Change happens when information is provided that is irrefutable. 

Distributor and retailer drop China-sourced fresh ginger

by Joan Murphy

12/12/2007

WASHINGTON -- Christopher Ranch Foods, based in Gilroy, CA, said that it has stopped sourcing fresh ginger from China after last summer's discovery of harmful pesticides and has switched to Brazilian varieties.

"No Chinese ginger will be brought in until they figure out what's going on" with the country's food-safety programs, said Bill Christopher, managing partner of Christopher Ranch. The company said that it now sources from Brazil half the year and Hawaii the other half, and it conducts its own tests for contaminants.

"We learned a good lesson. People need to test it before it comes in," he added.

California officials detected aldicarb sulfoxide, a pesticide not allowed on ginger, during routine sampling and alerted Christopher Ranch. On July 29, the California Department of Public Health warned consumers not to eat fresh ginger imported from China, one of the world's larger ginger producers. Retailers have been making similar decisions after finding problems with China-sourced foods.

Safeway said that it was currently not carrying ginger from China after California regulators found fresh ginger contaminated with unsafe pesticide levels this summer. Safeway decided not to carry the products, and "that's the case for the foreseeable future," said a spokesperson for the supermarket chain.

In the meantime, Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt is traveling to China during the week of Dec. 10 to broker safety agreements with Chinese officials on food, feed, drugs and medical devices.

This comes as Congress is reviewing the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's current spending levels for this year and the Bush administration is developing its fiscal 2009 budget, the one that is expected to include budget increases to implement the new import food-safety plan, which was released by the agency this fall.