The Results....

On Friday, I challenged you to log all of your purchases, and pay attention to the country of origin. For me, this was not a shopping filled weekend. However, it was full of food and beverages.

Friday night, I enjoyed a meal at a local chain. Of course, the menu said nothing about where the food came from. Saturday, I dined at a French restaurant. My food was from the U.S.,  but the house wine was made in France. The list of American wines was lacking.

Sunday’s lunch was the same as Friday’s dinner. I’m assuming my food originated from the States. However, the menu lacked country of origin information, I’m not sure.

This lack of information made me start thinking about food guidelines. Recently, the State of California enacted legislation requiring restaurant chains of a certain size to post nutritional information on their menu. The State should expand this legislation to include country of origin information for meats and poultry. 

Where do my Rasinets Come From???

After yesterday’s attempt at living China-free for a day, I grew a little more cognizant of the products I consume. So, as I broke into a fresh box of Nestle Rasinets, I began to wonder, “Where do my Rasinets come from?”

First, I looked at the Rasinets box. The box simply said, “Distributed by Nestle USA, Inc., Glendale Ca 91203.” So, from the box, I knew that my Rasinets were distributed in California. Also, I knew that the candy was made with “California” raisins. However, this did not tell me the whole story about the candy’s origin.

Next, I decided to go strait to the source. I called Nestle. Unfortunately, the offices were closed for the day. From there, I went to Nestle’s website. After a bit of searching, I still didn’t have an answer to my question.

I began to dig a bit further. I ended up on the USDA website. According to the website, only certain foods must state a country of origin. The USDA website stated that the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. was in charge of enforcing country of origin labeling.

According the Agricultural Marketing Service:

“Country of Origin Labeling is a labeling law that requires retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, supermarkets, and club warehouse stores, notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products, (covered commodities) contained in the law include muscle cut and ground meats: beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng.” (See the AMS Website for More Info.)

Since Rasinets don’t fall into one of the above categories, the AMS does not require a country of origin label on the box. So, unless I speak to someone at Nestle, I might never know where my Rasinets were manufactured. et