The Global Diet
Global sourcing of food and ingredients has soared as marketers and retailers look for lower-priced suppliers
June 16, 2008
- Noreen O'Leary
Americans accept that much of what they buy these days is sourced from low-cost manufacturers in foreign countries.
To see how global the sourcing of food ingredients has become, look no further than the juice in your child's lunch box. Apples, an iconic ingredient long the stuff of all-American pies and dunking contests, now come from the orchards of growing regions like Shaanxi province, with China, the world's largest grower of apples, exporting more apple juice concentrate than any other country.
Americans accept that much of what they buy these days -- whether household electronics and appliances, or textiles and clothes -- is sourced from low-cost manufacturers in foreign countries, primarily China and other Asian countries. What many don't realize is the extent to which this has been occurring in their grocery carts.
There's a good reason for this: marketers are not required to disclose that information.
Because of foreign trade changes brought about by the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement since the late 1980s, global sourcing of food and ingredients has soared as marketers and retailers look for lower-priced suppliers -- often in evolving markets with little regulatory oversight.
Imports now account for 15 percent of the U.S. food chain, an increase of about 50 percent in the last six years, according to Bill Hubbard, a former associate commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration, who retired in 2005 after 33 years with the agency.
This went largely unnoticed until last year, when U.S.-branded pet food with contaminated wheat gluten from China killed thousands of household pets. For the first time, consumers got a glimpse of the extent to which American companies outsource ingredients and branded products to contract manufacturers. Food sourcing has now become synonymous with safety concerns.
In a new survey from Deloitte & Touche released last week, Americans expressed great reservations about foods produced outside the U.S. More than half -- 56 percent -- say they think imported foods are "not at all" or only "somewhat" safe. In contrast, 80 percent of Americans say they believe that domestically produced foods are safe.
"It doesn't get much more personal than something you're buying for your children to eat or you're eating yourself," says Pat Conroy, leader of Deloitte's U.S. consumer products practice.
But wary consumers may be getting some help -- the kind that could create a new vulnerability for marketers, who spend millions to win the public's trust and loyalty in their brands. On Sept. 30, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) will be enforced for beef, lamb, pork, fruit, vegetables and peanuts. The provision was originally approved as part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, but special interests have lobbied to delay it since then. (Purveyors of wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, nonetheless, have had to disclose their origin since 2005.) And as the date nears, COOL is gaining momentum in Washington: Last month, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 expanded the list of covered commodities to include chicken, goat meat, ginseng, pecans and macadamia nuts.
Of even more concern to marketers: In April, two Democratic congressmen from Michigan, Rep. John Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak, leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee, proposed country-of-origin information be extended to include product ingredients, which would be detailed on manufacturers' Web sites. For the first time, consumers would see the extent to which many venerable American brands outsource ingredients around the world.
A major impetus for the legislation was actually inspired by a pharmaceutical. Con-taminated batches of the blood thinner heparin sold in the
accounted for 54% of the global CSD market. Europe for 34.5%, and Asia-Pacific for 1 \%.] The industry was characterized by the presence of strong brands - with three brands ㅡ Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Sprite ranked 1, 23,and 61 globally and valued1 $70 billion. $14 billion, and S5.8 billion, respectively by Interbrand a leading brand valuation and consultancy firm.2 Advertising had played a…
Over the past 50 years, agricultural activities has been significantly increases to keep up with the growing population of the world. A regular meat diet of human mostly consists of beef, pork, lamb and chicken. Meat is recognised to be a significant part of the human diet because it provides good source of nutrients, including great amount of proteins and micronutrients such as iron, vitamin B12 etc. However, meat intake should be restricted as research shown that meat, especially processed meat…
for pregnant woman to maintain a balanced diet, it is equally important for all woman of a childbearing age to eat a healthy diet. A maternal diet must provide energy and nutrients that meets the nutritional requirements of mother, fetal growth and the storing of nutrients (Williamson). In his article, ‘Nutrition in Pregnancy”, C. S. Williamson stresses the importance of women’s health: If all women of childbearing age were to eat a varied and adequate diet, this would help to correct any nutritional…
often provide them with an unhealthy diet. For the first time in history, the youngest generation is presumed to have a shorter life span than their parents. The repercussions of this “national catastrophe” (Levine, Obesity), is putting our population in jeopardy unless aggressive action is taken to reverse the rate of obesity. Instead of providing a well-balanced nutritious diet and encouraging an active lifestyle, many parents are accepting a fatty and sugary diet. This threat to our generation is…
expect for the vegan diet to become more relevant over time. We also expect that veganism will make a bigger eprence in the world of politics as the years continue due to the fact that many political problems such as the ethics of slaughterhouses, over pollution, and global warming, are big problems that many vegan ograntions will meation as well. Despite this growing interest, the vegan lifestyle is criticized immensely because of their harsh political beliefs and constricting diet guidelines. However…
consumed were not processed and only minimal amounts of fats and sugar were used for cooking. In fact, most of the time natural sugar cane, mangoes, and jackfruit would be my snacks. However, over the years processed foods have become a part of people’s diet thus, replacing natural food; subsequently, processed foods are the major factor in the obesity epidemic in the United States and other region. In addition, cardiovascular disease has become an issue of concern due to the consumption of processed foods…
percentage of my food is produced in Canada. This is most probably due to the fact that my diet doesn’t consist of much variety from day to day, and it is mostly processed fast food. Assuming the average Canadian diet is like mine, I would say that Canadians are local global consumers. However, it would not be accurate to say that most Canadians share the same diet as me. In my perspective, a persons diet depends on the lifestyle that they live. It can vary depending on whether they are working or…
burden in developing countries. It is globally the most important risk factor for illness and death, with hundreds of millions of pregnant women and young children particularly affected (Krawinkel, 2003). In these communities, a high prevalence of poor diet and infectious disease regularly unites into a vicious circle. Although treatment protocols for severe malnutrition have in recent years become more efficient, most patients (especially in rural areas) have little or no access to formal health services…
coronary artery disease, obesity, diabetes, and many types of cancerous cells. “Completely eliminating these products from ones diet reduces the risk of heart attack by 90%...heart attacks kill a person in the US every 45 seconds” (Marcus, 2). Coming from experience, losing someone from a heart attack isn’t easy, especially knowing that it could’ve been stopped by that person’s diet. We are all unaware of the toxic chemicals that these animals are exposed to before entering the slaughterhouse. If we eat…
Canada, Greenland, Russia, Norway, Scandinavia, and even Iceland. The Arctic Foxes as a species are close to being endangered from global warming, see 7.0 for more details. Image: 1.1 Arctic Fox in the Snow. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/45zoiwHOCMI/UMn4U60XC8I/AAAAAAAAPDc/o4R3_G20qoI/s1600/Arctic+Fox+ Wallpapers+01.jpg Diet: 2.0 The Arctic Fox’s diet consists mostly of lemmings and voles, small rodents that live under the snow, but they have also been know to eat berries, bird eggs and scavenge…