How safe is imported food, for us and for the environment?

Question

Despite its abundance in the aisles of our local grocery stores, imported food can have a great impact on our health and the environment.

Some countries use large amounts of pesticides that are restricted or banned in Canada. Pesticide residue testing shows these imported foods are 3 times more likely to violate our environmental standards. Other tropical environments, including water supplies, are polluted with pesticide contaminants. These pesticides are highly toxic to birds, and dozens of species of migratory songbirds in Canada that migrate south to tropical climates have seen their numbers plummet in recent decades. How our environment impacts the world's birds is the central message in my latest book, Silence of the Songbirds: http://www.silenceofthesongbirds.ca.

Answer 1

I think this food is as safe as ours used to be when we grew our own.  But a more important concern may be what will happen as those countries that export food to us gradually seek to keep it for their own use as those parts of the world continue to explode in population.  Then we will have a greater problem, since we are continuing to convert our own arable farmlands into housing subdivisions - something we have been doing for over 50 years with no sign of slowing down.

Answer 2

i trust imported food more than i trust beef slaughtered and processed and sold for human consumption with f***s in it. or oranges with calcium genetically engineered into them. or mutant broccoflower. or pills sold to people for five years before it was discovered the Big Pill company making the pills knew in advance of the possible heart attack the pills had as a side effect, resulting in over 400,000 heart attacks and no accountability by the manufacturer. got any more questions about trust? nice sales pitch, though. very impressive rhetoric.

Answer 3

Depends on where it comes from, and it depends on what ingredients are listed on the package.  (Given the choice- I prefer the fruits and veggies that I raise at home.)  Local farms, are my next choice.  And- although I have enough room here- to raise hogs and chickens- the local bylaws would not permit that.

     My family consumes very little processed food. We eat out, rarely.  You won't catch any of us, at places like the 'golden arches'.

     My front lawn, is a popular hangout for birds and critters.

(You'd be surprised, how many animals that are city residents, too!)

Answer 4

Canadian Food Inspection Agency tests imported food periodically but less so when certain products have been found to be contaminated with substances banned in Canada.an example of this is salmon produced in some Asian countries. The WTO appears to be dominant in how regulations are applied and Canada seldom rocks the boat. Food labelling regulations are a  major problem in correctly identifying imported produce since they allow "Product of Canada" to be applied if at least 51% of the retail price originates in Canada which in many cases is the cost of packaging only. Some EU countries have recently banned Argentine beef due to animal health risks. Canada seems unwilling to ban human food produced in foreign countries  under conditions illegal in Canada. This also affects the viability of domestic producers and long term food security.To speed the necessary changes voice your concerns to your MP, MPP and buy only product known to be of Canadian origin

Answer 5

I won't buy any food from China. After the pet food scandal in 2007 I stopped buying any canned or dry product from there. I don't see much fresh produce from China but I wouldn't buy that either. It is difficult to buy local especially in winter but I try to limit my purchases then to USA produce ...and  wash with a veggie cleaner to get as much residue off as possible.

Answer 6

I work for a food importing company.  I handle all of the inbound shipping of the product within the NAFTA countries.  

Over 90% of the food we sell is imported from the US, Mexico, and overseas.

Pretty much the only products available that came out of Canadian soil are onions, carrots, and potatoes.  I don't see our spoiled society going back to eating meat and potatoes every night for dinner.

Transportation costs account for a large part of your food dollar.  Rising fuel prices are deeply affecting the cost of food in your neighbourhood store.  Have you seen the price at the pumps lately?  There is a trucking company in Toronto with a picture of a baby on the back of all of their trucks.  Below the picture is a caption that says "pretty much the only thing not delivered by a truck".  The caption is so true.  Watch the prices of your food increase with the cost of oil.

The main thing I can tell you is to wash your produce very well before preparing it.  You don't know where that product has been, or who handled it before it made its way to your table.

Answer 7

I do not trust any food coming from China.  Their pollution levels are now the highest in the world and that in the end ends up in their water and food supplies.  Hard to completely negate food from China though as ingredients of food stuffs Made in CANADA or anywhere for that matter could originate in China.  Tougher rules, regulations and monitoring is the only answer if China wants to play with the big boys and feed the world.  Singling out China in this as that is the country that is at the forefront of this issue of quality control.

Answer 8

Well no matter what we ate..we already  affected for the pollution and food contaminated. Even though we import food for many countries, the environment we live at the moment is affected for big industries that polluted our ecosystem and poison everything. In some small countries the land  is still virgin and rich in oils that still are not exploding because farmers don't want to work in the land...they prefer to immigrate to big cities or different countries in order to get better economic situation because the respective government don't help with their needs. It means more consumers  more pollution, and at the environment is the one get more affected and indded us...It's a circle....

Answer 9

I don't know.  The truth is that we import food that from other countries without knowing how it is grown and what pesticides are used.  Our government relies on a mostly reactive program of checks to determine if an imported food is safe - ie: if more than a few people get sick after eating the same imported food than they might investigate and ban the food from the market.  I don't think this is a very good way of protecting the public from getting sick.  

I think the government should have a level of standards for all food imported into Canada and maintain a proactive program for the import of food into Canada.  The government should ask for disclosure from the foreign supplier about the pesticides used in growing them.

Answer 10

Improted food is not safe, very little food we find in the grocery stores IS safe. Recently it was fond that washing with soap and wather on your fruits and veggies might not even be enough. its unfortunate, because most people dont realize that stuff in our stores isnt perfectly sanitary, and this is how lots of people are getting sick, and they dont even realize how they got sick!

Answer 11

The importation of food  is a part of human history. Daily on every continent food  exchange is not taking place. However, in our modern time food importation has become dangerous and unsafe.The type of food that are traded and the financial benefits to the importers are putting  consumers in immense danger. Therefore, I believe some food that make it to our tables are extremely unsafe for consumption.

Answer 12

It may be true that we are saving a lot of money when we buy products from China, but i fear we should stop doing so we are almost to dependant of less expensive and possibly unsafe food stuffs. we must learn there is a very high price we pay for their stupid mistakes, my mothers puppy died from poison food she bought last year, we must learn to break the habit and including thinking about what kind of close we wear or what kind of car we drive. we have become so dependant on cheap instead of being concerned about our children's future. China has became our lord and master at least they have the Bush administration for over 3 trillion in dept it is no wonder they haven't sounded the alarm. they are bought and sold to China years ago lets get rid of all,l three Bush   the Chinese and Japanese, and maybe some Korean. it is just no good for our economy

Answer 13

song birds eat worms and stuff  ;-) ...

Learn about the different species of birds and find out what they like to eat. Once you start feeding birds you should continue on because they begin to rely on you. A dish of water is good (preferably a fountain or something up higher where they are safe from cats or other predators.) ..

It's food that attracts them and also some colors of flowers during the summer months. Go onto:

www.google.com

Type in: What are some of the species of songbirds in __________(type in your State or Province.)

Answer 14

We try very hard to buy only food from Canada or the U.S.  For some items, like certain types of fruit, we don't have a choice if we want to eat them.  But we won't buy food from countries like China at all.  Not only do we have concerns about pesticide use there, we have a real problem with a growing reliance on food from other countries.  We as a nation should make sure we produce all the food we need, grown under the standards and guidelines we as a nation have in place to keep us safe.  It would be a disaster to become reliant on other nations for our food.

Answer 15

Our country has the law and they should check it very carefully if everybody is obeying it. It is in our hands to keep our kids away from all chemicals and we needour government to help us and be more strict. I definetely feal terrified bying things that are imported from somewhere else, especialy from China. Not only food, but toys and everyday products are full of chemicals. Don't they care what they put in the products and are not affraid to be exposed to it while making it? Or how is it possible they are in stores, if we suppose to have the law for that? Those products may end up in landfields as garbage and in our food later on. Everybody should stop for a while and think what all of us can do to improve this. Law is one thing but if nobody checks if the rules are followed is pretty uselles. Whenever I can ,I'm trying to buy from canadian suppliers and cook a lot at home from scratch. My health and health of my family is the most important thing for me.

V

Answer 16

well, it depends greatly on where it's imported from.

Canada has one of the world's most rigurous and anal inspection processes and a very complicated and attentive regulation system to any person/organization planning on importing alimentary goods, be it a private, public or even governmental organization...

all the known health hazardous pesticides and other chemicals used are completley forbidden to be used on any alimentary product entering the Canadian market, on top of that, even suspicious, alimentary products that use uncleared and under research pesticides and chemical products are not allowed in until cleared by extensive Canadian and international research.

so, you can rest assured, legally imported products such as those you find in local grocery stores in Canada are completley safe. we have probably the most rigurous process for allowing products in, definitley a lot more than americans and most european countries.

Answer 17

A short time ago I did not give much thought about safety when buying fresh food. The past year of recalls in the toy industry, toothpaste and I've heard of fake pills in supplements has made me more cautious. It is hard to get around it in Canada in the winter time. I do not believe Health Canada or Industry Canada can have enough staff to check the amount of imports coming into the country. Since less and less products are made here, the safety standards you know will be less in the developing countries. We all need to voice our concern for our safety as well as the environment. We already know how toxic and damaging pesticides can be. I wonder why the production of the toxic ones never ceased permanently years ago. It always comes down to money and profit not what the consequences will be.

Answer 18

Since Agriculture Canada and the the Canadian Government  do not inspect imported food on a regular or consistent manner  I try very hard to stay away from imported foods.  I buy Canadian and USA approved.

Foreign food may be safe, but since the inspection - prevention  standards are lower than ours I shy away from them.  Besides it would be too easy for certain individuals with an ax to grind to contaminate the food along the way.

I am not saying it can't happen here, but I feel safer.

Answer 19

Its not just pesticides we should worry about, and not just imported foods! I have made it a personal mission NOT to buy anything made in China, at any cost. Why? Number one, it is stupid and unsafe to allow one country to become the sole manufacturer of anything - unfortunately, because too many people want it cheap, this is happening - I know because even when money is no object, it is almost impossible to buy ANYTHING not made in China! Number two, to support our own, long term economic security, our economy must return to greater diversity and this means increasing more local manufacturing AND increasing our own agricultural industries!  Keep in mind, as well, that our worldwide population has seen skyrocketing increases in food allergies primarily due to our eating so many foods "out of season" and year 'round, and ingesting things some of us were never genetically built to eat!

Answer 20

Pesticides are ridiculously overused in Canada - people are obsessed with there stupid lawns , the fields where I live are treated with a regular chemical arsenal - so much so that I dare not drink the foul milky looking stuff that comes out of my taps with a TDS of 600+ ppm.

So do I fear imported food - no - thats a marketing ploy to help balance exports better by encouraging uninformed xenophobia - like a bumper sticker on a Chevrolet spouting  the virtues of buying Domestic - when its made in Malaysia.

Do I fear home grown food , and polluted tapwater , and flag waving by people who dont know the full facts - you bet I do.

Answer 21

With the price of gasoline it makes more sense to by locally grown products and with the appeal of organics growing daily, i think that will self correct itself in the long term and we will get all our products locally.As far as birds go,i am seeing more and more birds in the city,like wood peckers,cardinals,i know we have a falcon project to rid us of excess pigeons.we have other birds i don't know the name of but will find out..

Answer 22

I'm still trying to figure out how grocery stores can sell frozen "organic" vegetables from China.  If you taste them, they are absolutely awful.  Oh yes, and why do we need to import such things as corn and wheat from China, as well as other veggies.  We used to be one of the biggest producers of these in the world.  Hmmm, I guess we need to export to get more cash for our greedy selves.

Answer 23

Always fascinating to see that those who are harping about pesticides always have something they themselves want to sell.  

Our imported food is largely as safe as our domestic supply of food.  If you want to do without citrus and other produce that cannot be grown in Canada, that is your choice.  I very seriously doubt the author has done anything more than a cursory examination of how anything is grown in other countries.  Well, other than surveying what other anti-pesticide activists have said anyway.

Answer 24

Well, only a very small percentage of goods crossing the borders are actually inspected or tested due to the sheer volume of good compared to the number of inspectors.  A lot of products get through that would normally not be allowed.  Many large Canadian and American companies set up shop in other countries for the very simple fact that there are few or no regulations and wages are very low for the workers.

Answer 25

Just what are our environmental standards? In my opinion they are a group of laws and standards that should be adherred to by agriculture providers, but in reality these standards are regularly thrown aside in order to save money. Who cares if a Tomato is grown in Mexico or in a greenhouse in St.Catherines ON, as long as it tastes good. Do we really know how the Tomato is grown in the greenhouse? It may come as a shock to many of you but there are food inspectors that can be bribed. They are no different than Judges, Police, Politicians, etc, etc.

Answer 26

Canada really needs to get stricter on importing foods. I must say, lots of food products are bogus.

eg. A bowl of instant noodle that says "Noodles of Korea" and when you look at the serial, it tells you that noodle is made and packaged in China.

There have been chain emails being sent around. They teach you how to know where things are from just by looking at the first few digits of the serial number underneath the code bars. It's very useful because most merchants put "From Japan" on the box, and covered up the serial and barcodes, but really it's made in China.

Everyone should learn how to identify safe and reliable imported food.

Seriously, I just can't trust our government that much.

Answer 27

I need to write thousands of pages to answer your question.

We, in North America, have to step down from our superior throne and open our eyes. Click here to see global rates of cancer  and you will know what I mean. As an immature I dare the biggest scientist and tell you this: any environmental abuse, let’s say in Somalia, would definitely affect Sweden in couple of decades without importing their bananas!

Human race survived happily throughout the ages. Yes, people were getting sick, but they managed to find remedies from the nature and YES tobacco was one of them and they hardly died or heard lung cancer!!!!

The birds are still singing in the swamp of the “uncivilized” world until the “civilized” economist supported by heavily equipped troops show up for liberation.

Answer 28

I wont buy imported food from China now after numerous reports on their unsafe practises and find it disturbing to see the amount of imported fruits and vegetables from countries around the world that is having an unseen effect on the environment through green house gases emitted by transporting it to us.

Since there are no Cdn inspectors in these countries monitoring the growing of these foods and a shortage of them here to test the foods once they have reached our shores, we are in a very vulnerable situation and when a health crisis happens, the Cdn govt expresses our collective outrage, and vows that they will take steps to ensure it never happens again.

Its a little late to "shut the barn door after the animals have escaped"

Answer 29

Well to me this is just another scam to sell a book or make a profit. There is nothing wrong with imported food. I have worked all over the world & eaten the local food with no illnesses. We are starting to get out of hand here If we listen to the media & all the clowns who start writing articles it isn't even safe to live & breathe anymore. Couple eg. Second hand smoke they say is harmfull yet there is no documented cases. Used plastics are no longer good for you. Again no documented cases. The list goes on & on. All my fore fathers never had a problem with any of these items & they lived for years & lived healthy

Answer 30

With all due respect, while this is an important issue, I agree with some of the other posters who have noted that this isn't really a question.  If the average Joe posted this on here as a question, it would be reported as non-question.

Your issue is not the only problem with imported foods.  The amount of fuel you have to burn to bring food from foreign countries to Canada is also a problem.  This is especially troubling when it's a food that we can grow or raise here ourselves.  

I was just reading a Today's Parent article today about this - it reads "Toronto-based FoodShare, a not-for-profit with a mandate to improve access to sustainable, affordable, healthy food, calculated in 2005 that buying a lamb chop flown in from New Zealand rather than one raised here generated more than 1,000 times the carbon dioxide during transit."*

Answer 31

There are a multitude of issues here.  Canada too uses pesticides and participates in genetically modified food production, more so than some of the European countries. Also, what kind of regulations are there on produce coming into Canada? Canadians need to speak out on issues of food coming into this country. Watch 'Contaminated: The New Science of Food'               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiIGD7SHk...

Cheaper isn't better! Why, when I buy produce, do I always have to ask, "Where are the tomatoes from Canada?" "Why are you importing apples from China and America when we grow them right here in Ontario?" You will get a variety of answers, none of which tackle the issue of price. An Ontario farmer wrote me that Ontario could grow enough apples to supply the world. Are we looking for so many bargains as to endanger our economy,our health, and our environment? Next time you shop, I challenge you to buy local, and from Canada only. Good luck!