How does Chinese gluten with 10,000 miles of added shipping costs end up in ... Kansas?

[Bozita]

When I think "wheat belt," I think Kansas, Nebraska. and environs. Yet, some China farm products company sells wheat gluten to a Chinese exporting company who sells it to a(n) American/Canadian importer whose selling price to a pet foods company includes shipping this product halfway across the globe.

I can understand why a labor-intensive product like an auto built in China might sell for less than a comparable Detroit vehicle sold in Michigan. But wheat? To Kansas?

I just can't mentally cross that hurdle.

Somebody please help me out.

[pnwmom]

1. Not only that, we're probably paying some farmer not to grow wheat.

It makes no sense.

[cassiepriam]

9. Bingo. Double dipping? We pay someone to not grow wheat. Then they import wheat

and make money selling it?

[lonestarnot]

32. Well no one has to may my ass to not eat any.

[Lasher]

2. 50% of the US wheat crop is exported but not to China

China has trade barriers that effectively block meaningful wheat imports from the US. They do this to protect their domestic wheat producers. How novel, using trade barriers to preserve domestic jobs.

Wheat gluten, AKA seitan, is a product similar to soy-based tofu. Flour is made into dough then washed to remove starch, leaving only the gluten (protein). The result of the process has been used as a meat substitute for years. It is most popular in China where it was first developed.

Although we have plenty of wheat I guess we don't have a lot of dough washing facilities, whatever that would look like. And if we ever did process a lot of wheat gluten here we would probably offshore all the jobs to China.

That's why we are importing wheat gluten, but not unprocessed wheat, from China.

[pnwmom]

14. And I read recently that we're importing 70% of wheat gluten from

China and Europe. Since it's used in the vast majority of processed foods, we're crazy not be ensuring its safety.

[Lasher]

17. We should process wheat gluten here

This is insane, buying wheat gluten (which is unsafe, BTW) from China while they maintain trade barriers to block imports of our wheat. I am starting to wonder if our massive trade deficits are intentionally being caused.

[pnwmom]

18. I know why wheat gluten is unsafe for me. But what do you mean

when you say that wheat gluten is unsafe in general?

[Lasher]

19. Sorry, poor choice of words.

And there already seems to be enough confusion going around without me causing more.

Wheat gluten in general is not unsafe, unless you have an allergy. Wheat gluten imported from China is unsafe as we have seen, due to an unacceptable risk of contamination.

[Javaman]

22. we have plenty of dough washing facilities...

it's called money laundering!!!

:rofl:

Sorry I just couldn't resist!!

:rofl:

I crack me up!!!

[Lasher]

33. Nyuck nyuck, dats punny!

Let's call The Hamper in, he's got experience!

[Toucano]

3. It's strange, but here's why.

Wheat gluten is a FACTORY product, not a farm product.

From wiki:

"Wheat gluten is most popular in China, where it was first developed, as well as in the cuisines of other East and Southeast Asian nations. In Asia, it is commonly found on the menus of restaurants catering primarily to Buddhist customers who do not eat meat, but who nonetheless enjoy eating meatless versions of meat dishes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_%28food%29

Used to simulate meat, it seems the perfect ingredient for a can of Alpo. If you want to keep meat out of it, I guess.

[leftofthedial]

4. capitalism

money uber alles

[cassiepriam]

13. Just like who ever raises the most money gets to be President.

[leftofthedial]

20. yep

money uber alles

[SoCalDem]

5. Gotta keep stuff "moving".. The oil companies & the middlemen gotta make a buck

or billions of bucks:(

It's because "commerce" is what we worship these days.. commerce at any cost..

[Codeine]

8. That's a terribly facile comment. nt

[cassiepriam]

12. Yep, the answer is about money. Make no mistake. Follow the money trail.

[Wilber_Stool]

6. It's the same way apples from

New Zealand end up in the same pile as apples form Washington state at the same price.

[Codeine]

7. Wheat gluten

is a specialty of the Chinese; they make it by the metric shitload. Their production is so vast that it's quite a bit more efficient to purchase it from them than to make it locally.

It's not just "wheat," it's a highly processed product made on an industrial scale.

[magellan]

16. Does that excuse lack of inspections on our end for quality assurance?

[Codeine]

30. Do you really expect

every scrap of product imported into our country could be inspected? Hell, we don't inspect more than the tiniest, teensiest bit of the various food products we make locally! This is a sad situation, but the fact is the vast majority (and I mean the vast majority) of food poisonings and product contamination cases we experience are the result of domestic, American-grown and -made products processed or handled incorrectly.

[magellan]

31. I'm not sure why you think quality assurance inspections = inspecting every scrap

My understanding in this case with the Chinese is that we rely solely on them for inspection as part of the trade agreement. (If that's wrong I'm happy to be educated.) So my point is simply that they might take more care with what they send us if they knew their export faced a possible inspection -- and rejection -- here.

[cassiepriam]

10. The answer is cheaper labor costs to make gluten.

[cassiepriam]

11. The other big question: How much is in the human food supply?

[pnwmom]

15. It's in the vast majority of processed foods. And it's usually not labeled.

When the labeling law was finally passed -- after years of resistance by the food industry -- it was because the sponsors of the bill (Sen. Kennedy was one) finally agreed to drop gluten from the list of items required to be labeled. Otherwise, the Republicans were going to vote against the whole bill.

So if you want to avoid wheat gluten, you have to avoid every product that mentions "wheat gluten" or "wheat" or "natural ingredients" -- which means, the vast majority of processed foods.

Examples of "hidden" sources of gluten (from wheat, barley, or rye):

http://www.clanthompson.com/life_travel_letter.php3

binders
cereal or bran
cottage cheese (may contain food starches)
curry powder (may have flour as an unlisted ingredient)
emulsifiers
fillers
flavors (artificial or natural)
granola
hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)
hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
ketchup (Heinz is allright)
modified food starch
mono- & di-glycerides
MSG (imported source)
mustard (wheat flour may be a hidden ingredient)
rice syrup (may use barley enzymes)
sour cream (may contain food starches)
soy sauce (wheat is an ingredient in most brands); San-J Tamari is fine
stabilizers
textured vegetable protein (TVP)
vegetable gum (may be made from forbidden grains)

[cassiepriam]

21. Might be easier to say what is left that we can eat :(

[pnwmom]

23. True. It's not so bad, really, if you don't mind actually cooking.

Fortunately, a couple members of my family (not me) actually like to.

You can eat any fruit or vegetable or any meat, prepared with oil or butter, or grilled, steamed, etc. Rice, potatoes, and corn are fine. Salt, pepper, and unadulterated spices are fine. Margarine often has gluten in it -- have to be careful. Milk and cheese are okay if you're not lactose intolerant. (Many Celiacs are, unfortunately.) Most, but not all, soy sauce has wheat -- must read label!

The hardest part is eating out -- especially explaining all this to staff whose English is shaky or whose trustworthiness is questionable. It's especially hard to travel.

[cassiepriam]

24. Many thanks.

I am going to print out your post for my files.
My daughter is very allergic to most things, food and airborne.
I just had to take her off all dairy.
Next will be wheat and oats.
It is difficult to get it all sorted out!

Taking away her soy sauce is going to be a battle.

[pnwmom]

26. You don't have to take away all soy sauce. Just get the right kind,

without the wheat. San-J Organic Tamari is wheat-free.

The problem is in going to restaurants, because their soy sauce will usually have wheat in it. But P. F. Chang's has a gluten free menu, and can prepare food with wheatless soy sauce.

By the way, thinking about your daughter's dairy problem, my lactose intolerance is what led to my being diagnosed with Celiac. Lactose intolerance is relatively rare for people of white European descent -- unless they are Celiac (or gluten sensitive). The gluten sensitivity causes damage to the intestines that often leads to lactose intolerance. When I first went off dairy, I started feeling better. When the symptoms returned, my doctor tested me for gluten problems.

Has your daughter been tested for gluten sensitivity yet? It's just a blood test. If you're going to do it, DON'T take her off wheat yet -- the test is an antibody test and she would need to be eating gluten-containing food to get an accurate test result.

[cassiepriam]

27. Thank you again.

I will look for Sans J organic. That sounds much better.
And we can start going to PF Chang's, I didn't know that they had a
gluten free menu. That is great.

Also I am going to pm you if that is OK. My dau's story is a bit complicated allergy wise.

[paparush]

25. Export (sell high) Import (buy low) Econ 101 (ps - you didn't need that dog, anyway)

[porphyrian]

28. China owns the majority of our debt and is the reason we aren't in another Great Depression yet.

We'll be making all kinds of bad deals with them to pay them off, likely.

[AZBlue]

29. Yeah, that's an enviornmentally sound decision!

:sarcasm: