All posts in the topic No Food From China (Short link)
Summary
- There are 5 posts — by 5 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Kris Williams at Nov 26 16:14 UTC
I want to know why federal and state officials are not doing more about the
problem of contaminated food.
Just today I read that melamine was discovered in infant formula in the US.
The response of the FDA official was: " "There's no basis for concern because
we're talking about trace levels that are so low ... that there's absolutely no
risk,"
Since when is it acceptable to have an industrial contaminant that is used to
artificially elevate the nitrogen content of food in infant formula? Does that
imply that at some point there is a concentrated batch that is just diluted
down to trace levels?
Last fall, melamine-tainted milk killed 4 children in China and more than
50,000 children became ill. Many developed kidney disease from the effects of
this compound. The compound has been found in milk, eggs, fish and other food
products form China. There is clearly an element of surveillance out there. I
suspect that is because there are Chinese producers of major food ingredients
in this country.
But surveillance is not enough.
Every food product in this country needs to be clearly labeled if it contains
ingredients from outside the United States.
George Dawson
Can't remember in which paper I read it (or if AP) but last week the FDA
reported it was opening an office in China.
Thought the Chinese Gov't had learned its lesson with the pet food poisonings.
They instituted a unique form of 'quality control'... the head of the
companywas executed.
best wishes,
cheryl luger
nokomis east (minnehaha) Mpls.
I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder
to see them not ashamed.
--- Jonathan Swift
I wouldn't eat anything from China right now. Let the markets do their thing and let their food businesses fail. I found this post that says you can determine country of origin from the bar code. http://phileagle.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/how-to-identify-china-made-products/ Since melamine contamination in milk products manufactured by China leaked in the media the whole world panicked. Nations pulled out not only milk products but all food products made in China for positive testing of melamine. Since the public has been aware of these products there is a possibility that businessmen would never put the identity of the manufacturers in these products again. That would leave us in the dark and if we are not cautious we would end up consuming all those poisons in melamine contaminated foods manufactured by China. Dont misunderstand me please. Im not saying that all foods manufactured in China are melamine contaminated. But how do we know its not? So just to be so sure we consumers would refrain buying those China made products regardless whether its contaminated or not.. But how do we know if the products we are buying are not made in China since we would not be seeing the Made in China identity? Simply look for the barcode. The first three digits (others just two digits) identify the country where the product is made. The first three codes for China made products are 690, 691 and 692 barcodes. Taiwan is 471 while USA and Canada are 00 to 09. France bears the codes of 30 to 37 while Germany is identified through 40 to 44. Japan is 49 and United Kingdom is 50. Our responsibility is to save ourselves from contaminants. Let us educate ourselves. Lee Surma Maple Grove
Lee, thank you for this bit of information.
I knew barcodes could be read, but knowing what your reading is the story.
Might this be a good example of where government regulations can and do serve a
good purpose?
When the packaging has the 'made in------' label or food having a country of
origin label, I still have to take the time to look for it and read it. But if
there is no label, then what?
Bar codes are tough to read unless you have a cheat sheet with you. Even then,
it still puts the onus on me to look for and read the bar code.
Ron Leurquin
Nokomis East
Lee provided:
Since the public has been aware of these products there is a possibility that
businessmen would never put the identity of the manufacturers in these products
again.
That would leave us in the dark and if we are not cautious we would end up
consuming all those poisons in melamine contaminated foods manufactured by
China.
Dont misunderstand me please. Im not saying that all foods manufactured in
China are melamine contaminated. But how do we know its not? So just to be so
sure we consumers would refrain buying those China made products regardless
whether its contaminated or not.. But how do we know if the products we are
buying are not made in China since we would not be seeing the Made in China
identity? Simply look for the barcode. The first three digits (others just two
digits) identify the country where the product is made. The first three codes
for China made products are 690, 691 and 692 barcodes. Taiwan is 471 while USA
and Canada are 00 to 09. France bears the codes of 30 to 37 while Germany is
identified through 40 to 44. Japan is 49 and United Kingdom is 50.
The ability to determine country of origin from a UPC code is only partially true in the US - see below. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp Summary of the snopes article: The EAN does show the country where the bar code was assigned but this is not necessarily where the raw product came from. In the US we use UPC codes not EAN-13 so we do not see the country code normally. Hoax slayer has similar information http://www.hoax-slayer.com/product-bar-codes.shtml IMO, it's still better to look for the "made in" label.