Where did that fish sandwich come from?
As if the $177.5 billion trade deficit weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about the safety of imports from China. First it was pet food. Then it was toothpaste, followed by toys, followed by tires. Now it’s something near and dear to my heart: seafood. The FDA has blocked the sale of fish and shrimp coming from China, citing contamination with unapproved animal drugs and food additives. Those banned are catfish, eel, basa, dace, and worst of all, shrimp. The problem is not new. It’s been brewing for years.
From the NY Times:
The F.D.A. maintains a database of imported products that are prevented from entering the United States because they do not comply with American standards. In May, for instance, the agency turned away 165 shipments from China, 49 of them seafood.
Monkfish was rejected for being filthy and unfit to be eaten, the records show. Frozen catfish nuggets were turned away because they contained animal drugs. Tilapia fillets were contaminated with salmonella.
The problems were even worse in April, when 257 shipments from China were rejected, including 68 of seafood. Frozen eel contained pesticides, frozen channel catfish had salmonella and frozen yellowfin steaks were filthy, the records show.
In a report on the F.D.A.’s oversight released in May, Food and Water Watch, a Washington-based nonprofit group, found that more than 60 percent of the seafood that was rejected at the border by the F.D.A. came from China.
But testing and banning food shipments is not enough. We need to demand Country Of Origin labeling, particularly on produce and meat/seafood so that we may make an informed decision on what to buy. Right now the only thing I’m sure is local is the Copper River Salmon in my fresh meat case once a year. If we’re going to eat locally, at least from this continent, we need information to do that. Informed consumers are healthier consumers.
In related news: U.S. family tries living without China
June 29th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
You’re right about country of origin labelling, but it’s getting seriously complicated: every ingredient could come from a different country. The food industry’s going to scream bloody murder, and until someone (human, and preferably cute) dies a bloody death, the politicians won’t do anything like that.
I’m hoping that the Chinese will soon realize that some of their resource issues might be solved by reducing the massive waste caused by their lack of standards. When people realize that doing it right the first time actually costs less than doing a crappy job over and over again, we might see some progress.
June 30th, 2007 at 8:23 am
That’s an excellent point, A. Assembled here from pieces produced overseas would probably carry a “Made in the USA” label. Produce and meat should be fairly straight forward, but I agree, the food industry is going to squeal.
I’m afraid you’re right that it’s going to take high publicity deaths to get something done on the issue. Unfortunately, those of us who have to shop by price are usually the ones ending up with imported goods, and we don’t register on the priority scale. If a politician were sickened by tainted tilapia, something would get done.
July 1st, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Hah. Turns out there’s already a law but it’s been lobbied into submission for four years….
And this is for the “simple” case: meat, fish, poultry. Processed foods are going to require lobby-proof margins.
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:55 am
Thanks for the link, A! You’re right, processed foods are going to take a tragedy to get things past the lobbyists. Too many players and too much money.