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Consumers are growing anxious about the safety of their food in the wake of the announcement that snacks imported from China and sold under Korean labels contain high levels of melamine, a toxic substance that causes kidney failure.
The Korea Food and Drug Administrtion on Thursday decided to take Haitai Confectionary's Misarang Custard, which is made in China, off the shelves and ban all foods made with Chinese dried milk and dairy products until it is confirmed that they are safe. But health authorities and the confectionery industry are giving the impression that they are only concerned with settling the incident rather than tracing how the substance got into the snacks in the first place.
The scandal over melamine-laced products may be only the tip of the iceberg. Korea relies on China for about 80 percent of the substance of processed food sold here. Korea grows only 28 percent of its own grain except rice, and Chinese-made processed foods have a price edge.
In 2007, 86,273 cases or 3.14 million tons of foods were imported from China, outdistancing the U.S., from which Korea imported 41,444 cases or 2.61 million tons. In the same year, Korea imported about 1.84 million tons of agricultural and forestry products, and more than 1.13 million tons of processed goods from China.
The safety of imported Chinese foods has long been controversial. In 2007, a total of 588 cases or 5.73 tons of imported Chinese foods were rated as unsuitable, with China topping the list of food exporters in this regard.
The problem is that most food we eat believing it to be Korean was actually were Chinese-made. Health authorities are at a loss over the latest food scandal, citing lack of sufficient personnel and budget.
Ha Sang-do, a professor of food science and technology at Chung-Ang University said, "Chinese foods are craftily circulated on the market by taking advantage of loopholes in country-of-origin labeling and quarantine systems. It's no exaggeration to say that most of what we eat is Chinese-made."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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