Wheat gluten from China. Papayas from Mexico. Seafood from just about everywhere. The list of food imports to the United States refused in the month of August alone reads like a long grocery list of what not to buy. But, despite the hundreds of inspected food shipments refused each month, many more products that don't meet U.S. safety standards make it into grocery stores every day.
The federal Food and Drug Administration inspects only 1.3 percent of the food brought into the country, according to UW-Madison food scientist Barbara Ingham. This low number, she said, is part of a balance between managing food costs and ensuring consumer safety in a world marked by increased global trade and diminishing FDA resources.
According to FDA news releases, the FDA inspects 80 percent of the food entering the country, with the United States Department of Agriculture managing the other 20 percent.
We like to say that our food supply is the safest in the world ... but it's no longer a food supply that we have control over,"" Ingham said.
Part of that lack of control, she said, also comes from shifting food suppliers to food processing plants in any given month. While processed foods require a country of origin label, where individual ingredients come from remain a mystery.
""Even a well-intentioned food company would find it very difficult to let a consumer know where all the ingredients come from, and that's just based on product formulation and based on changing supplies and changing market costs,"" she said.
""There may be one month an ingredient is coming from Argentina, the next month it's coming from Canada.""
Not knowing the origins of these ingredients is one of the biggest international food safety issues, according to UW-Madison agricultural economics professor Brian Gould, because the lack of knowledge prevents consumers from making rational buying decisions.
""It may cost 15 or 20 percent less if they buy a product that is imported from a third-world country,"" he said. ""Are they willing to pay less if they increase the probability that there is going to be some problem? ... If they don't know that, they can't make that rational decision.""
The ingredient issue became poignant earlier this year when pet food containing contaminated wheat gluten from China sickened and killed hundreds of animals. Since then, international food imports have been under increased scrutiny, and country of origin labeling has been a heated topic of debate in Congress, where mandatory labeling for fresh meat, seafood and produce is included in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Right now, food distributors - except for seafood - are not required to list the country of origin on the label, and producers that do - like with Florida oranges and Wisconsin cheeses - do so for a marketing advantage, Gould said.
The idea of country of origin labeling, however, is not new. The 2002 Farm Bill required it for meats, seafood and produce, but food processor and grocer protests delayed the labeling until 2008. It now hinges on the passage of the 2007 Farm Bill, scheduled for a Senate vote this month.
Still, despite labeling issues, Ingham said there is plenty consumers can do to stay safe, including asking produce managers about the origins of unlabeled produce and eating a variety of different foods to prevent consuming too much of anything harmful.
Consumers should also be wary of buying out-of-season produce, she said, which often comes from other countries, and should carefully wash all raw foods to get rid of the bacteria cooking would otherwise remove.
Buying locally is another way consumers are taking control of their food choices, according to Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection spokesperson Amy Bruner.
September is Buy Local Month, and the DATCP joined up with other state and local groups to promote the Eat Local Challenge, which encourages state residents to spend at least 10 percent of their budget on foods produced within 100 miles of where they are bought from Sept. 14 through Sept. 23.
Local food advocate and Buy Fresh, Buy Local of Southern Wisconsin program coordinator Rachel Armstrong said buying local food increases safety because the potential for consumer knowledge is greater.
""When you buy locally, the point is that you know where your food is coming from, and you have made a choice to purchase it from Farmer X or Farmer Y,"" she said. ""You can make a choice about what kind of food you want, and when you can't know the farmer and you have no idea where the produce came from, you just don't have that kind of control.""
Donna Gilson of the DATCP added, however, that the agency does not claim that local foods are any safer than food from other states or countries, and that most ""buy local"" advocates have other economic and environmental reasons for their consumer choices.
Moreover, maintaining complete knowledge over what we eat may be impossible, Ingham said.
""We don't want to be wrapped in this cocoon of thinking we have control when we don't,"" she said.
""I think we can go too far the other way by saying you have to know exactly what's in everything, because most of us as consumers would not be able to interpret even if we had it available to us.""
If you're interested in learning more about local food options, check out the Food for Thought Festival going on this weekend in Madison. An article with more information about the event is available exclusively online.
