While most Americans may not be aware of it, more and more foods that end up on their tables come from China today. The US imported 4.1 billion pounds of food products from China by the end of last year, according to the Agriculture Department. The imports included half of the apple juice in the country, 80% of the tilapia and more than 10% of the frozen spinach.
These issues were recently in the news, as the largest takeover of an American company by a Chinese one just occurred. Recently, Smithfield Foods agreed to be sold to Shuanghui International, one of China’s largest meat processors.
The $4.7 billion deal has created fear among Americans about China’s expanding role in the American food supply world.
As Patty Lovera, the assistant director of the Food and Water Watch, recently said, “We are importing more and more food from China at the same time we are hearing more and more about food scandals involving Chinese companies.”
More bluntly, Jeff Nelken, a food safety expert, said “We should definitely give the Chinese an award for creativity in adulterating foods. They are a great resource for counterfeited foods, like honey products that don’t seem to have any pollen in them.”