The scare over contaminated dog food earlier this year prompted Boulder-based Wild Oats to take a hard look at foods and supplements with ingredients from China.
But even after taking steps to safeguard products sold under its own house brand, the natural foods grocer still had to pull a tainted Chinese product from its shelves last month.
Wild Oats and other grocers pulled Veggie Booty snacks June 28 after a national recall. Veggie Booty had been contaminated with salmonella, apparently by spices imported from China.
“We live in a global economy. Manufacturers are sourcing raw materials from brokers, and they get them from a variety of countries. China is one of the largest producers,” said Wild Oats spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele. “For us to say that we aren’t going to carry ingredients from China or another country would virtually mean we would have empty shelves.”
Starting this spring with the dog food problems, which were caused by contaminated wheat gluten from China, there has been a series of health and safety issues with products from the country.
There have been recalls of Chinese tires, toy trains and toothpaste during the past few weeks. The U.S. government has blocked the import of some Chinese seafood due to contamination. Last year, at least 100 Panamanians died after taking cough syrup that contained a lethal counterfeit ingredient from China.
The recent scares have caused many U.S. companies that import from China or manufacture there to review their quality-control procedures. They also have exposed weaknesses in China’s regulatory system, which hasn’t kept up with the country’s meteoric economic growth.
Chinese exports to the U.S. more than doubled to $287 billion last year from 2002, with food imports such as seafood and fresh vegetables rising sharply.
Colorado does not track imports into the state.
“What finds its way into Colorado is almost impossible to track,” said Tom Lipetzky, director of the markets division at the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “But the national numbers are climbing, so some of that is certainly finding its way into our supermarkets and food service operations.”
The U.S. imported $4.2 billion in Chinese food products last year, up from $1.9 billion in 2002, according to U.S. Census Bureau trade data. Imports of fresh vegetables tripled to $92 million; imports of fruit and vegetable juices quadrupled to $204 million; and fish and seafood jumped 122 percent to $1.9 billion.
Chinese food imports still make up a small portion of all food imports to the U.S., but some products are making inroads. Among the more common Chinese-grown food products found in U.S. supermarkets: garlic, honey, apple juice and seafood. Often it is difficult to impossible to determine where these products originated.
“I think this is a wake-up call for both consumers and companies,” said Robyn Meredith, a Forbes magazine reporter based in Hong Kong and author of a new book on India and China, “The Elephant and the Dragon” (W.W. Norton & Co, 2007).
“We in America should never rely on the regulatory system in China to protect us.”
Meredith said she avoids food grown or raised in China.
Companies that manufacture in China and import Chinese goods must be more vigilant about product safety, because U.S. regulators don’t have the staffing to rigorously screen imports, Meredith said.
She blames China’s food and product safety problems on corruption, widespread pollution of air and water, unsanitary factory conditions and China’s breakneck economic growth.
Last week, China executed the former head of its food and drug administration for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines. It also has shut down 180 food manufacturers found to have toxic ingredients in their products.
Staff writer Greg Griffin can be reached at 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com.
Chinese exports to U.S. climbing
Chinese exports to the U.S.: (in billions of dollars)
2002 – 125.2
2003 – 152.4
2004 – 196.7
2005 – 243.5
2006 – 287.8
Source: World Institute for Strategic Economic Research
Chinese food exports to the U.S.: (in billions of dollars)
2002 – 1.87
2003 – 2.43
2004 – 2.86
2005 – 3.31
2006 – 4.18
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
