Yes on Labeling genetically modified ingredients, Yes on Pro. 37

11/05/2012 Regardless you’re voting for Democrats or Republicans; if you care about the food for your loved ones, please support and vote YES on Proposition 37. The following message explains the reason well enough.  We do need labeling and protect our right to know the food we are having. Thank you, Sofia and Sarah at Ingredient Matters itsingredient@gmail.com www.ingredientmatters.blogspot.com Prop 37 Could Be One of the Most Important Initiatives This Year Please Help Spread the Word About GE Labeling We Have a Right to Know What's in Our Food Get Out the Vote Today! Dear Supporter, As a dad, I care deeply about feeding my kids the healthiest and safest food possible. But giant food and chemical companies have been trying to keep what's in our food a mystery. Fortunately for us, Proposition 37 can change all that by requiring labels for all genetically engineered food in California. That's why I'm writing to remind you to vote YES on Prop 37 tomorrow, and to tell your friends to do the same! Right now, big pesticide and junk food companies are spending $1 million a day to trick Californians into believing that Prop 37 will raise food costs. You've probably seen their ads blanketing our airwaves. But why would the corporations who don't want to tell you the truth about your food tell you the truth about the cost? It just doesn't makes sense. Please join me at the voting booth tomorrow and remind your friends to stand up for our right to know what's in our food. Prop 37 is a simple, common sense food labeling measure that will help us make our own decisions about what we put on our plates. Tomorrow, make sure that you and your friends vote yes on Prop 37 and help make GE labels the law in California. Tell your friends to vote YES on Prop 37: http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/TellAFriend Thanks for your support, Mark Schlosberg National Organizing Director Food & Water Watch act(at)fwwatch.org P.S. And don't forget to remind your friends to vote NO on Prop 32! Together, we can stand up to the corporate interests bent on controlling our essential resources.

This is a quick post to alert parents/schools about orange juice we buy in the stores.  Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola had found Carbendazim (an illegal fungicide) in oranges (and juice) imported from Brazil.  According associated press, some of them have gone to Canada as well.

As this point of time, I hope most of them are removed from the stores.  Since the importers have 90 days to remove them,  some may show up or be available for the public to purchase.  The best bet is to always check the labels and read where the oranges are from.

Carbendazin is illegal to use in the U.S., but not in Brazil, the biggest orange producer.

Did you buy Halloween candies with Trans Fat?

During my recent trips to stores buying some candies for Halloween, I noticed two problems with some candies and chocolates.
1. There are some candies containing trans-fat, a.k.a., partially hydrogenated oil. Included is a link detailing why trans-fat is bad for human bodies.
http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html
2. There are quite a lot of candies that are from China. With the rotten food safety record in China, I don’t understand why people would pay money for Chinese candies, needless eating them. It’s likely many shoppers don’t read where the candies are from. Just to keep you update on the rationales of why it’s dangerous to eat food from China, please read the following link for the latest news on Chinese food.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/gutter-oil-china-sounds-a_n_652398.html

After kids coming back from Trick’r Treat, it would help to go through the candies and chocolates, and read the ingredients, not just the nutrition information. FCC rules allow food manufacturers to label 0% trans-fat in the Nutrition Information section if the trans-fat is less than 0.49%. Therefore the information in Ingredient section is more accurate. Some manufacturers do not print any ingredients on packets of candies and chocolates. We can go to the website or call to find out the ingredients.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

More tainted food from China

Here on the top of right column is a report about more tainted food from China. This time is tainted meat by purpose, not by accident.

a new chemical, phenylethanolamine A, has been added in some Chinese pig feed to boost up the look of the meat (so more money can be made). Such chemical can harm humans severely once the tainted meat is consumed.

Without looking into the psychology of adding such chemical to food for humans, we simply want to be informed if similar ingredients are in our food, especially in the packaged food. But where is the mechanism in the food manufacturing industry for us to learn where the ingredients are shipped from?

There is no law requiring it, so the food manufacturers would not do it.

I would love to hear from some of you for your suggestions.

Caveat Emptor

Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware.

Knowing where the ingredients of your food are from is something the consumers should begin to demand, either by influencing the food manufacturers or by law.

This basic right has been with human society since (if not before) the Roman time. The mass production of modern food has only one goal: to pursue the lowest possible price. But in the process, food producers and manufacturers have also made many short cuts and short changes and, in the end, compromise the purpose of having food, i.e., food safety.

Whole Foods’ Organic food is from China

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ31Ljd9T_Y&feature=player_embedded#

Thanks to ABC I-Team’s spotlight on the so-called organic food in Whole Foods, people hopefully would start reading the labels and learn where the food is from. While it is easier for us to read the labels on the packaged food, it may not be as easy to know or find where some of fruits and vegetables are from.
We have been to Gilroy, CA, the Capital of Garlic. To our dismay, we saw many stalls claiming selling local produces are marketing Chinese garlic. We asked the store why a Gilroy local market/shop would market garlic from China. Surprised by our enquiry, the clerk answered: because customers buy them. We stopped buying the Garlic Ice Cream there. There is no way to know for sure they did not use the Chinese garlic for the ice cream.

At least, some stores like Whole Foods put on their labels showing where the ingredients are from. How about (if) the Vitamin companies buy bulk ingredients from China and repackage them in smaller packs, then mark them “Made in the US”. Technically it’s made in the U.S., but with Chinese ingredients. The problem for consumers is that, THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED BY LAW TO LABEL THAT.

This is where the trouble of our food chains starts.
(More on this subject will be followed.)

Do we know the food we buy?

In a cheese making class, I was told that in France the creameries would not buy your milk if they don't know you. Um...,this is one interesting French food philosophy.

Here in the U.S., there is no way we would know the people who supply our food. Bluntly put, we don't even know the food we buy. Or do we?

Something to ponder...