The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won, Revised and Expanded Edition

A Poisoned Food Chain

You’ve got to be nuts to eat Chinese food.

—Ron Vara

Most people quite rightly think of China as a manufacturing powerhouse and the world’s “factory floor.” Increasingly, China is also becoming the world’s fish farm, fruit orchard, and vegetable garden.

Today, China is the third largest exporter of food to the United States. China accounts for more than 50% of the garlic, 45% of the apple juice, roughly 20% of the honey, and about 15% of the seafood imported into the United States. Incredibly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests less than 1% of all food imports into the U.S. This is in sharp contrast to Japan, which tests fully 10%. As noted in USA Today, this understaffing of the FDA “signals a large green ...