Reply #25: The solution is simple, really

[brazil]

When a company wants to import goods from a country that doesn't have decent quality controls on food and merchandise, they should pay to have the goods inspected. Every batch should be inspected, not 1% or 5% or 20%. And the taxpayers should not be picking up the bill.

If the true costs of globalization are priced into products (and not hidden in our tax bills) then maybe outsourcing our food supply won't look quite so good to corporate accountants. Saving pennies on Chinese wheat gluten instead of buying an American product simply wouldn't make economic sense.

Also, it's time for country-of-origin labels on every food product. If a company wants to save money by using Chinese wheat gluten, and they go through the above-mentioned inspection process, fine. But I, as a consumer, have a right to know what I'm buying. If it's for my children or my pets, it's not just a right, but a responsibility.

Regardless, it's going to take some major environmental reforms in China before I trust any food product with ingredients of Chinese origin.