Beware of Food Imports from China (borrowed from Mercola.com)

[xmysticprincessx]

i know we've had a bunch of wal-mart discussions lately. this link was in today's mercola.com email. (mods- please keep this in finances/frugality because of the many recent WM discussions.)
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_bl...art-18212.aspx

i realize that some people are just not able to shop anywhere but walmart (nowhere else convenient/local, financially, etc), so i'm not trying to attack those who do. (and it seems these foods are not just being sold at wal mart.) i'm just trying to make us more aware of the fact that not all of our foods are what they seem. (think the tainted wheat in the pet food recall, ALL toothpaste from china has antifreeze, pesticides that are illegal in the US, etc.)

[KariM]

Thanks for sharing the link!

It was after the reports of tainted toothpaste that I started taking a closer look at economic practices in China.

I know it's very hard to avoid imports as sometimes products aren't adequately labeled, but one very frugal way for families to try and reduce the consumption of imported products is to buy locally produced products.

Try to find local produce - sometimes you have to contact the growers/farmers directly. Buy foods when they are in season - then can them or dry them to use at other times of the year.

[Girlo]

So.....how do I find out if my toothpaste was manufactured in China??? We use Tom's of Maine mostly and occasionally A&H. I figured it would be safe to assume that ToM is manufactured here, but you never know!

[xmysticprincessx]

Originally Posted by Girlo

So.....how do I find out if my toothpaste was manufactured in China??? We use Tom's of Maine mostly and occasionally A&H. I figured it would be safe to assume that ToM is manufactured here, but you never know!

i grabbed a tube of our tom's toothpaste (peppermint natural whole care gel), and on the back, where it has the copyright, mailing address, etc, it sys "Made in USA."

we have some colgate toothpaste (trying to use it up so it doesnt get wasted), and it said "made in canada."

about origins of produce, sometimes it says it on the PLU sticker, other times not. i've seen it on the boxes it comes in too. (product of xxxxx.) i've been trying to buy extra produce at the farmer's market and freeze it for use during the colder months. but its very time consuming, and i dont have much spare time with a 2 year old and a 5 month old!

[oneKnight]

Sometimes with "stuff" (clothes, non-food items) it says where it's made on the shipping carton only, not on the actual item so it's hard to tell. I'm not so sure about food, it seems really hard to tell.

[Mama Dragon]

What the is going on with China? First pet food now toothpaste and food?