Lack of food safety affects 'Made in China' food
By admin on 2014-12-29

You probably remember the scare concerning tainted Chinese food and pet food in the past few years. Even though there are more regulations in place, food from China is still on store shelves.

Warren McDonald wants his young children to eat and drink healthy food. So he and his wife try to buy them 100 percent juice like Juicy Juice made by Nestle. McDonald said he was surprised recently when he looked on the side of the container.

When he looked at the side of the jug, he was stunned. "It was only when I held it up to the light I saw it said 'product of China.'"

Juicy Juice juice boxes also have "product of China" printed on the label.

Russell Beirsdorfer runs a small family-owned orchard, and said the cost of harvesting and processing apple juice for small containers means his would have to cost twice the price of Juicy Juice. That's why he sells jugs of juice only.

He said America's demand for low prices on just about everything, means companies need to find cheaper ways to produce it. Therefore, products are made in China, where manufacturing costs are a lot less.

Nestle defends its use of Chinese apples, saying, "We audit these facilities" and the juice is "processed in the U.S."

But with so many Chinese food scares in recent years, McDonald worries about what those apples may have been sprayed with. "I'm just concerned about the quality from China, and do they have the same restrictions and regulations the U.S. does?"

Nestle and other juice producers say the answer to that question is yes. Even so, McDonald said he plans to read labels more closely and will try to support local growers.