Does anyone have figures on how much food we import from China?

[KillCapitalism]

I was discussing this with some neighbors at a cafe and one steadfastly claimed that about 75% of everything on supermarket shelves is imported from China. I really have my doubts, but with all the scares going on I wonder if that could really be so. I would appreciate it if anyone had some hard numbers on this...thanks.

[Critters2]

1. God, I hope it isn't that much.

But I know it's a LOT of clothes, shoes, etc. I've been trying not to buy anything from China. I've found three shoe companies that manufacture in the US, and I now buy nearly all my clothes at resale shops. It's hard to avoid Chinese "dry goods". I shudder to think they're selling us that much food, too.

[kath]

4. Can you tell me which shoe companies?

I bought NewBalance shoes a year or two back, because I thought they were made in US. But when I later read the label, they are made in China now.

[Critters2]

7. Some New Balance are made in the US

You have to read the labels. The 811 walking shoe is made in the US. A couple of other styles, too. I have both black and white 811s for my everyday shoes for work and around home.

In the summer, I wear sandals from a company called Okabashi (okabashi.com). Not great looking, but fairly comfortable and US made. I just ordered a new pair, and the UPS tracker says they'll be here tomorrow.

I order dress shoes from a company called Capps Shoes
http://www.capps-shoe.com/retail/default.asp

I have the added issue of being vegan, but these companies all make vegan shoes. In the USA. It took a little searching, but I found 'em!

[sandnsea]

2. Seattle port

Food isn't a top import. The problem is they only inspect about 1% of the food imports - and 14% of the containers they did inspect were rejected.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/311448_chinafood13.html?source=mypi

[Critters2]

3. Yikes!! That's scary!!! nt

[StarryNite]

11. Now wouldn't you think

that would throw up a few red flags? Sheesh, what does it take?

[magellan]

5. So far I've found it in dollars

"Over the past 25 years, Chinese agricultural exports to the U.S. surged nearly 20-fold to $2.26 billion last year, led by poultry products, sausage casings, shellfish, spices and apple juice."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18078824/

I'm sure I had percentages too and thought it was from that article. I'll keep looking.

Add: here it is -

"It's noteworthy that the United States' purchase of $2billion worth of food from China represents only 3.3 percent of our nation's food imports. Canada (20.6 percent) and Mexico (14.5 percent) send the most food products to the United States."

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_5778826

To up-end their "noteworthy": China is gaining because its products are cheaper than those from Canada and Mexico. And while 3.3 percent might seem small, try and find them all in what you buy. Manufacturers don't list where their ingredients come from. Just look how widespread wheat gluten is.

[KillCapitalism]

6. Thanks for searching.

Wow, $2.26 billion is a lot, but I don't think that could be anywhere near 75% of what's on our supermarket shelves. Still that is too much. With China's pop. over 1 billion, how are they feeding their own people while exporting so much at the same time? Wait don't answer that, I know of China's human rights record and I bet a good number of people there are starving.

[magellan]

8. Just updated my first post with the info -- it's 3.3 percent

But that should still worry us. I mean, just look at how much wheat gluten is used in our food. I don't know where it comes from, do you?

I read another article tonight that says the Chinese have been spiking their glutens with melamine for years. Domestic or foreign exports only? And why has this suddenly caused a problem? There are a lot of unanswered questions.

[Shallah Kali]

9. 15% of all food imported, 80% of seafood, 50% of tree nuts, 45% of fruit - from all countries

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/44639.html

In March, FDA inspectors rejected 1,526 shipments -- mostly food but also drugs and medical devices -- from 75 countries.

China had 215 rejected shipments and India 279. A shipment of "Chilli" powder from Bangladesh was ruled "to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or be otherwise unfit for food."

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I know this isn't what you asked for but I thought the collective stats were worth mentioning.

[sandnsea]

12. Another great article

I suspect nothing will be done until it's too late.

[Shallah Kali]

15. Wait until it's too late seems to be SOP for our Gov. that and declairing it safe after the fact

Take the kids lunch boxes made with lead so every time you brush against it you get some:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800528.html

And then there is the GMO rice that was never tested for human safety yet declared safe because it had so throughly contaminated non-GM rice:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_3425.cfm

"With this decision, USDA is telling agricultural biotechnology companies that it doesn't matter if you're negligent, if you break the rules, if you contaminate the food supply with untested genetically engineered crops, we'll bail you out," said Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety. "In effect, USDA is sanctioning an 'approval-by-contamination' policy that can only increase the likelihood of untested genetically engineered crops entering the food supply in the future, and further erode trust in the wholesomeness of U.S. food overseas," he added.

or like with the hogs fed on melamine, cyaurnic acid, and FDA only knows what else contaminated pet food. We are told it is OK that people ate it, but they are going to pay off the farmers to kill the hogs and not sell 'em. Here's hoping they don't sell the remains to rendering plants to be turned into pet food or animal feed like most diseased carcasses considered unsafe for humans are.

[Breeze54]

10. PBS said it was 2/3 of the US food supply.

I'd have to search for a link....

I read it wrong or heard it wrong.

--------------------------------------------------

Cantwell Presses FDA to Reveal All Companies That Received Contaminated Pet Food Ingredients

Senator calls for immediate testing of pet food following expanded recall due to contaminated rice protein

Monday, April 23,2007

http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=272867

WASHINGTON, DC -

Monday, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) called on the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to reveal the two remaining companies that received contaminated rice protein from importer Wilbur-Ellis, Inc.
but still haven't identified themselves. The senators also learned that a second, unknown U.S. distributor received a shipment of potentially contaminated rice protein. The senators urged the
FDA to identify this second distributor as well as any companies receiving contaminated product
from this second shipment. Cantwell is calling on the FDA to push for immediate recall of all potentially contaminated pet food and initiate testing to keep contaminated ingredients out of homes.

snip-->

"Two-thirds of Americans and more than 70 percent of Washingtonians own either a cat or a dog.
The FDA knows the names of the companies that received these shipments. Keeping this information
from the public is unfair to the millions of Americans trying to prevent their pets from becoming sick."

In a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, Cantwell and Durbin, a member of the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and the FDA, asked the agency to:

-release the names of all pet food manufacturers who received shipments of contaminated ingredients
-release the name of the second importer known to have received contaminated rice protein
-push manufactures to trace and recall all pet food made using potentially contaminated ingredients
-begin comprehensive testing of potentially contaminated pet food -inspect all suspect pet food ingredients
imported from China and other countries -work with the Chinese government and other governments
to improve their inspection of pet food manufacturing facilities

"...our food supply has been put at risk by contaminated ingredients that originated overseas
and were never inspected by the FDA," the senators wrote. "In addition to identifying those
companies who were recipients of the contaminated rice protein and have yet to do the right
thing by identifying themselves, we request that the FDA begin comprehensive testing and sampling.

...The FDA's strategy thus far of waiting for companies to self-report contamination

[WinkyDink]

13. Check your canned mushrooms.

[dave_p]

14. 0.3%

US food consumption's something like $700 billion. So something like a third of one per cent's of Chinese origin.

Don't forget Chinese have to eat this stuff every day. And there's 1.3 billion of them. It's not about to wipe anybody out.

It's about upholding standards for all food, regardless of origin. Some countries aren't overjoyed about what comes out of the US either.

[blues90]

16. Who can tell , nothing is marked from where it came from

[Shallah Kali]

17. More stats here- Food From China Poses Threat

http://walmartwatch.com/blog/archives/food_from_china_poses_threat

The result: “China has one of the world’s highest rates of chemical fertilizer use per hectare, and Chinese farmers use many highly toxic pesticides, including some that are banned in the United States,” according to a report published last November by the economic-research service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

snip

In 2005, the Ministry of Health reported that 9,021 people were stricken by food poisoning, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Of the 235 deaths that year, around half were caused by poisonous chemicals in the food. The rest were from bacterial contamination and other causes.

But those numbers may understate the problem because it is often difficult to pinpoint the cause of such illnesses in rural China. At least 300 million people are estimated to be affected by food-borne disease in China each year, according to Mr. Bekedam of the WHO. The WHO estimates that food-borne disease costs China between $4.7 billion and $14.0 billion a year in medical-care expenses and loss of productivity.

meanwhile, China’s food problems are becoming the world’s problems, as agriculture exports surge. As of last year, China accounted for about 12% of global trade in fruits and vegetables, challenging U.S. producers in three main areas, including apple juice, fresh apples and fresh vegetables, according to a USDA report published last year. The U.S. is China’s largest market for exports of apple juice. China’s agricultural exports to the U.S. have soared over the past three decades, rising to $2.26 billion in 2006 from $133 million in 1980, according to the USDA.

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The above link lists some of the highly toxic - including carcinogens - found in foods shipped from China.