American Food Processed In China - Essay Example for Free

Most of the food consumed in the United States of America is imported. The food is imported from other nations, either having been planted and processed in those countries or imported as the final product. The agricultural processing industries founded in the United States of America carry out certain processing stages offshore and then import foodstuffs at an advanced stage of processing from their branches in these countries (United States Department of Agriculture). There are several countries where American based industries have subsidiaries mostly Africa, but in recent years China has developed into a vital source of food imports to the United States of America. The foods that are imported include fruits and vegetables, tropical products such as cocoa and coffee, fish, processed mushroom, chicken, rice, and green peas. The primary purpose of this essay is to pass the information on the following, hygiene and food regulation during the processing of American food in China, American foods processed in China are unhealthy and of low quality.

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What foods are imported from China

Food that is mainly imported from China includes; tilapia and cod fish, Chinese garlic, processed mushrooms, apple juice, chicken, rice, black pepper mud, green peas and industrial salt. Following numerous highly publicized instances of food contamination and adulteration in both the U.S food imports from China and Chinese food supply, concerns have been raised about the safety and hygiene of American food processed in China. According to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the food additives and preservatives that are used during food processing in China are unsafe (Economic Research Service). This was established after research that was carried in Chinese processing companies by FDA. This finding clearly points out that American food processed in China is unhealthy even if the food is planted in America but processed in China.

Many food processing industries in China lack proper manufacturer registrations (Economic Research Service). This was established in most of the inadequately labeled foods could not be traced back to their industries. This degree of negligence and carelessness portrayed suggests that during food processing there is mishandling of food by the workers. The workers can be reckless because incase of anything such as contamination they won’t be held accountable as there are no proper channels put in place to enable trace back to the manufacturer. Based on this American food processed in China is unhygienic, unhealthy and of low quality.

Is Chinese food bad for you

In most cases, FDA has cited residues of harmful pesticides and pathogens in Chinese food shipments. These residues are mostly from the continued use of harmful veterinary drugs and pesticides for farming in China and dangerous chemicals during processing which is harmful to human beings (Economic Research Service). Leaching of the pesticides into the rivers and shrimps renders both fish farmed or fished in China harmful due to traces of these chemicals in the processed food. Apart from the chemicals used in farming, most rivers in China are polluted by human activities and effluents from factories (Processed food effects), going by this fact, American food that is imported from China is unhealthy and harmful.

In 2013, US Department of Agriculture allowed the sale of chicken from China in the United States of America. In China, avian flu was a problem, and there is a probability of recurrence. Putting into consideration this fact, then consumption of processed chicken imported from China is totally unadvisable since it is unhygienic. This fact does not change even if some stages of processing are carried out in China then the final steps in America. On the other hand, Chinese garlic and processed mushroom is a favorite for many in the United States. Out of all garlic and mushroom that is sold in the America, 31% of garlic and 34% of mushroom is from China (Processed food effects). The danger of consuming this food stuff is that the pesticides such as methyl bromide are used during farming in China and if not farmed in China other harmful chemicals are used during processing in China. Hence the American food that comes from China cannot be trusted to be hygienic.

Food processing involves the use of food additives for preservation (Warner). Depending on individuals, the risk of these food additives varies greatly for example when sugar or sugar-containing substances are used as an additive; the people with diabetes in great danger. When all these factors together with the findings of the FDA that food additive used for food processing in China are unsafe, then use of American foods processed in China is unhealthy.

Food imported from China is dangerous

Other than the food preservatives, other artificial ingredients are included for various reasons. This is evident in the ingredients list although some of them are not listed. The other ingredients other than the preservatives vary from food colors, flavors to texturants. All these additives, when used over a long period, may have side effects.

American foods processed in China are unhealthy and unhygienic since these foods are processed such that they cause huge craving to the ones who use them. The processed food is engineered to cause huge desire by the Chinese industries to expand and retain their market. The primary effect of this desire is that the ones using these foods end up overeating and in the process compromising their health. Other than compromising the health, a lot of resources are wasted in these foods and also in the hospital once the health of the one using the processed food is compromised.

In conclusion, most of the American food processed in China are unhygienic. The food is unhealthy, dirty and unsafe because; fish either caught from rivers or farmed in China where pollution and use harmful pesticides is high are unhygienic. Chicken imported are doubtful since avian is a problem mostly to the poor villages of China, and use of pesticides whose harmful traces are found in farm produce. Most of the processed foods from China have very little nutrients having lost most of them in the process and additives used are unsafe. Also, these foods are engineered in a way such that they cause a lot of craving to the one using them leading to overeating and eventually wastage of resources.

References

Authority nutrition. 17 October 2015. Document. 11 February 2017.

Economic Research Service. 16 March 2014. PDF. 13 february 2017.

Lambretch, Bill. "Dinner at the New Gene Cafe." Lambretch, Bill. How Genetic Engineering Is Changing what we eat, how we liveand the global politics of food. New York: st. Martins, 2001. document.

Processed food effects. 16 April 2016. Document. 11 february 2017.

United States Department of Agriculture. 3 October 2016. Document. 11 February 2017.

Warner, Melanie. "Pandora's Lunchbox." Warner, Melanie. How processed food took over american meal. hardcover edition, 2013.