Labeling question regarding packaged foods and personal hygiene products

[KitchenWitch]

Does anyone else think that all packaged food products and personal hygiene products (toothpaste, etc) should have labeling reflecting WHERE it is made, AND where its components were made/came from?

Especially given the fact that both animals and people were made ill (sometimes fatally) by the tainted wheat gluten from China.

Am I wrong?

[bryant69]

1. Well that would be a lot of info and very expensive.

I mean particularly when you get to something like Ravioli or like Sphaghetti-O's

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[KitchenWitch]

2. I am willing to pay more for products that have that information.

[emilyg]

4. So am I

[bryant69]

5. Hopefully the market will respond to your desires

There is a lot of good information at healthfood store/co-op products, I've noticed.

Bryant

[BlooInBloo]

7. As you noted, the market has already responded.

[PDJane]

3. No, you aren't.

And be very careful of anything from China with glycerin in it. It wasn't just wheat gluten; they've been shipping off a common industrial chemical as a sweetener.....one that's used in anti-freeze, among other things.

This stuff has been used in all kinds of things; confectionaries, cough syrups, cakes and cookies, all kinds of things..

[Blue Diadem]

6. You aren't wrong. We have a right to know where the products we

purchase are produced and where any ingredient/component comes from.

I was surprised with some bottled juice the other day. The label said "concentrates used are a product of United States Argentina". Dh and I laughed about the way it was written.

[candice]

8. Get in touch with your Congressional representative and senators and request

support for COOL (contents of origin labeling). Buy organic with USDA label, not the international organic labeling that covers products from abroad, such as China, where the water, air, and soil are heavily polluted and organic standards can't really be verified.

The various industries, such as the fish industry, which was recently required to list country of origin, wants the laws repealed...since if we knew, we might not buy the product! Well, already any processed fish can come from anywhere.

Buy locally, buy organic if at all possible (local conventional is better than agribusiness organic food that travels across country). Money spent at farmer's markets go to the farmers and keeps farmland from being paved over. (I've read that berries from China are being used in frozen "organic" berry products from a giant "organic" agribusiness.)

Read labels. Most of the processed food that has "nutrients" added to make it appear "nutritious" as opposed to sugared cardboard is suspect since most of the world's vitamins, esp. the nutritional additives come from China. Your vitamin C almost certainly does.

Apple juice, garlic, and peanuts are being imported from China (we have excellent products here in the U.S.A.).

To find out more, read "What to Eat" by Marion Nestle. Since we are what we eat, your body will thank you.

[KitchenWitch]

9. Thank you!

I will contact my legislators, I think this is important.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I think we have every right to know where our food comes from, but

COOL only affects certain food products and apparently doesn't apply to prepared foods. Also, it's implementation has been delayed until 9/30/08. More info:


On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill. One of its many initiatives requires country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts. On January 27, 2004, President Bush signed Public Law 108-199 which delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. On November 10, 2005, President Bush signed Public Law 109-97, which delays the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008. As described in the legislation, program implementation is the responsibility of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/cool/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. I emphatically agree!

This is most certainly an area where I would not mind one little bit to pay more in order to have more info!

You are absolutely correct...

:hi:

[YankeyMCC]

11. Yes and as to the expense

it's time we start paying the real cost of things and for real value, and there would be real value in this information. Also, if something is so complicated that explaining where it comes from becomes to expensive then perhaps that's an indication it isn't something that should be mass produced and distributed in that manner.

[TOhioLiberal]

12. I agree...

...it should be labeled. Of course, since it will undoubtedly cause hardship (:eyes: ) for the companies to so so, I doubt it'll ever happen.

[LSK]

13. I think the Farm bill has this in there as an amendment

At least country of origin. I heard this on NPR this morning.