Scrutineer Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 This thread started ringing distant bells and I found this web link from 12 months ago (as far as I know the situation hasn't changed). Certain foods from NZ can be problematic because they are actually sourced from China then packaged in NZ and imported into Oz with a "Product of New Zealand" label. http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2014/02/china-uses-nz-for-backdoor-food-entry-to-australia/ Thanks Skani - we would avoid everything from China for a variety of reasons except for the fact that it is where literally everything comes from, especially in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmoyne Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Thanks Skani, I was unaware of that. I don't buy much frozen stuff, just the occasional veg and my berries for smoothies.... but will keep an eagle eye out for country of origin from now on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 You would be amazed at what some farmers spread on their fields over here. I used to work for Severn Trent Water Authority years ago. We used to work on sewage farms and guess where a lot of the processed waste goes when it leaves the sewage farm, straight to the farmers for fertiliser. Difference is though the sewage goes through several processes before it comes out of the presses to go for sewage. More worrying was the guys who worked there would always have heaps of tomatoes and when they offered me some I gladly ate them at lunch. Wasn't till a few weeks later that I saw the tomato plants growing on a big heap of processed output from the plant.:eek: Couldn't bring myself to eat them after that.:laugh: I think the difference is in China they just throw human excrement on the veggies raw. Said in some of the news reports that the workers were maybe not the most hygienic either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Thanks Skani, I was unaware of that. I don't buy much frozen stuff, just the occasional veg and my berries for smoothies.... but will keep an eagle eye out for country of origin from now on.... Problem is they don't have to tell you the country of origin - it simply says "Made in NZ from local and imported ingredients" so you have to guess the rest. I like this almost as I like the notorious use of "flavours" in the ingredients panel - get guessing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 When you think of it you would always wash fresh fruit but probably wouldn't think to do the same when it is out of the freezer. It may have been fertilized with human poo- they do that in rural China. So what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 So what? So the infection in question is very common in the third world, and also in sewage. It is relevant that it came from China because they have significantly lower levels of health and safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I have a crazy wife. We have just checked where our frozen berries she uses in smoothies come from. 'Packaged in Australia' I told her to chuck them away. Nah, she says, I'll just give myself a hep A injection tomorrow at work! :arghh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Now I know why everytime I go to Asia they recommend Hep A vaccinations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindor Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I've just checked my freezer, I've got Creative Gourmet cherries and raspberries, it doesn't say where they're from just that they're imported. I also have Woolies frozen blueberries from Chile, Logan Farm spinach from NZ and Nannas frozen strawberries also from chile! As a vegetarian I'm usually an avid label reader but I assumed the above were home grown! My OH says they're ok...they're all going in the bin tomorrow.... I chop and freeze mangoes and pineapple for smoothies, I'll freeze my own berries and spinach from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Better check the labels. If it's from New Zealand, it often says "made in NZ from local and imported ingredients". "Imported" often means from China. Often in VERY fine print. We obviously need better labelling laws. Yes, New Zealand has made itself famous for its "clean and green" produce, so we need to see this loophole closed unless we all want to spend a lot more time in the supermarket with our magnifying glasses. Frozen berries are obviously a particular problem because people often eat them raw, in smoothies etc. In relation to production of berries in China, I would be surprised if human excrement is used these days on these crops. Rather, it's likely that the water they were frozen with was contaminated, and/or that the workers observed poor hand hygiene. Hygiene and environmental standards in China are notoriously bad - anyone going there should have a Hep A vaccine, for starters. TB is also rampant, not least because of the habit of dipping individual chopsticks into communal bowls. My daughter in Singapore never buys any food made in China because she doesn't think it's safe for her kids. Singapore of course produces almost nothing itself in terms of food. But she has to be prepared to pay more. Often a lot more. Wages in Australia for fruit pickers are about $24 an hour. Comparable workers in China get $2 a day. I wonder if ALDI's stuff is safer than products from Coles or Woolies because presumably they have to conform with EU standards? Must peer more often at their labelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Better check the labels. If it's from New Zealand, it often says "made in NZ from local and imported ingredients". "Imported" often means from China. Often in VERY fine print. We obviously need better labelling laws. Yes, New Zealand has made itself famous for its "clean and green" produce, so we need to see this loophole closed unless we all want to spend a lot more time in the supermarket with our magnifying glasses. Frozen berries are obviously a particular problem because people often eat them raw, in smoothies etc. In relation to production of berries in China, I would be surprised if human excrement is used these days on these crops. Rather, it's likely that the water they were frozen with was contaminated, and/or that the workers observed poor hand hygiene. Hygiene and environmental standards in China are notoriously bad - anyone going there should have a Hep A vaccine, for starters. TB is also rampant, not least because of the habit of dipping individual chopsticks into communal bowls. My daughter in Singapore never buys any food made in China because she doesn't think it's safe for her kids. Singapore of course produces almost nothing itself in terms of food. But she has to be prepared to pay more. Often a lot more. Wages in Australia for fruit pickers are about $24 an hour. Comparable workers in China get $2 a day. I wonder if ALDI's stuff is safer than products from Coles or Woolies because presumably they have to conform with EU standards? Must peer more often at their labelling. Australia's labelling laws are way too relaxed. As I mention earlier the "flavours" thing really irritates me - what if you have allergies? What the hell is a "flavour"? This should be illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest66881 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 North Atlantic cod caught in north America filleted in New Zealand frozen in China sold here in Australia, brilliant label detailing but WTF:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 When you think of it you would always wash fresh fruit but probably wouldn't think to do the same when it is out of the freezer. It may have been fertilized with human poo- they do that in rural China. Washing won't help. It needs to be cooked to kill the bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I buy all my raspberries locally http://www.raspberryfarmcafe.com/products.html .... grow my own strawberries and blueberries. With Tasmania and probably parts of Victoria able to grow raspberries by the ton, why do we import from China? Production costs I suppose. I bought some gooseberries and greengages the other day. Hadn't tasted them since leaving the UK over 30 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Yes, and you had better be careful when fish or prawns etc are sold as "fresh". That often means they have been thawed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I buy all my raspberries locally http://www.raspberryfarmcafe.com/products.html .... grow my own strawberries and blueberries. With Tasmania and probably parts of Victoria able to grow raspberries by the ton, why do we import from China? Production costs I suppose. I bought some gooseberries and greengages the other day. Hadn't tasted them since leaving the UK over 30 years ago. Profit margin. Who cares if people get infections from poisoned fruit so long as the profit margin is high enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Yes, and you had better be careful when fish or prawns etc are sold as "fresh". That often means they have been thawed. Seriously, I wouldn't eat any prawns, shellfish or fish from anywhere in SE Asia. Some of the conditions these things are raised in are the worst anywhere in the world. When it comes to shrimp/prawns then buy Australian if you can afford it or not at all. The majority of these shrimps come from toxic sewage environments. http://nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/90-of-shrimp-is-from-toxic-sewage-ponds-in-asia/ If anyone doesn't like the source just Google it - you'll find plenty more out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I don't eat much meat but I do eat fish. All of it fresh from the sea and sold a couple of hours later straight from the boat here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 The problem seems to be that our food safety standards are joined at the hip with those of New Zealand, and NZ does NOT require that country of origin be named. Time this was ended! Profit motive - well, obviously if labour costs $24 an hour in Australia and $2 a day in China, processors will be interested in importing from China. Australian garlic, for example, costs about ten times that from China. Since it's going to be cooked anyway, how many consumers will be willing to pay that sort of premium for the local product? But it takes only one scandal like this to scupper a company. Problem is that the regulators have been asleep at the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I buy all my raspberries locally http://www.raspberryfarmcafe.com/products.html .... grow my own strawberries and blueberries. With Tasmania and probably parts of Victoria able to grow raspberries by the ton, why do we import from China? Production costs I suppose. I bought some gooseberries and greengages the other day. Hadn't tasted them since leaving the UK over 30 years ago. Sunny ridge strawberries are about 1/2 hour away from us. Buggered if i can grow any though, ive had 2 berries from 2 plants. But the zucchinis, rocket, pumpkins and tomatoes are having a good year...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmoyne Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 If the packet is opened Rossmoyne then watch out for symptoms as it can take 50 days to appear. Thanks Parly..... one packet was nearly finished (mixed berries), the other was an unopened packet of blueberries..... off to see Doc tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmoyne Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've been eating Nannas frozen berries in my smoothies for the last 3 months! Me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've heard on the radio that doctors are giving people like you vaccination injections for Hep A so hopefully you will be okay. I expect 10s of thousands of people have been eating the berries but we have only heard of about 13 people getting sick so far, so chances are you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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