CHINA-FREE PRODUCTS: Tainted ginger difficult to track

CHINA-FREE

DEFINITION chi-na-free adj. A term proposed for use on food labels to show that products are not made in China.

CONTEXT In light of recent health and safety scares regarding Chinese-made food and products, a U.S.-based company called Food for Health International has announced plans to put "China-free" stickers on its goods. The subtext: These products won't make you sick or have harmful contaminants like melamine.

USAGE Given recent recalls of items from toys to toothpaste, China-free labeling could catch on, though consumers would do well to remember that not all products from China are tainted and not all tainted products are from China.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Tainted ginger difficult to track

JUXIAN, China - In July, two dozen Albertson's grocery stores in California received a shipment of fresh ginger and put it on shelves. Several days later, state inspectors discovered that the ginger, which had been imported from China, contained a dangerous pesticide. State health officials warned Californians to avoid ginger grown in China.

But although the tainted ginger's country of origin was clear, the actual supplier, let alone the farm where it grew, was anything but. The path of this batch of ginger, about 8,000 miles around the world, shows how global supply chains have grown so long that some U.S. companies can't be sure where the products they're buying are made or grown. And without knowing the source of the product, it's difficult to solve the problem.

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