Food Safety – Should We Eat Food from China?

There a lot of people concerned about the safety of food produced in the USA.  This is a legitimate concern and something that should be addressed.  However, I would like to suggest that if you are worrying about the level of contaminants and additives in American made foods but are still eating Anything from China and other east Asian countries, you need to re-evaluate your eating habits.

Here’s why:

The Great China Milk Scandal – Milk powder for babies, etc. is tainted with melamine to a toxic level.  At least 269,000 children fall ill from ingesting it.  Some die.  Over 1000 fur animals fed the product die.  Two men were actually executed for producing this milk.  Chinese milk products are pulled from shelves all over the Asia and beyond.  The melamine is also found in eggs.  (Note: This is partly a problem with China’s aversion to breast-feeding.  People do sorry things to their children whenever they refuse to use the natural method of feeding children that God created and intended.)

Bessie or Mama?  Genetically modified cows in China give “human” milk. – OK, this is rather weird.  Some people will find it very revolting.  I kind of “get it” in some ways (not approval!!!) because I’ve read and heard a fair bit about China since my Gramma was born there to missionary parents.  The Chinese have had customs for centuries that seem very strange, even revolting, to Westerners.  While their civilization in some respects was very advanced at an early age – building of cities, gun powder, art, language, etc. – some of their habits and customs have been extremely primitive or vulgar right into the modern era.  I remember reading about things like how they used human dung to fertilize their fields, thus spreading contamination and disease; foot binding; atrocities of various types, etc.

So I read this quote: “In ancient China, only the emperor and the empress could drink human milk throughout their lives, which was believed to be the height of opulence. Why not make that kind of milk more available for ordinary people?”  And, that makes sense in a Chinese sort of way.  Disgusting, but not as shocking as it might seem when viewed in context.

As I mentioned with the melamine contaminated milk, when people reject the methods of life and living that God has ordained in His creation (in this case breastfeeding their children), they run into all kinds of problems and foolishness.  Genetically modifying cows to produce “human” milk will undoubtedly have an unforeseen and undesirable consequence – besides revolting Westerners.

I for one propose not to eat any Chinese dairy products wittingly!  Who knows what might be contained in them.

By the way, we have recently learned that un-homogenized, un-pasteurized cow’s milk, in other words raw cow’s milk, is the closet thing to human milk in nature and the most easily digested by humans.  It contains more pro-biotics and other good-for-you things, and probably retains the protein that they’ve actually reduced in the GMO Chinese cows.  No surprise for the Bible believer.  The land of Canaan was called “a land flowing with milk and honey” no less than 8 times in the scriptures.  (Probably a combination of cow, goat and possibly sheep milk.)

That Nasty Oriental Shrimp/Tilapia Pond, among other things. – (Not recommended to be read while eating.)  Several years ago a friend of our brought a National Geographic magazine to my family’s house to show us the picture of a shrimp pond in China where shrimp for export was grown.  It was an ugly, dark looking cesspool – not a place where you’d want to find your Food.  I think she even mentioned at the time that the Chinese were feeding the shrimp chicken manure as part of the their diet.  If you read this link, from Ghana in Africa, you will find that it’s far worse than that.  Personally, think I’d rather eat partially hydrogenated oil and GMO corn than this stuff!

By the way, I’d like to know how many of you heard of all the health dangers that were addressed by US and EU government agencies that are listed in this article.  I had only heard of a few.

Another look at imported seafood, including other countries besides China. – In relation to this article I would like to mention that I have heard that a certain amount of contamination by certain types of bacteria is normal in food.  The problem is high levels of contamination in these things, and lack of proper cleaning or cooking.  The presence of things like disinfectants, pesticides, animal and insect droppings, additives, and antibiotics is disturbing because they were introduced, on purpose in some cases, from unnatural sources.

The most important quotes to me in this article are:

“Just Wednesday, the agency issued an ‘import alert,’ which is like a hazard warning to its port inspectors to detain shipments from specific companies until tests conducted by the importer indicate that the food meets FDA standards.”

“The loads were seized until the company could supply proof that the shrimp were safe.”

“Obtaining the clean bill of health raised more issues as FDA found the company had been ‘shopping’ for private labs that would and did produce an analysis declaring the shrimp was salmonella-free and safe to sell and consume. The FDA didn't buy it and the shrimp were kept off the market.”

[Emphasis added.]

Hello!?  Are we going to trust the companies and importers who are trying to pawn this filth-polluted food off on us (as the consumer) to test the product and prove that it is safe?  Doesn’t that sound just a bit unlikely?  And, what if the FDA doesn’t catch them at their “lab shopping” shenanigans next time?

Have you ever eaten any shrimp or other seafood that just didn’t taste quite right?  It was kind of tasteless or even had a nasty after or “under” taste?  I really wonder about that now!

And, remember “Less than 2 percent of foreign seafood is even eyeballed, let alone analyzed in a laboratory.”  For the first time in quite a while I actually feel kind of sorry for the FDA.  How can they be expected to deal with the enormity of this problem? 

Conclusion

I think that we, as consumers, can make a difference by what we buy and don’t buy.  This has been proven recently by the fact that more and more companies are removing hydrogenated oils, MSG, and other allergens and additives from their food products.  When all else fails, let’s insist on clean food at the cash register!  This is where the local sellers will feel it and they will be “inspired” to make changes in what they stock!