Anyone else feeling a bit squeamish about buying foods imported from China? With all the reports of contaimination of pet foods and toothpaste, along with leaded paint on children's toys coming from China, I'm starting to wonder what else is in the food. Instead of my usual "schpeel" about buying locally, I must admit, due to my Chinese ancestry I occasionally visit the Asian market to purchase items that come from various Asian countries. Some of these food items are a necessity to cook traditional Chinese meals. You just can't find US made bean thread noodles or fermented tofu. An article in last Sunday's Seattle Times ("In Asia, hallmark of cuisine may be witches' brew") stated that the food exported from China is usually of higher quality. Otherwise you may find such features as formaldehyde, borax (I often wonder why bags are borax are sold in the food section of the Asian store), antifreeze or drywall in your food! There's noone testing our foods for these contaminates. I'm conflicted as to how to have the traditional foods I crave without potentially poisoning my system or compromising my values about having nutritious healthy food.

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