In response to customer concerns, Trader Joe’s will phase out the sale of single-ingredient items from China by April 1.

From latimes.com:

Food safety experts said there was cause for concern. They cited the application in China of excess or dangerous pesticides, improper use of sewage for fertilizer and the use of illegal antibiotics in seafood farming.

“China also still has a problem with corruption,” said Jaydee Hanson, a policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety in Washington.

Since last year U.S. regulators have restricted Chinese imports of shrimp, eel and catfish because they were found to have unacceptable amounts of antibiotics and other chemical residues. Last summer California health officials warned people not to eat fresh ginger from China after samples were found to contain a toxic pesticide.

Corruption indeed. Even prepared foods have fallen victim as reported in this bizarre story of Beijing steamed buns that were discovered to be filled with chopped cardboard softened in an industrial chemical and then mixed with artificial pork flavoring. (I guess the addition of real fatty meat was used to infuse a tiny bit of authenticity.)

Most of us won’t be eating steamed buns from Beijing anytime soon, but according to a friend in the Chinese restaurant industry, pretty much all dim sum is imported frozen from China and simply steamed in restaurants for service here — there aren’t hundreds of cooks slaving away in your local Chinese restaurant chopping mounds of shrimp and tucking them into pretty little translucent dumplings.

If you read food labels closely, you’ll find that many items originate from China, including frozen spinach from Trader Joe’s, frozen orange roughy filets from CostCo, frozen edamame, apple juice, pine nuts, and fresh garlic. Even Whole Foods isn’t exempt — they carry a few types of frozen vegetables from China.

It would be inaccurate to say that all food from China is hazardous to your health, but it’s difficult to know what really happens during processing and production in a place so far away and oftentimes lacking in transparent business practices. Little wonder that people are avoiding Chinese imports of all kinds, and yet another reason to eat local and support sustainable agriculture whenever you can.

wasabigelatine wants to know: What do you think? Overblown fears or better safe than sorry?