Kitchen

[suzyQ3]

On 12/12/2014 Sooner said:

I won't eat anything I know is made, manufactured or produced in China. HOWEVER, if Chinese people are doing business in this country and abiding by the FDA, I have absolutely no problems with that and have eaten in Asian restaurants a lot.

Then it would be impossible for you to cook most Chinese or other Asian dishes. Also, when you eat in those Asian restaurants, you are undoubtedly eating some canned, jarred, or bottled food produced in China.

[Sooner]

On 12/12/2014 suzyQ3 said:

On 12/12/2014 Sooner said:

I won't eat anything I know is made, manufactured or produced in China. HOWEVER, if Chinese people are doing business in this country and abiding by the FDA, I have absolutely no problems with that and have eaten in Asian restaurants a lot.

Then it would be impossible for you to cook most Chinese or other Asian dishes. Also, when you eat in those Asian restaurants, you are undoubtedly eating some canned, jarred, or bottled food produced in China.

Well, you can pick anything to pieces in this world if you enjoy doing that. I cook a LOT of Asian stir frys and dishes and with fresh USA grown veggies that are organic when I get them. Yes, I'm sure most people get some Chinese food out not knowing. I seldom order seafood (away from the coast at local places) because I expect it is cheap Asian seafood.

Like a lot of people I do what I can within reason but don't hide in the house or never eat in a restaurant, etc.

[NoelSeven]

On 12/11/2014 HonnyBrown said:

nomar, I volunteer for my local farmers' market. Over the summer, they had a challenge to eat local. Finding it odd, I started paying close attention to where my food comes from.

I was amazed at how many fresh meats are from China! Smithfield, a local pork producer, was bought by a Chinese company. The bakery close to me is Chinese owned. On and on and on.

A coworker recently mentioned that a major bank was bought by a Chinese bank.

I wonder what's going on?

It's been going on for years

[NoelSeven]

We're lucky living in my area. There's a large Asian population here, Chinese came to CA before the Gold Rush to build the railroads and Japanese Americans have been here well before WW2.

There are many local Asian and Latino farmers in the area that have been growing herbs and vegetables for decades for Asian food. The local farmer's markets carry it all fresh and in abundance.

[Campion]

I hate buying the Chinese garlic because by the time it gets to us, it's moldy and dried out. I barely get half a bulb used, and it's ruined. We grow GREAT garlic in the US, but you can't find it. I checked even our local huge farm stand and they only are carrying the Chinese garlic. I resent buying stale, moldy garlic.

[songbird]

We sell food overseas all the time. That and tobacco. Billions of people in Asia and most of them smoke. Millions of dollars are produced by the U.S. selling stuff overseas.

[sfnative]

I do not purchase nor consume, to my knowledge, food made/grown in China and here's the reason.

The U.S. Customs requires that a certain portion of each shipment of food stuffs entering the U.S. to undergo evaluation. To that end, I have a friend who is a "filth inspector" of food stuffs shipped to the U.S. from Asian countries, 90% of which originate from China.

She is given petri dishes that have been plated with a gel substance and some of the food, greatly diluted, from a specific batch. Her job is to inspect each petri dish under a microscope. The petri dish is grided. She has to look for insects, insect parts, rodent hairs and other suspected animal ephemera.

I asked her once how this has affected her and her family, if at all. She said she would never ever purchase anything from China or an Asian country, having seen what she's seen. I asked her about a common item like soy sauce and she said to always buy Kikkoman, because it's made in the U.S. Asked her about the worst item she ever saw under microscope and she said it was shark fins imported from China for prized Shark Fin Soup. She said they were extremely contaminated. (I don't believe shark fins are allowed in any longer.)

Ever since then I read labels ever more so than I used to.

[Mominohio]

I try to read all labels on food, and there are still many, whether fresh or frozen or canned or boxed, that don't really state the country of origin for the foods. If possible, I pass those up and choose something else.

If they say from China, I pass those up even quicker.

[Q4u]

What bothers me is buying meat grown, butchered and packaged in Mexico. Some products now say "from either USA, Canada or Mexico". I will only buy USA meats and am careful to find them. I try to do the same with fruits and vegetables as well.

[chessylady]

Like other things in our country,oversight and inspection is almost nonexistent and it is up to us to protect ourselves. Food from China is not subject to the same standards found in America even though our standards may also be low. If you choose food based on the lowest price, you may be shortchanging your health. Top Ramen noodles are cheap but they have been found to be harmful in several respects. Thanks to the Internet we can research many food stuffs. You can change you and your family's diet for the better.