What to do when everything is ‘Made in China?’

Some fruits and vegetables sported voluntary stickers, but shoppers always should consider the calendar when shopping for produce, as stores get a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables from Central and South America during winter months.

None of the sweets in the candy aisle said “Made in China,” but most are likely made with at least one ingredient that originated there, said William Hubbard, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official.

Candy wrappers typically list just the U.S. distributor of the products, so label readers can’t determine the origin of the vanillin found in a Nestle Crunch bar, the carageenan in a Baby Ruth or the gum arabic in a pack of Mentos.

Those three ingredients, and numerous other flavoring and preservative additives, commonly come from Chinese companies, Hubbard said.

“The cocoa might come from another country and the sugar might be American, so you’re not going to get a country of origin on that product,” Hubbard said.

Companies in China produce about 80 percent of the world’s wheat gluten, common in most breads, cakes and cookies, and 80 percent of its sorbic acid, a preservative used in just about everything, he said.

We found a bit of irony in the ethnic food section, where a box of Golden Bowl fortune cookies and a bag of Kokuho Rose Rice brand sushi rice both sported “Product of USA” labels.

My boys have been asking to get their own tennis rackets — ours look like they once belonged to Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert — so we headed to a couple of sporting goods stores and Wal-Mart.

All of the rackets we found were made in China, but at least we were able to pick up a can of Penn tennis balls that were made in America.

We moved a couple aisles down to Wal-Mart’s toy section and found tons of products originating in China, including action figures, vehicles, stuffed animals and games.

Packages of Hot Wheels miniature cars, once a U.S.-made icon, now read, “Made in China, Malaysia or Thailand as marked.” Matchbox cars hail from either China or Thailand.

The classic capitalist board game Monopoly still qualifies, though with a caveat. “Made in the USA with dice and tokens made in China,” the box reads.

At least a deck of Bicycle playing cards is still homegrown, although we’ll have to switch our game to rummy as the cribbage board was born in China.

With the Fourth of July approaching, I decided to check out the store’s display of U.S. flags and found that all were domestic, with the exception of one style made in China.

I knew the small appliance section would likely be a lost cause for this quest, but I decided to take a look. All of the toasters and all but one of the coffee makers originated in China. A Bunn 10-cup professional brewer said it was assembled in the United States, but it was priced in the higher end of Wal-Mart’s selection.

Hubbard said all consumers receive value from the ubiquity of Chinese-made appliances, but when it comes to food products and ingredients, companies need to be more vigilant in tracking their supply chains.

“Unfortunately in the case of foods and drugs, there’s a safety issue on top of the quality issue,” Hubbard said. “If the toaster doesn’t work you just take it back to Wal-Mart and they give you another one. But if the food is unsafe, that’s a different matter.”

MORE FROM WORLD BUSINESS

World business Section Front

France: Is 35-hour workweek a faux pas? Europe's slowing economy may drag on U.S. McDonald’s tastes victory in Europe Roche offers $43.7 billion for Genentech Unified world a central theme in Olympics ads Nazi reference rocks WTO talks Report: Ford to retool U.S. plants America's economic ills spread to Europe Teva to buy Barr Pharma for more than $7B EU expands antitrust case against Intel World business Section Front   Add World business headlines to your news reader: