Thursday, June 28, 2007

Food Safety

Eating local sounds better every day.

News of a food safety crackdown in China is circulating the globe, yet here in Michigan efforts at food safety are winning national acclaim. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Michigan State Police have earned the Food and Drug Administration's annual Leveraging/Collaboration award for food safety efforts. (source)

At the same time Chinese state run media reports: "industrial chemicals not intended for use in foods had been found in products as diverse as candy, pickles and seafood. Among the substances were dyes, mineral oils, paraffin, formaldehyde and malachite green, a chemical primarily used as a dye but also used as a topical antiseptic or treatment for parasites and infections in fish."

An international consulting firm also sighted lack of refrigeration trucks as a major problem. In China there are only about 30,000 refrigerated trucks for transporting food; the United States has about 280,000.

Think global and you'll surely eat local.