it. So, I bought the garlic powder at the health food store that comes from American garlic and is not irradiated. I will still buy the inferior Chinese garlic, or Argentinian, or whatever, but it ticks me off that I don’t even have a choice to spend more money and buy the good stuff from California!!!!
That's probably the produce that they grow in raw sewage. LOL IF I NEVER eat another piece of food for China, it will be too soon for me.
“organic” is a classic marketing business case, where one can gain more value on basically the same product for a “perceived” value. You have to give credit to the organic folks for being one the best examples of the use of marketing techniques to gain value.
“Oh Boy! All organic? You’re sh***ing me!”
Just slughtly diferent, here they shovel cow poop on jt and ca it organic and in China they just dump their human waste out of their “honey buckets” on it.
Personally, I want mine raised with the proper chemicel fertalizer for the particular crop and the soil condition and the proper pesticides used.
I had all the buggy produce I ever want to see durring and before WW2!
My brother lives in India, He says you dont want to eat all the lovely vegetables.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.