First of all, I want to thank you for creating this post. I have been enlightened by several of the informed responses that people have added to this discussion.

But my main reason for writing is to say that I am deeply saddened and outraged by what I have learned about Whole Foods importing food from China, as well as the USDA lowering their standards on food that is not labeled "100% organic."

I started eating organically about a year ago and I liked to think that I was helping myself and the environment. But now I realize that I have to be extra vigilant about reading labels and buying products from reputable organic brands. An acquaintance of mine had mentioned that she had bought organic frozen spinach and was horrified when she read that it was imported from China. I went home that night and went through all my organic products and did not find anything imported from China. However, I read in an article about organic sunflower seeds being imported from China as well. I mostly shop at Whole Foods and the sunflower seeds are always a better bargain when purchased in bulk. Last night, I looked on the bin to try to see where the sunflower seeds were imported from and I could find no labels of origin. But the pre-packaged sunflower seeds that I found (in the next aisle over) were half from the USA and half from China. I am now very uncomfortable eating the organic sunflower seeds that I currently have because I feel they may be from China and there is no real way to tell. I am strongly considering tossing them on the lawn to feed the birds.

Anyways, I am now rethinking how I look at organic labels and I am grateful for people like you who put the information out there. We need to stay informed and educated on this topic.

Sincerely,
Maryann

The truth of the matter is that, as a consumer, I wouldn't normally learn some of the things you've specified, like the types of qualifications your client has passed. It would be nice if Whole Foods, Costco, etc. would publicize what the procedures are, so that consumers here don't just become alarmed at the idea of "Chinese products" without also learning what procedures the products may have have undergone. Because that information is not widespread, all people know is what happened in the past.

As to local foods, well, my theory is that local foods may be a good thing due to freshness, but if they're not organic, then I wouldn't care how fresh they are.

At any rate, thank you for replying. I didn't expect you to reply either, but it's good to open the communication. Thank you. :)

I didn't expect to get your response for it's already a topic 3 years ago. I didn't mean to be rude and just want to build some trust between the 2 countries. Sorry I didn't bring this topic into any specific evidence.

I totally understand your concern over Chinese products, and China is, definitely, on a way of developing. What I wanna express here is just that a lot of people in China, is working very hard on food safety and promote the organic, and some companies are doing really good, to be a qualified supplier to channels such as whole foods, jusco, costco etc.

For example the company I happeded to know, called Yaxiya(I don't know its English name), from Shandong China, has passed qualifications like USDA, FDA, NOP, OCIA, BRC, HACCP, JONA, JAS, EU 2091, even KSA, etc. They really spend a lot on passing these every year. It's so called the "benchmark"

I notified I did't leave an email, and excuse me I didn't want this to be an email quarrel~~

No affense, I really wanna build some trust between the hard working producer and consumer. And I read from reports that consumers seems to prefer local foods.

Since I work for a consulting firm, and my job is to find ways helping my client to export more organic foods and increase revenue. The US is really a big market, and this website seems to be of big influence so I searched some customer opinions here. And thanks for your opinion!

Yours sincerely,

Jay

While I appreciate the your statement that "so far as I know, my client has passed numerous strict examination articles to get the supplier qualification, the vegetables exported to the US reached a higher standard than Chinese eat everyday," with all due respect, such a declaration from someone who identifies himself(?) by first name only, using a free, untraceable email address, upon the basis of "so far as I know", does not rise to the level of proof. If you have evidence that would serve as actual proof, I'd dearly love to see it.

Next, regarding your offer of photos of their factory which you state is "clean and safe": even if we accept your argument that the factory is clean and safe, these two elements do not address all the U.S.D.A. Organic certification requirements. And while you state that your client is a supplier to Whole Foods and "has passed numerous strict examination articles to get the supplier qualification", you do not identify whose "strict examination articles" your client has had to pass. The bottom line is that we — the U.S. Whole Foods Markets consumers whom you also attack in your comment — do not know what the precise examination procedure is, whose procedure it is, and whether the U.S.D.A. requirements are also applied and, if so, where and by whom. The bottom line is that we simply do not know, and Whole Foods itself omitted to respond in its own forums when questioned about its Chinese imports.

Jay, you seem like you might be a nice guy. But as to your statement that "US people discriminate Chinese products," well, with all due respect, this discussion itself bears witness to the famed debating method that if you can't win the argument, attack the person who's arguing. That is, if you can't win the argument, attack the other person as a "hater".

Has it occurred to you that perhaps people are not discriminating against Chinese products, but are very hesitant to consume or use Chinese products due to the history of some of those products? Now that you've brought up this issue, let me say that, some years ago, as I was perusing the news, it struck me that there were many, many well-researched articles from credible organizations (including, yes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regarding people being hurt, or even dying, over a period of years from the use of specific Chinese products. So perhaps it's not about "discrimination" against China … can you not see that perhaps it's a product safety issue? Can you not imagine that perhaps people don't want to eat or use food or products that might harm them or their children — and that that would be true no matter where the items originated from?

Truth be told, there were so many articles that I compiled an incomplete list of them into an article of my own: Questioning Chinese Imports

I searched into your article by chance. Though it's already 2 years ago, I hope your question has been solved. I am in China, and I'm a consultant in organic food industry. One of my client is a supplier to wholefoods.

so far as I know, my client has passed numerous strict examination articles to get the supplier qualification, the vegetables exported to the US reached a higher standard than Chinese eat everyday.

So pls feel comfortable to eat them, if needed, I could show you some photos I shot in their factory. It's clean and safe.

Thanks for your remind, I got to know how US people discriminate Chinese products.

Jay Beijing

We've been shopping at Whole Foods since, if I recall correctly, the 1980′s … starting with Mrs. Gooch's, which was purchased by Whole Foods a long time ago. Thing is, if I say something isn't right, then suddenly I'm a "Whole Foods hater" — as if you have to blindly accept everything they do without question. Geez. :)