Foods We Eat From China

[Jeepers]

I tried to find a list of all the food we import from China. I was sort of surprised that I couldn't find one. I wanted a simple list. Just the facts...ma’am. I was also surprised that most of the articles I found are from around 2009-2010.

 

What I found was that the biggest offenders were apple juice, garlic, fish and seafood’s and a lot of our frozen food comes from China. Also most of our imitation vanilla and "honey" is Chinese.

 

They are the largest producer of vit. C and from a website called Blue Delta Investigations said:

 

"L-cysteine, an amino acid derived from human hair is harvested in China. Human hair, from all parts of the body, is used to source this protein. This amino acid is used to boost protein levels in bread sold in the United States. Please look at the ingredients. If it lists L-cysteine, you're eating bread laced with an amino acid that comes from human hair--from China. The hair is gathered from the floors of barbershops and hair salons in China, and the morgue. Duck feathers are also used to produce this amino acid."

 

Much of our high priced 'organic' produce comes from China. I'm sure most of us already knew all of this but I did find a couple of sites worth reading. I'll list the sites, there are quite a few but they are short, and I also found a couple of good PDF's but I'm not sure if I know how to post them. I'll try it though.

 

5-30-2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/business/wariness-over-a-deal-intended-to-deliver-more-pork-to-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

Good Site From Canada

http://www.orwelltoday.com/foodchinamade.shtml

 

5-13-2011

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/05/12/china-imports-grocery-store-cause-concern/

 

Interesting Video On Site

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/05/22/how-china-is-threatening-your-food-supply/

 

Good Info

http://www.bluedeltainvestigations.com/food%20products%20made%20in%20china.htm

 

Other Countries Problem Food

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/bild-861406-413688.html

 

Organics And Pollution

http://www.naturalnews.com/039195_organic_foods_China_pollution_nightmare.html

 

 

PDF- I have to give the links to them. I still can’t pass along a PDF.

http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/DecadeofDangerousImports.pdf

 

Click on link and scroll down to where it say ‘entire report and get the PDF.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib52.aspx

 

[lumabean]

I noticed it's really hard to find fish that isn't from China -- when at Sam's Club, I was looking at the frozen fish, I think the brand most of the frozen, unbreaded fish there is the Treasures of/from the Sea brand, and it's all from China. Wal-Mart, the frozen, unbreaded fish I looked at was from China. For about double the price, I was able to get fish from Iceland. No better at the grocery store -- my son likes the cod from the fish counter at Price Chopper, and while ordering some I asked the guy where it was from ... he said "from frozen" ... which I already knew, since that's what the sign had written on it lol. He said he thought it was from China. Of course. It was the same at the other grocery stores I checked at.

 

Pfff, that pricy "organic" produce from China, I am feeling sort of vindicated in my refusal to trust the organic labels (call me paranoid, but I don't trust a sticker or label, they can slap those things on anything, what are the odds they'd get caught, and even if they did, it would be too late after I already bought it). Organic and China don't seem to go well together for me; their version of organic could be heaven only knows what.

Edited June 8, 2013 by lumabean

[Amishway Homesteaders]

...................... Just another reason to "grow your own" when you can! a.k.a. BIG VEGETABLE GARDEN!

Also buying local whenever possible - like the honey

Buying from local farmers means you can "see' where it come from.

For Organic from China that's just a trick they pay so they can charge more! It just means no chemicals where used to 'grow the fish'. It doesn't mean the water was clean or they were happy fish growing up?

[Jeepers]

I feel the same way about organic. It's a nice thought but who really really knows for sure? I'm old enough to have seen many million+ dollar corporations scam their customers, get caught and then pay a fine. Big deal, they already made their money and the fine is a slap on the wrist to them. Sort of like the NBA/NFL players. What's a few thousand dollars to most of them. I digressed again. Sigh

 

Even Whole Foods got caught selling food from China and they still do. As far as I know (which isn't far) Trader Joe's is the only market supposedly not selling food from China. I've never even seen a Trader Joe's in my area.

 

Yep AH, grow and can your own if you are able to. One article I read said about the only category of food we don't import from them is meat. That got me to thinking it might be a good idea to get meat canned up before they do start. Especially since they are buying Smithfield.

[Jeepers]

Smithfield brands:

http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our-brands/

 

From 4-Traders:

About Smithfield Foods
"Smithfield Foods is a $13 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, Gwaltney®, John Morrell®, Kretschmar®, Curly's®, Carando®, Margherita®, and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs."

http://www.4-traders.com/SMITHFIELD-FOODS-INC-14356/news/Smithfield-Foods-Inc-Kretschmar%AE-Deli-Meats-Kirby-Foods-Grant-Peoria-IL-Boy-s-Make-A-Wish%AE-16840925/

 

They also donated 6.9 million servings of food in 2012. And hire 10,000 Americans. Or at least they used to.

http://www.smithfieldcommitments.com/

 

I don't know why this is bothering me so much. I should be used to it.

[Cat]

Even if you try to be careful, the additives are hidden foreign sources of contamination.

 

I can't believe that I didn't come across this before - or maybe I did, and forgot...?

 

 

L-Cysteine in Bread Products Still Mostly Sourced from Human Hair, Duck Feathers, Hog Hair

Posted on March 09, 2011 by The VRG Blog Editor

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

 

The VRG recently surveyed food ingredient manufacturers and suppliers as well as bread and bagel companies to find out if the animal sources of the common amino acid dough conditioner and human and pet food reaction flavor used to make flavor enhancers, L-cysteine, were still dominant in the marketplace as they were in 2007 when we last reported on L-cysteine. The answer was a resounding "yes."

 

One leading amino acid supplier reported to us in February 2011 that "duck feathers or human hair" were the sources, based on an official statement received from its Chinese supplier.

 

A product manager with another food ingredients company reported to The VRG in August 2010 that "it’s not human hair, not duck feathers, that’s the major source of L-cysteine today; it’s hog hair." He estimated hog hair to be the source of 90% of the Chinese L-cysteine supply.

 

A manager of company that produces non-animal L-cysteine stated in September 2010 that the major animal source of L-cysteine today was "human hair mostly" followed by "duck feathers or hog hair when the human hair supply was low." According to this source, feathers and hog hair "are reportedly inefficient compared to [human] hair [in yielding great quantities of L-cysteine]. So if there is a problem with hair [supply], then hog hair or feathers may be a backup."

 

In September 2010, the VRG asked companies that produce non-animal versions of L-cysteine how their product was doing on the market. Estimates given by the leading companies put the vegetable-based fermentation or synthetic product at approximately 10% of the L-cysteine market today. The reason given for the low market share is the high price of non-animal L-cysteine (two to three times as much) compared to the much cheaper and much more plentiful Chinese (and Indian, to a lesser but growing degree), supply.

 

A second reason given is that a growing number of food companies are demanding a "natural" product and a "synthetic" L-cysteine does not meet that criterion. Furthermore, a major reseller of L-cysteine told us in September 2010 that the company policy is to label anything using an animal-derived (i.e., hair or feathers) L-cysteine as "non-vegetarian" even though it is still technically "vegetarian" and considered "natural." Their labeling decision was precautionary in response to those who prefer to avoid all animal-sourced ingredients. (Note: one company does sell an L-cysteine manufactured through microbial fermentation and another is in the process of developing their own fermentation technique. The latter company estimates that it may take two-three years to perfect the process on an industrial scale and then bring it to market.)

 

The writer noticed through canvassing many companies in February and March 2011, compared to 2007 when The VRG last updated L-cysteine, (http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/2007jul.htm#s2), that a growing number of companies are requesting or reselling only non-animal derived L-cysteine for food use.

 

http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/03/09/l-cysteine-in-bread-products-still-mostly-sourced-from-human-hair-duck-feathers-hog-hair/

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web?fcoid=417&fcop=topnav&fpid=27&q=chinese+hair+makes+additive&ql=

And their hogs are so bad that way too many of them end up floating down their rivers when they die en masse.

 

Not to forget the bird flu that affected so much of their bird populations, too.

[Twilight]

Most of the prepared salads come form China, as does peanut butter which is sent

over here in 55gallon drums.

Clover Valley PB is from Tennessee and made in USA and I believe grown in USA

Check the origin on frozen vegetables and you will find they are mostly China.

 

Trouble is even if we raise at home some of the proteins if not all, in commercial feeds are also

from China as are many of the dog food ingredients. For that matter a lot of the pet foods are

now made over seas.

 

A man(in China) was caught selling rat meat for lamb,etc. He was prosecuted but as fast as they

put one down more are on the way with some other scheme.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Ew!

 

We don't knowingly buy food from China. (Obviously except when it's an ingredient and we're unaware.) I mean, this is the country with colored rivers from their factories!! We quit drinking apple juice a long time ago when there was only 1 brand that was USA apples (Indian Summer) and then they went imported, too. Fish, we again don't buy imported, so we've not had it in a long time until recently. Some of Whole Food's Whole Catch brand is from Alaska (salmon and cod). It's already frozen and packaged at the store in bags. Some of their other fish I've seen is imported. All of the seafood at Sam's has been China or Thialand for over 10 years. I won't address the food dye added to most salmon to make it appear pink. All their frozen berries are imported, too. Orange juice--we only buy the Florida's Natural brand. Sometimes it's more expensive than whatever brand is on sale, but we stick to the USA orange juice.

 

Y'a know what I also think is awful? The imported "fresh" produce. Bananas and pineapple are the only imports we'll buy in the produce section. When we're partway through winter and everything's from Mexico, we do without. Same with frozen broccoli. I quit buying that several years ago because it was all labeled from Mexico.

 

We also quit buying canned mushrooms several years ago. All the cans were labeled made in China. There's even a Pennsylvania Dutchman brand that is Chinese. The really sad part is that in western Pennsylvania we've had mushroom mines shut down in the past few years; they just can't compete with China.

 

I'm looking at supposedly organic clothing, but when it's from certain counties like China, I don't believe that at all.

 

I'm glad we talk about these things here. Most people I know in real life that I've mentioned this stuff to act like I'm making too big of a deal out of it.

Edited June 9, 2013 by out_of_the_ordinary

[Jeepers]

I didn't know Pennsylvania Dutchman mushrooms were Chinese!

Crimony, it says Pennsylvania right on it. And of course I have 2 cases of it.

[The WE2's]

And our FDA says "don't eat this and don't eat that" and "this can't be regulated" etc...and all the time they're filling our grocery stores with JUNK and POISONS! Yes, gardening is a must even if you have to do it in containers. We quit buying fish that was frozen, but now I'm thinking I need to ask the grocer's butcher if it's from China. Just mentioned to Mtn.Man this afternoon that we needed to pick up some fresh fish from one of our local grocers.