China Safety Concerns and the Spice Industry Risks

Recent highly publicized incidents involving pet food, toothpaste, seafood, fresh ginger and even toys have aroused concerns in the USA and Europe markets about the safety of imported goods from China.

The spice industry sources a number of spices from China, including ginger, garlic and onion. The amount of garlic sourced from China has risen dramatically in recent years due to lower cost. However a number of challenges, such as lack of infrastructure for modern food production and traceability, lead to some degree of risk for the spice industry.

For more details, please read

the ASTA White Paper: Importing Spices from China and Other Countries

Download here (requires adobe acrobat )

December 11th, China Agrees to Post U.S. Safety Officials in its Food Facilities

For more details, please read The New York Times

December 5th, Bipartisan EAT SAFE Act of 2007 Introduced

The bill includes additional funding for food-safety agencies and requires tighter
oversight of private labs that test some imported foods. Read more