China’s Fruit & Vegetable Exports - Reason for Concern?
The growing influence of China on the world’s food market is indisputable:
According to the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, China produced nearly half of the world’s vegetables—five times the U.S. share. China also produced 16% of the world’s fruit, more than double the U.S. share. And its growth in agriculture, as in manufacturing, is staggering. In the last four years for which data are available, China added 5.7 million acres to the cultivation of vegetables. That’s 50% more than the total land used for vegetable farming in the U.S.
Yet, this recent Business Week article raises questions regarding potential produce contamination:
What’s not to like about reasonably priced berries in January? Well, some food experts are concerned. The trouble is that perishable commodities shipped over vast distances are some of the most vulnerable to contamination and other issues. Rutgers’ Hallman points out that much fresh produce is meant to be eaten raw, and there’s no way to kill microorganisms they may contain, the way food companies can use irradiation on poultry or meat. “The longer the distance that the fresh produce travels, the more chances there are for contamination from mishandling and more time for the microbes to multiply,” says Hallman.
China’s record with food imports isn’t reassuring. Just last month, 107 food imports from China were detained by the Food & Drug Administration at U.S. ports, according to The Washington Post. Among them were dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical and mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
Organic produce from China may have risks, too:
Though organic food increasingly is being exported from China, it’s still an emerging field. Chen found that though some products were certified as organic, they didn’t meet the requirements, and that in some cases there were traces of fertilizer, feed additives, animal medication, and other toxic materials. Food-packaging companies and retailers had taken it upon themselves to provide safer food products to customers and had developed their own food safety inspection systems.
“Typically, such company inspectors will check for residue levels of pesticides, and their tolerance level could be pretty far from the USDA’s own organic standard,” says Steve Suppan, policy analyst at the nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis.
The safety of imported produce is undoubtedly high on the list of priorities for people who buy and eat it. Unfortunately, though, as the Business Week article notes, politically the issue may not rise to the top:
How important food issues are in the overall economic talks between the U. S. and China remains to be seen. They certainly can become high-profile when consumers (read voters) get scared about the safety of the food on their dinner tables. But by and large, the issue will take a back seat to discussions of deficits and devaluations. As Suppan from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy says, “Sanitary issues are pawns in a much larger trade-policy game.”
Caveat emptor …
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