Posted on 06/20/2007 9:35:15 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
...Most of us buy garlic at a supermarket. We don't know what kind it is, how fresh it is or where it's grown. But there's a good chance it comes from China, which produces 75 percent of the world's supply...
Garlic is the United States' biggest fresh-vegetable import from China, which sent us 138 million pounds of it worth more than $70 million last year. We also get small amounts from Mexico, Argentina and about 15 other countries. We eat a lot of garlic -- about three pounds per person a year.
Although most of our fresh garlic comes from halfway around the world, it's cheaper than garlic grown in California...
Fresh garlic isn't the only form of the vegetable causing concern. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service says dehydrated Chinese garlic imports increased 384 percent in the past 10 years. The AWF's report, based on independent lab tests, found "high levels of lead, arsenic and added sulfites in two supermarket-brand imported garlic powders"...
FDA inspectors refused 298 food shipments from China in the first four months of this year...
The FDA said it could not provide information on detention and refusal rates of Chinese produce and how they compare with those for other countries. But FDA records show that since 1994...numerous shipments from several companies -- five Chinese, one Canadian and one Argentine -- were refused because of insects or insect damage, mold or filth between 1994 and 1996. The Canadian firm had repacked Chinese garlic and shipped it, peeled, in five-pound jars. Thirteen fresh garlic shipments from China were refused at California ports...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The AWF's report, based on independent lab tests, found "high levels of lead, arsenic and added sulfites in two supermarket-brand imported garlic powders"...Farbles, which is what I say in lieu of the "F" word because I have a toddler daughter who repeats everything I say. I love garlic. I use it in everything. I probably have so much lead and and other heavy metals in my system that I could spit ball bearings. Thank you, China. Sigh. It's the local and organic aisle for me from now on.
My local upscale market had garlic on sale a year or so ago. They displayed it in boxes clearly marked Product of China. No one went near the stuff. Now we’re getting it in jars marked Product of Canada?
The only safe way to evaluate food is “Produced in U.S.A.”.
I wish you could add the word GARLIC to the headline, as Bulbs might just as well refer to light bulbs. Thanks
Unless the Feds have cracked down on port shopping, that doesn't necessarily mean that those shipments didn't make it into this country....
Grow your own - it’s easy.
Oh, I agree. But if I change the headline for clarity, I run the risk of punishment by the Gods of AdminMod. I still have scars from the last time I accidently transgressed, and I am still going around in sack cloth and ashes, to the bewilderment of my family.
Me too! I love garlic and use alot!
I don’t have enough yard to grow the amount of garlic I eat.
We need to push for country of origin/manufacturing labeling. It is the only way we can keep our family safe from this sort of thing. It is only logical that countries that routinely poison their own people and place no value on human life are going to manufacture everything as cheaply as possible with no regard to product safety.
Bulbs might just as well refer to light bulbs.
Bacon Butties! A little bit of heaven. If you are really, really bad, you fry the white bread in the bacon grease before composing your butty. But plain old toast would do.
“We need to push for country of origin/manufacturing labeling.”
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!
Oh gee... just a sec... let me wipe the tears from my eyes.
Ok... I’m not laughing at you. You are just stuck where I was before the immigration mess. I once thought we had a government that cared, or that we could make respond to us mere citizens.
No way. Forget it. The Chinese lobby will crush that idea like it was a bug.
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