Population growth, consumer demand drive U.S. increase of imported foods - 8 out of past 19 foodborne illnesses are from imported food-
Article subtitle:
FDA proposes rules for safer imported foods
Article publisher:
9 News & University of Georgia
Article date:
27 July 2013
Article category:
Our American Future
Medium
Article Body:
Chances are that about 15 percent of the food you eat - more if your diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables and cheese - comes from abroad, and the government is taking steps now to make it safer.
New rules proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration would make U.S. food importers responsible for ensuring that their foreign suppliers are handling and processing food safely ...
The guidelines would require U.S. food importers to verify that the foreign companies they are importing from are achieving the same levels of food safety required in this country.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg used the frozen berry illnesses, linked to pomegranate seeds from Turkey, as an example of an outbreak that could have been prevented if the new rules were in place. She said it illustrates the "growing complexity of the food supply" ...
CAIRCO Research
USDA - U.S. Food Imports
As Americans have become wealthier and more ethnically diverse, the American food basket reflects a growing share of tropical products, spices, and imported gourmet products ...
In addition, a growing share of U.S. imports can be attributed to intra-industry trade, whereby agricultural-processing industries based in the United States carry out certain processing steps offshore and import products at different levels of processing from their subsidiaries in foreign markets ...
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February 15, 2010
University of Georgia - Population growth, consumer demand drive U.S. increase of imported foods
Population growth and consumer demand for fresh produce year-round are the driving forces for the increase in imports, said Faith Critzer, a researcher with the UGA Center for Food Safety in Griffin.
Almost 44 percent of the fruit and 16 percent of the vegetable supply were imported to the U.S. in 2005.
Most apple juice, frozen cauliflower, garlic and limes consumed in the U.S. are imported, according to Critzer. The apple juice and garlic come from China. The cauliflower and limes are courtesy of Mexico ...
In 2008, 80 percent of fresh artichokes, 79.9 percent of fresh asparagus and 52.9 percent of fresh cucumbers in U.S. stores were imported ...
And 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported ...