Oct 20, 2007 7:17 am US/Central
Trader Joe's To Drop Food Imported From China
Grocery Store Chain Says China's 'Organic' Standards Too Lax
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
Trader Joe's, the hip, wholesome food store with 15 locations in the Chicago area, said Friday it will phase out foods imported from China amid concerns that standards on "organic" products from the country aren't as stringent as they should be.
Alison Mochizuki, spokeswoman for the Monrovia, Calif.-based grocer, e-mailed a statement saying the grocer will phase out single-ingredient products from mainland China by Jan. 1.
"We feel confident that all of our products from China meet the same high quality standards that we set for all of our products," the statement read. "However, our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region and we have listened.
"We will continue to source products from other regions until our customers feel as confident as we do about the quality and safety of Chinese products."
Trader Joe's is owned by German billionaires Karl and Theo Albrecht, who also own the Aldi food chain.
The change apparently does not affect products containing multiple ingredients, of which some may be from China. Mochizuki declined to comment further.
Whole Foods has no plans to stop selling single-ingredient products from China, which make up "a very small percentage" of the grocer's private label products, spokeswoman Kate Klotz said in a prepared statement. The company has processes in place to ensure quality, she said.
Trader Joe's move follows criticism of what's perceived as gaps in the system for verifying organic imports.
China has been faced with a number of exporting scandals recently. In addition to lead-laden kiddie jewelry and toys, Chinese manufacturers have been blamed for selling pet food tainted with the industrial chemical melamine and for exporting contaminated toothpaste. China also famously exports counterfeit consumer goods, from fake designer handbags to phony computer software.
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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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