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| USDA, IMPORTED FOODS and AMERICA |
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I've been cautious of buying imported food for some time. I bought some Tilapia (fish) from a grocery store within the past year. I asked the person in charge of the department if this fish was an American product. They assured me that it was. The box of fish indeed did have an address in the United States, listed on the outside of the box. However, when I opened the box, guess what----the fish was imported from CHINA!
I did call the headquarters of the company that I purchased the Tilapia from to make them aware of my complaint.
With the acceleration of problems from foods imported from China and recent news headlines--I wanted to put a blog on with some facts you may or may not know.
I recently received a list of candy that "may be" connected to imported products giving problems. I am not certain of the validity of the list of candy, sold in the U.S. I find it indeed worthy of being cautious about. I will post the list of candy, if requested.
The main point I am trying to make here. BE CAREFUL. Check labels, be aware, be VERBAL to the companies that sell things imported from known problem areas and be verbal to congress that we want safety in our food supply.
Article 1: Remember when a lot of our American pets died from tainted food.
Read below:(These articles taken from USDA.gov)
Article 2 concerns changes that take effect in September/October of this year.
ARTICLE 1 (in part) Joint Update: FDA/USDA Update on Tainted Animal Feed Last Modified: 05/02/2007
As reported on April 22 by FDA, the Agency determined that rice protein concentrate imported from China was contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. The product was imported by Wilbur-Ellis, an importer and distributor of agricultural products. Although the company began importing product from China in August 2006, the company did not become aware of the contamination until April 2007. As part of the ongoing investigation, FDA has determined the rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a portion of the pet food was used to produce animal feed. The ongoing investigation is tracing products distributed since August 2006 by Wilbur-Ellis throughout the distribution chain.
ARTICLE 2 USDA TAKES ACTION ON MANDATORY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING USDA Issues Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Interim Final Rule- Federal Register Notice WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 --
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued an interim final rule for the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) program that will become effective on Sept. 30. The rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef (including veal), lamb, chicken, goat, and pork; perishable agricultural commodities (fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts -- as required by the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. USDA implemented the COOL program for fish and shellfish covered commodities in October 2004. Commodities covered under COOL must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin. However, they are excluded from mandatory COOL if they are an ingredient in a processed food item. USDA has also revised the definition of a processed food item so that items derived from a covered commodity that has undergone a physical or chemical change (e.g., cooking, curing, smoking) or that has been combined with other covered commodities or other substantive food components (e.g.,
chocolate, breading, tomato sauce) are excluded from COOL labeling. Food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges, and similar enterprises are exempt from the mandatory country of origin labeling requirements. The rule outlines the requirements for labeling covered commodities. It reduces the record keeping retention requirements for suppliers and centrally-located retail records to one year and removes the requirement to maintain records at the retail store. The law provides for penalties for both suppliers and retailers found in violation of the law of up to $1,000 per violation. The rule will become effective on Sept. 30, 2008. To allow time for covered commodities that are already in the chain of commerce -- and for which no origin information is known or been provided -- to clear the system, the requirements of this rule will not apply to covered commodities produced or packaged before Sept. 30, 2008. The rule prescribes specific criteria that must be met for a covered commodity to bear a "United States country of origin" declaration. In addition, the rule also contains provisions for labeling covered commodities of foreign origin, meat products from multiple origins, ground meat products, as well as commingled covered commodities. USDA plans to conduct education and outreach activities during the six months following the rule's effective date to help the industry comply with the law. The full text of the interim final rule will be published in the Aug. 1, 2008, Federal Register. Copies of the interim final rule and additional information can be found at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/COOL .
*As you know I have not been online a lot for a while. I am not aware of it if someone else has already blogged about this subject. |
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| To add a comment to "USDA, IMPORTED FOODS and AMERICA" |
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| October 03, 2008 |
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Here is part of the email I got. I do have another list with more specifics. I love M&M's and HOPE they are safe. However, just wanted to post so you all might read labels or "listen up" for any info concerning the brands that do contain ingredients linked to the China milk problem.
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2008=2 011:32 AM
> > Subject: China's Milk Situation
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > My mother-n-law has a friend who works for (la county)the department
> > that inspects the stores to make sure the items are removed...please
> > read below:
> >
> > The following items have been recalled due to China's milk situation.
> > M&M's, snickers, mento's yoghurt bottle, dove choc, oreo wafer sticks,
> > monmilk, dutchlady ssterilisded milk, wall's all natural mang, mini
> > poppers ice cream, magnumice cream, moo sandwich ice cream, mini
> > cornetto and youcan ice cream, "White Rabbit" (If you see anything in
> > the store with that word - don't buy it and report it to their store
> > manager).. AVA ordered to remove them from shelves.
> > If you have any of these items in your house, don't eat them. Please
> > forward this to your love ones. |
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| October 03, 2008 |
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| WOW, thanks for this information. Is anything "Made in the USA"? |
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| October 04, 2008 |
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| Wow, thanks for reporting this. I love M&M's, so that came as a shock. I echo Remarkable Terry, is anything made here anymore? |
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| October 04, 2008 |
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Doyle and Restore,
Thank you so much for reading my blog. I appreciate your stopping by and thanks for the stars!!! |
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| October 05, 2008 |
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Remarkable Terry and Deb,
Thank you so much for your star and comment!
I checked Snopes website. I found nothing to suggest the list of questionable products were anything false. I don't know that all of the products are made in China. Some of the problems lies in products we IMPORT from China to use in our factories here in America.
I will also note something from the FDA website that happened last year, I believe, see below:
FDA has found a poisonous chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), in certain toothpastes imported from China. The agency increased its scrutiny and testing of imported toothpaste and dental products after receiving reports in late May 2007 of contaminated Chinese dental products found in several countries, including Panama.
The agency is warning consumers to avoid using tubes of toothpaste labeled as made in China and, through an import alert, is stopping all suspect toothpaste from entering the United States. FDA continues to investigate this problem and will take further action, as appropriate, to address this important public safety issue.
There just seems to be long-term problems with products that use products imported from other countries--especially China--and/or manufactured in China. The problems from the past certainly have not gotten better in light of the melamine in milk and other products that the latest blog I wrote is based on. My blog was based on facts from FDA and USDA information.
Thanks again for your comments. I appreciate it! |
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