Frozen berry food safety

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#1438827 1-Dec-2015 19:37

mattwnz: This sort of thing is why I think country of origin labelling should be madatory. That way we are able to easily tell where our food has come from. We have really strong food handling rules in NZ which adds significantly to the cost of production in NZ. Whereas I don't believe there is any way of checking if imported food meets those production standards.
Not sure where these frozen ones are grown in this case, so wonder if they are NZ grown?

If you look at a number of brands of frozen berries they're pretty big on COO labelling - but clearly it's pretty hard when you're importing product from so many countries to ensure year round supply.

This also isn't just an issue with imported products. Scares have also occurred in the past with NZ berries (both fresh and frozen).

Fred99

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#1438829 1-Dec-2015 19:39

mattwnz:
Rikkitic:
MikeB4:

That is rather inapropriate

It was meant lightly but food does matter. If you don't eat fruit or vegetables your body won't thank you for it.

Some people who live to 100 have lived on very bad diets, and even smoked, so it doesn't necessarily mean a longer life, but may increase the risk. Lifestyle and being overweight I believe are more important factors in not living a long life.

One of the most important factors for longevity (aside from genes) is a positive mental attitude. IIRC a long-term study in the US concluded that a positive mental attitude, identified at an early age, added 6 years compared to those identified as those who "worry" all the time, and are consequently negative.
The comment was made that if a cure was suddenly found for all cancers, the impact on average longevity would be less than would be achieved if we all had a positive mental attitude.
That seems to tie in with non-scientific anecdotal observation I see. You can worry yourself to death. Much of marketing is based on the concept of selling "happiness" (whatever that is - but you don't get it from "stuff"). The consequence of that is dissatisfaction and fear that we won't achieve that elusive and hard to define goal.

MikeAqua

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#1439326 2-Dec-2015 15:42

Just buy frozen berries grown in NZ. Easy to find ... and we grow some nice berries.

Mike

Fred99

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#1440193 3-Dec-2015 23:00

One product now identified:

Fruzio brand strawberry blackberry mix.
Not mentioned in the Stuff article is that COA is China.

gzt

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#1440209 3-Dec-2015 23:18

Thanks for that. Do you know if the packaging states China or an intermediate country?

Fred99

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#1440213 3-Dec-2015 23:34

Fruzio state on their website that their packaging includes COA information.
On their facebook page, they actually state that the product is ex Serbia/China, not just China.
Perhaps they blend the frozen berries here, and it mightn't be easy to find out where the contaminated berries were from.
Hmmmm - but they sell other berry mixes which include blackberries and/or strawberries, or either as single berries. They need to sort that out very quickly IMO, not good enough.
Frozen strawberries are pretty awful IMO (texture). I just found another reason to not like them.

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#1440256 4-Dec-2015 07:05

Rikkitic:
MikeB4:

That is rather inapropriate

It was meant lightly but food does matter. If you don't eat fruit or vegetables your body won't thank you for it.

While it's probably a good idea to eat a few vegetables, there are no health benefits of eating fruit. Many cultures around the world live perfectly healthily to a good age with no fruit whatsoever in the diet. The promoting of fruit as some sort of wonder food is more marketing than fact. A bit like soy, which was originally grown for animal feed.

One of the other problems with fruit is that it is often eating raw, not cooked, so the risk of germs is greater in the supply chain. They are also more likely to be covered in pesticides, which is why you should wash them.

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#1440262 4-Dec-2015 07:30

jmh:
Rikkitic:
MikeB4:

That is rather inapropriate

It was meant lightly but food does matter. If you don't eat fruit or vegetables your body won't thank you for it.

While it's probably a good idea to eat a few vegetables, there are no health benefits of eating fruit. Many cultures around the world live perfectly healthily to a good age with no fruit whatsoever in the diet. The promoting of fruit as some sort of wonder food is more marketing than fact. A bit like soy, which was originally grown for animal feed.

One of the other problems with fruit is that it is often eating raw, not cooked, so the risk of germs is greater in the supply chain. They are also more likely to be covered in pesticides, which is why you should wash them.

All fruit even fruit of one's own trees should be thoroughly washed before consumption.

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#1440619 4-Dec-2015 16:22

Some fruits contain vitamin c, potassium, benficial pigments and fibre. So they can have nutritional benefits.

Mike

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#1440625 4-Dec-2015 16:44

OK, I'm not an expert on this so don't have reams of statistics at my fingertips and don't want to get dragged into a knock-down fight over it, but logic (maybe wrong?) tells me that we evolved to like sweet things for a reason and just because we have subverted an essentially healthy principle by stuffing ourselves with cheaply produced sugar does not mean that the evolutionary urge for energy-dense foods is in itself a bad idea.

In other words, I think we most of us enjoy fruits because they do in fact confer nutritional benefit, even if only as a source of sugar, and anyone living in the jungle on a paleo diet would need that to stay healthy. Maybe people can get by in today's frankenfood world without fruit, but I enjoy it and would greatly miss it, though refined sugar is not something I care for at all. Fresh fruit is one of the joys of life and I feel it needs to be defended in the face of all the crazy diet fads that stream through our lives like a bad case of the runs.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#1440632 4-Dec-2015 16:53

Rikkitic: OK, I'm not an expert on this so don't have reams of statistics at my fingertips and don't want to get dragged into a knock-down fight over it, but logic (maybe wrong?) tells me that we evolved to like sweet things for a reason and just because we have subverted an essentially healthy principle by stuffing ourselves with cheaply produced sugar does not mean that the evolutionary urge for energy-dense foods is in itself a bad idea.

In other words, I think we most of us enjoy fruits because they do in fact confer nutritional benefit, even if only as a source of sugar, and anyone living in the jungle on a paleo diet would need that to stay healthy. Maybe people can get by in today's frankenfood world without fruit, but I enjoy it and would greatly miss it, though refined sugar is not something I care for at all. Fresh fruit is one of the joys of life and I feel it needs to be defended in the face of all the crazy diet fads that stream through our lives like a bad case of the runs.

Fruit is good for you, vitamins etc. But with all things in life moderation, moderation, moderation.

jmh

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#1440651 4-Dec-2015 17:20

MikeAqua: Some fruits contain vitamin c, potassium, benficial pigments and fibre. So they can have nutritional benefits.

The nutritional benefits of fruit are found in greater quantities in other food, e.g. there is more vitamin c in liver than in an orange. However, if you are not getting nutrients from other food, fruit is better than nothing. It also tastes nice, because it contains sugar. Fine to have as a treat, but it shouldn't be the mainstay of your diet.

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#1440885 5-Dec-2015 08:59

I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Fred99

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#1440914 5-Dec-2015 10:41

geek4me: I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Doing that is common throughout the third world but I doubt that it would happen with larger / state controlled food production for export from China. Most probably exactly the same thing which could and has happened here with infected pickers / handlers and personal hygiene. Risk is probably even exacerbated here because fruit picking is casual low paid work attracting itinerants, but mitigated because of strict hygiene measures and lower prevalence of infection. But it seems apparent that there are problems in China - which is rather offputting to say the least.

mattwnz

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#1440920 5-Dec-2015 11:09

Fred99:
geek4me: I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Doing that is common throughout the third world but I doubt that it would happen with larger / state controlled food production for export from China. Most probably exactly the same thing which could and has happened here with infected pickers / handlers and personal hygiene. Risk is probably even exacerbated here because fruit picking is casual low paid work attracting itinerants, but mitigated because of strict hygiene measures and lower prevalence of infection. But it seems apparent that there are problems in China - which is rather offputting to say the least.

The new food safety and handling rules are pretty strick, and I am not aware of this type of problem occurring in NZ grown food that has been frozen, at least not since the rules were tightened. I wonder if this has more to do with them being cut and frozen, and the freezing suspending the bugs in time. I still think the public would benefit it from country of origin labelling so people have an informed choice of knowing where their food is coming from. I believe they do in Australia

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