When I was in Korea last year as a war veteran commentator with the History Channel, the cameraman had trouble filming in the early morning. In the land of the morning calm, a red haze, that South Koreans called the Chinese invasion, swept down from the Manchurian border.

The Chinese invasion was composed of pollution and the dust from the wind-swept plains of northern China. Pollutants from factories had combined with drifting soil to produce one of the greatest hazards of our times.

Despite the negative environmental impact of China and its food safety record, Canadian importers are going to China for our goods. They buy cheaper garlic, honey, apples and much of our fish. Evidently, they also buy almost all our pet food and our toys.

Labour costs and the lack of quality control make it easier for Chinese businesses to produce goods at a much cheaper price than what Canadians can produce them for. Our apple producers can’t compete with the Chinese prices, and for that reason we no longer have an apple concentrate industry in Canada.

Our government seems oblivious. But what is really troublesome is that it can’t protect consumers from danger until after the fact. Part of the problem is caused by some Canadian importers and Chinese counterfeit goods. One importer mixed water with the apple juice concentrates to say the product is Canadian. Foreign products can be packaged, canned and labeled in Canada and falsely claim to be Canadian made. It’s not against the law.

Thanks to counterfeit goods public health concerns are on the rise. A toxic chemical was found in Chinese-made toothpaste that ended up in Panama. The tainted wheat gluten in the pet food that caused thousands of sick pets in North America was missed by the United States Food and Drug Administration because the gluten shipments were falsely labeled as non-food items. Certain toys from China were banned in Canada because they had lead-based paint that was poisonous to infants who licked them. For Heavens sake! In Canada, lead-based paints were banned from toys decades ago.

China’s record is appalling. It accounted for about 80 per cent of 14,775 shipments of counterfeit goods (mostly manufactured products like jeans and CDs) that were seized last year at U.S. ports. China’s troubles are also within its own borders after an investigation was announced last month into fake blood-protein, used by the chronically ill, after it killed a Chinese patient.

We applaud the Canadian Federation of Agriculture for pressuring the federal government to stop the deceit and bring honesty into labeling. Meantime, the issue is also quickly becoming a public health concern. Now, more than ever, I want to know where my food is really coming from.

(Terry Meagher is former publisher and editor of Farmers Forum.)