Frozen food country of origin?

[billethkid]

When I look for where a product is from I usually see "Product of/from USA" or what ever country. When the package ONLY staes "distributed by" and then states the name of the company I.e. ConAgra.
That does not indicate, at all where the contents are from.

I am of the opinion when a package staes distributed by without naming here from, it is an imported product.

I do not buy any food not PRODUCED in the USA. Hence when where from or produced not present I do not buy.

How do you view the information provided?

Btk

[gomoho]

I will not buy any fish that is "farm raised" only wild caught, but even with that have some reservations depending on the country. I do buy fruits and vegetables from other countries because we consume such a large amount; however, worry about that as well.
If money were not an issue would buy only locally grown organic and farm raised animals, but that is not my reality so I try and be as cautious and aware as possible.

[pooh]

I, too, prefer not to eat farm raised fish, do eat fruits from other countries and look to see where the food is from. Food produced and packaged from the US doesn't always mean you have a guarantee against illness. Remember terrible outbreaks of illness attributed to USA grown and distributed lettuce, scallions, cheese, milk and meats, to name a few?

[CFrance]

I, too, prefer not to eat farm raised fish, do eat fruits from other countries and look to see where the food is from. Food produced and packaged from the US doesn't always mean you have a guarantee against illness. Remember terrible outbreaks of illness attributed to USA grown and distributed lettuce, scallions, cheese, milk and meats, to name a few?


Not to mention spinach, and eggs from the Iowa egg companies owned by Jack DeCoster that sickened 2000 people.

[billethkid]

I will continue taking my chances with food from the USA......it has gotten me to the age I am so far.

On the national news last night they presented that 70% of fruits and vegetables come from outside the USA. Only 2% is inspected.

As they recommended when I need something during the off season....I head for the freezer!

These are personal choices. I created the thread too try to get clarification on the country of origin issue.

btk

[Villages PL]

Some large corporations can have processed foods made for them by smaller companies and they might not always know where all the ingredients came from. Sugar, spices and other ingredients might have come from foreign countries. So, I think to protect themselves they just make a blanket statement "distributed by".

The other reason it might say "distributed by" is if the product comes from a foreign country and the corporation thinks it might hurt sales if people knew the country of origin.

It's another good reason to stay away from processed foods. But it's not just processed foods.


Fruits and Vegetables: Another trick marketers might use to sell packaged fruit and vegetables is to come up with a name that sounds American like: Country Harvest or Valley Farms. Then you have to search the back of the package to find "China" in small print. That's what I found in "Dollar Tree".
And most people never bother to look because they just assume it's an American product.

When it comes to canned or frozen fish it usually says where it's from.

[Villages PL]

If you go to a local food establishment like a pizza parlor, donut shop, ice cream shop, or restaurant, do you have any assurance that all of the ingredients came from the U.S.?

[Monkei]

If you go to a local food establishment like a pizza parlor, donut shop, ice cream shop, or restaurant, do you have any assurance that all of the ingredients came from the U.S.?

Hey it's donuts and ice cream who cares?

[twinklesweep]

Yes, American food producers have had their problems from time to time—but nothing like some of the imports from China purported, for example, to be fertilized with human excrement and such. I assiduously check where my foods come from and am as selective as I can be, but let’s face it: Consumers and businesses do not have the same goals….

Farm-raised fish and shellfish are problematic in that diseases tend to break out where the fish are so concentrated and have to be treated in ways that carry over to us as the consumers. So yes, wild caught is healthier. Cows are given bovine growth hormone that carries over to us. Analogous to this is the increased use of pesticides necessary with genetically modified foods. There is no way that concentration of pesticides can be removed from what we eat. In the U.S., for example, D.D.T. was banned in the early 1970s; we have no idea what pesticides are used elsewhere, yet another reason to stick with U.S. grown or produced.

Is shopping organic more costly than non-organic? You betcha! I make every effort to prioritize and at times give up on something unrelated to my food shopping in order to do more rather than less organic. I get my produce from a local organic farm that, BTW, costs no more than produce at our local supermarkets. I know I can never get to 100 percent—but I also know that the more effort I make, the better off I am!

[billethkid]

If you go to a local food establishment like a pizza parlor, donut shop, ice cream shop, or restaurant, do you have any assurance that all of the ingredients came from the U.S.?

NO!

[KathieI]

When I look for where a product is from I usually see "Product of/from USA" or what ever country. When the package ONLY staes "distributed by" and then states the name of the company I.e. ConAgra.
That does not indicate, at all where the contents are from.

I am of the opinion when a package staes distributed by without naming here from, it is an imported product.

I do not buy any food not PRODUCED in the USA. Hence when where from or produced not present I do not buy.

How do you view the information provided?

Btk

BTK,, I think I'm correct in these statements based on my previous experience as a cosmetic packaging engineer for many, many years (too many to mention).

a) If a product is made in the company's own plant or facility, they can just put the name of the company and city, state and zip., etc.

b) If the product is made for the company but manufactured at a subcontractor, for one reason or other, the company name must be followed by Distr. by.... this doesn't mean, out of the country, just not in their plant. For instance, aerosols are filled usually at contract fillers and not by the originating company, so they have Distr. by..... in their address line.

c) if a product is manufactured outside the US, in order to come through customs, it must have country of origin located somewhere on the package. Now,,, lately I've been noticing some companies not following this rule (I know for a fact that the product is made offshore) and I don't know how they are getting away with it. Some very large corporations have found ways to get around this, much to my dismay.

d) I think in CA, it is a law that fruit grown outside the US must be labeled on the fruit and also on the top of the bin where they have the price located. I think I'm correct in this, but if not, I hope someone will correct me.

I too am very much aware of country of origins as I have experienced many large corporations attempting to have cost-of-goods savings by taking their core, iconic products and manufacturing them off shore.

[Villages PL]

Hey it's donuts and ice cream who cares?

Right, if you don't care about ruining your health with donuts and ice cream, why should you care where the ingredients come from? Good point. I agree. But this thread is for those who want to be as healthy as they can by not being poisoned, or something like that. ;)

[borjo]

I received an email identifying where an item came from by the first 2-3 digits on the barcodes. Here it is: Made in USA or Canada is 00-09, France is 30-37, Germany is 40-47, Taiwan 471, Japan 49, UK 50 and China is 690-692. I printed this up and put it on my notes on my phone . Now when I go shopping, I can refer to it very easily.