Do You Know Where Your Mushrooms Come From?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story [2008-7-4]
Tag : Mushroom Products
When it comes to figuring out where their fresh produce comesfrom, consumers often have little information to go on.
That lack of information has been brought into focus by the recentoutbreak of salmonella poisoning from tomatoes. The Food and DrugAdministration was able to clear tomatoes from many states —but you might have trouble figuring out where the tomatoes at yourlocal supermarket were grown. That's because for now, there is nofederal law requiring stores to tell you where fruits andvegetables come from.
Another example of the confusion over food origins is shiitakemushrooms. Chinese imports of the specialty mushrooms have doubledin the past few years — and now account for half of theshiitakes sold in the United States.
After two to three weeks on a cargo ship from China, many importedshiitakes wind up at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market.There, vendors sell a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables togrocery stores and restaurants.
Bill McKinney, who works for Berti Produce, is in charge ofmushrooms. He says local companies that sell both imports andlocally grown mushrooms "don't mark the box 'local,' and they don'tmark it 'from import.'"
With no labeling law in place, local distributors can take boxeslabeled "Product of China" and re-box them under their own brandname. Origin is important to some consumers, particularly thoseinterested in eating locally grown produce.
Loose produce in stores sometimes bears a label, but labeling isvoluntary in all but two states. That will change in September,when the first federal "country of origin" labeling law for manyfresh foods — including produce — goes into effect.
McKinney was presented with unlabeled shiitake mushrooms from fivesupermarkets in the San Francisco area. Of the five, he said, threewere selling shiitakes from China.
"When you pick up a Chinese [shiitake] and you look at it, aChinese one is dried out, and it always looks that way," McKinneynoted.
As for a local mushroom, he said, "It's got a darker look and it'smore wet, and it's — you know, meaty-looking."
But, McKinney said, those distinctions may be lost on the averageconsumer.
"I'm in a lot of supermarkets," he said. "I don't see where it saysit's from China or it's from the USA. It's pretty much 'shiitake'and the price. It's always a high price. Whether it's China orlocal, you will pay the same price in the supermarket."
While consumers might pay the same price, some grocery stores mightpay only a third as much for the Chinese mushrooms as for thoselocally grown.
At one of the stores that McKinney said was selling Chineseshiitakes, the produce aisle was stocked with all the usuallettuces, herbs, fruits and mushrooms in bulk.
Supermarket co-owner John Garcia was surprised when asked whetherhe sells Chinese shiitakes in his store, which is locally owned. Hesaid he thought his supply was all domestically grown and that hewasn't sure there was a difference.
"There's definitely not anyone on our staff who knows that," Garciasaid. "If they knew, I would know."
But Garcia was curious, so he went to his office to look moreclosely at records from his supplier.
"I have an invoice that says I got some shiitake jumbos that wereimported, it doesn't say from where," Garcia said.
When asked whether that was a problem, he said, "Yeah, I would liketo know where it's coming from, because I never knew this was anissue."
Even if supermarket owners know where their mushrooms come from,they can choose whether to post that information for customers.That goes for other types of produce, too.
One shopper recently looking for vegetables at a San Franciscomarket said that more labeling would be a good thing.
"If I saw it was from China, I probably wouldn't buy it," said EdRose. "But I just think we need to have the labeling to make thechoice, and then we'll make our own decisions."
The confusion over food labeling dates to a 1930 Tariff Act thatintroduced labeling for imported goods. Shortly after its passage,restrictions on certain products, including fresh fruits andvegetables, were relaxed.
Barry Krissoff, an economist with the U.S. Department ofAgriculture, says foreign produce wasn't on people's minds backthen.
"In the 1930s, we were much more of a local trader, we bought ourfruits and vegetables from local vendors or regional vendors,"Krissoff said. "So as times changed, there was more of an interestfor informing the consumer about those global products."
This fall, a new federal law will update the 1930 act. Everythingfrom shiitake mushrooms to steak — and tomatoes — will belabeled according to the country they came from.
This means that after more than 70 years, American consumers willfinally know exactly what they're paying for.
When it comes to figuring out where their fresh produce comesfrom, consumers often have little information to go on.
That lack of information has been brought into focus by the recentoutbreak of salmonella poisoning from tomatoes. The Food and DrugAdministration was able to clear tomatoes from many states —but you might have trouble figuring out where the tomatoes at yourlocal supermarket were grown. That's because for now, there is nofederal law requiring stores to tell you where fruits andvegetables come from.
Another example of the confusion over food origins is shiitakemushrooms. Chinese imports of the specialty mushrooms have doubledin the past few years — and now account for half of theshiitakes sold in the United States.
After two to three weeks on a cargo ship from China, many importedshiitakes wind up at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market.There, vendors sell a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables togrocery stores and restaurants.
Bill McKinney, who works for Berti Produce, is in charge ofmushrooms. He says local companies that sell both imports andlocally grown mushrooms "don't mark the box 'local,' and they don'tmark it 'from import.'"
With no labeling law in place, local distributors can take boxeslabeled "Product of China" and re-box them under their own brandname. Origin is important to some consumers, particularly thoseinterested in eating locally grown produce.
Loose produce in stores sometimes bears a label, but labeling isvoluntary in all but two states. That will change in September,when the first federal "country of origin" labeling law for manyfresh foods — including produce — goes into effect.
McKinney was presented with unlabeled shiitake mushrooms from fivesupermarkets in the San Francisco area. Of the five, he said, threewere selling shiitakes from China.
"When you pick up a Chinese [shiitake] and you look at it, aChinese one is dried out, and it always looks that way," McKinneynoted.
As for a local mushroom, he said, "It's got a darker look and it'smore wet, and it's — you know, meaty-looking."
But, McKinney said, those distinctions may be lost on the averageconsumer.
"I'm in a lot of supermarkets," he said. "I don't see where it saysit's from China or it's from the USA. It's pretty much 'shiitake'and the price. It's always a high price. Whether it's China orlocal, you will pay the same price in the supermarket."
While consumers might pay the same price, some grocery stores mightpay only a third as much for the Chinese mushrooms as for thoselocally grown.
At one of the stores that McKinney said was selling Chineseshiitakes, the produce aisle was stocked with all the usuallettuces, herbs, fruits and mushrooms in bulk.
Supermarket co-owner John Garcia was surprised when asked whetherhe sells Chinese shiitakes in his store, which is locally owned. Hesaid he thought his supply was all domestically grown and that hewasn't sure there was a difference.
"There's definitely not anyone on our staff who knows that," Garciasaid. "If they knew, I would know."
But Garcia was curious, so he went to his office to look moreclosely at records from his supplier.
"I have an invoice that says I got some shiitake jumbos that wereimported, it doesn't say from where," Garcia said.
When asked whether that was a problem, he said, "Yeah, I would liketo know where it's coming from, because I never knew this was anissue."
Even if supermarket owners know where their mushrooms come from,they can choose whether to post that information for customers.That goes for other types of produce, too.
One shopper recently looking for vegetables at a San Franciscomarket said that more labeling would be a good thing.
"If I saw it was from China, I probably wouldn't buy it," said EdRose. "But I just think we need to have the labeling to make thechoice, and then we'll make our own decisions."
The confusion over food labeling dates to a 1930 Tariff Act thatintroduced labeling for imported goods. Shortly after its passage,restrictions on certain products, including fresh fruits andvegetables, were relaxed.
Barry Krissoff, an economist with the U.S. Department ofAgriculture, says foreign produce wasn't on people's minds backthen.
"In the 1930s, we were much more of a local trader, we bought ourfruits and vegetables from local vendors or regional vendors,"Krissoff said. "So as times changed, there was more of an interestfor informing the consumer about those global products."
This fall, a new federal law will update the 1930 act. Everythingfrom shiitake mushrooms to steak — and tomatoes — will belabeled according to the country they came from.
This means that after more than 70 years, American consumers willfinally know exactly what they're paying for.
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