Health: Where's the Food From

Products from China used to be associated with bargain prices.
Now they're associated with health threats. In May, pet food carrying the industrial chemical melamine killed dozens of pets across the United States. Then there were lead-painted toy trains, toothpaste contaminated with dry-cleaning chemicals and drug residues in seafood. Most recently, Robert's American Gourmet Food recalled Veggie Booty, a snack food popular with kids, after salmonella bacteria found in the Chinese-made seasoning ingredients was said to have sickened 57 people in 18 states. "China has practices that aren't up to our standards," says Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. Because of the way food products are grown and processed in China, bacteria, drugs and other chemicals, including heavy metals and pesticides, can find their way into products. But the $288 billion worth of Chinese goods that come into this country every year are hard to avoid. China is the third largest food supplier to the United States, after Canada and Mexico. It is a primary supplier of seafood, garlic, seasonings, apple juice, citric and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and various spices. Roughly 80 percent of the ascorbic acid and 50 percent of the xantham gum found in such products as baby food and salad dressing comes from China, says Peter Kovacs, a food-industry consultant. And, unlike bikes or shoes, food doesn't always say "Made in China." Here's how to stay safe.

Avoid the seafood.
Currently the FDA is blocking imports of Chinese farm-raised catfish, bass, shrimp, dace (similar to carp) and eel while it waits for cleaner fish farms and better inspections. But concerns can go further than that. "I don't eat shrimp from outside the country," says Doyle, who notes that seafood-farming practices in most Southeast Asian countries include overcrowding, exposure to runoff from chicken farms and other opportunities for bacterial and antibiotic contamination. Seafood—fresh or frozen—is required to be labeled by country of origin, so it's not hard to tell where it's from.

Go for big brands.
If an item is wholly produced and packaged in China, the label must reflect that. But foods packaged in the United States don't have to have their ingredients individually labeled by country of origin, and that's how Chinese fillers and seasonings can find their way into pet food and toddler snacks. It may help to look for big brand names, suggests Daniel Diermeier, of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Kovacs says major U.S. companies have redoubled their efforts to test all their Chinese-made ingredients.

Eat locally.
Advocates of the local-food movement say that sticking to foods that come from within a day's drive is good for the environment and healthier. Find community-supported farms and agricultural cooperatives at attra.ncat .org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php. You still have to cook meats thoroughly and wash your hands: China doesn't have a monopoly on bacteria.

Dig deeper.
Make a habit of checking for problem foods and products at recall.gov, which keeps up with all U.S. recalls. Ask your grocer where your produce comes from, and push for more disclosure from manufacturers about their ingredients, even if you have to call the companies that make the products you eat most, says Caroline Smith DeWaal of the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which keeps records of food threats at cspinet.org/foodsafety. You can also pick up some detective tricks from "A Year Without 'Made in China'" ($24.95), a chronicle of author Sara Bongiorni's efforts to spend a year boycotting Chinese products.
Her conclusion: it's not easy.

With Karen Springen

© 2007
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