The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls the import and export of food, adopts traffic light management, and divides import and export enterprises into three lists: red, yellow, and green.
On April 9, four Chinese food companies were included in the "red list" by the US FDA.
U.S. Food Administration
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, is a federal government agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and one of the largest food and drug regulatory agencies in the world.
The FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of products produced or imported in the United States, including food, drugs, cosmetics and other fields.
The FDA has a strong influence in the world and is known as the "patron saint of American health", and many food companies love and hate the FDA, because the FDA's credibility and professionalism are trusted by many experts and the general public.
Enterprises exporting to the United States are very afraid of being put on the red list by the FDA, and once they are on the red list, it means that the company's products will be automatically detained without inspection, and countless troubles will follow.
This is why the FDA's red list is also called the "blacklist", but if it enters the FDA's green list, it means that there is no problem with the company's products, and it can be directly released with the green light without undergoing layers of testing.
The FDA International Free Sale License is the highest certification of the World Trade Organization for food, drugs and other products, and this certification must be jointly verified by the US FDA and the World Trade Organization.
After obtaining this certificate, the company's products can be exported to WTO member countries unimpeded, and can be marketed, and the government of the country where the enterprise is located cannot intervene.
In the international community, enterprises in many countries are very eager to obtain an international free sales license certified by FDA, which can prove that the company's products have very high quality and also symbolize the honor of the company's products.
Chinese companies are being targeted
On April 8, the U.S. FDA website updated the import alert list, which is often referred to by the American people as the red list, which includes the products of four Chinese companies.
In the red list, the four mainland companies are "Qiongzhijia Food Factory" in Taishan City, Guangdong, Jilin "Forest" Food Company, Zhejiang Huzhou "Ronglv Vegetable" Co., Ltd., and Shanxi Yuncheng "Xuanfulin" Food Co., Ltd.
After a product is added to the red list, FDA will detain the affected product until the company reports to FDA, passes the test by an FDA-approved third-party laboratory, and then is approved by an FDA branch.
Only then can the name be removed from the red list, and the customs will release it before it can enter the U.S. market for sale.
At present, the products of these four companies must not only go through strict testing by a third party, but also go through a long "road of whitewashing" in order to gain a firm foothold in future exports.
Businesses that have been wrongfully placed on the FDA's red list
Chongqing Fuling mustard, once known as the "national side dish" by the masses of people, in the domestic mustard market development is very good, so it intends to export abroad, but has never been able to enter the American market.
On April 19, 2023, the FDA issued an import warning to include the mustard products of the mainland Chongqing Beiling Mustard Group on the list of uninspected and withheld, which means that Fuling mustard will not be able to be exported to the United States.
Only after the FDA's official testing and certification, Fuling mustard can enter the U.S. market for sale, the reason for the detention is that the FDA has a certificate to prove that the goods have violated the rules, so the company that issued the goods will be alerted.
This means that as long as the company has not complied with the US food safety regulations, it will be automatically included in the FDA's red list, so what point does Fuling mustard not meet the FDA's safety standards?
In 1969, after experimental studies fed cyclamate (sodium cyclohexyl sulfamate) to mice, it was found that mice had bladder cancer, so the United States began to ban the use of cyclamate in 1970.
However, in the follow-up experimental studies, sweeteners were not found to have carcinogenic effects, when the human body consumed cyclamate, 40% was excreted from the urine, 60% was excreted from the feces, and the body did not appear to accumulate the condition.
Cyclamate, a food additive, is legally allowed to be used in mainland China as long as it is used in the right amount, and is widely used in pastries, beverages, candied fruits and other foods.
In November 2011, Fuling mustard in Chongqing, mainland China, was detected by the FDA to contain cyclamate, and then it was included in the red list.
Although it was later tested that cyclamate was not harmful to the human body, the FDA still did not remove Fuling mustard from the red list.
This shows that if Fuling mustard wants to enter the U.S. market, it must remove cyclamate or other ingredients from the product, which will undoubtedly increase the cost of the product.
Fuling mustard, which once left a "black history", will be "given special care" by the FDA in 2023 because it was once detected to contain cyclamate, and it has once entered the red list again and cannot be exported to the US market.
For U.S. buyers, this will undoubtedly cause a lot of losses, all food products have an expiration date, as long as there is a delay in the sale of food.
In addition to obtaining a third-party laboratory approved by the FDA to carry out the testing certificate, it is also necessary to pay an additional fee to the FDA before release, which greatly increases the operating cost of the enterprise.
Importers have no choice but to add these extra costs to the product, and ultimately consumers still need to pay for it.
Many people know that the price of Fuling mustard is already very affordable, and if the cost is increased, the company will face the risk of loss, so it has caused a lot of heated discussions, and many people say they do not understand the safety standards of the United States.
In 2008, Fuling mustard was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage, no matter what the attitude of the United States towards Fuling mustard, we should support the mainland's domestic brands.
In fact, mainland companies are not all food companies on the red list, and many food companies are on the green list by the FDA.
Enterprises in mainland China that have entered the FDA green list
In August 2015, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. FDA update showed that two food industries in mainland China had obtained "green cards" for imports.
According to the website of Zhejiang Jiaxing Hengjie Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., this company mainly produces shark cartilage powder, chondroitin sulfate series, collagen and other products, and is a high-tech industrial company.
The company is one of the first companies in mainland China to develop into the production of chondroitin sulfate raw materials.
According to the website of Guangdong Gome Aquatic Food Co., Ltd., the company is mainly engaged in aquatic frozen processing, import and export trade, and its products are mainly exported to North America.
On April 13, 2022, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the mushrooms exported by ten food companies in mainland China have obtained the qualification of the "Green List" (Green List) of the United States.
This means that all the 10 food companies in the mainland can pass through the US customs normally and smoothly, avoiding the disposal of DWPE (automatic detention on shore).
When the United States inspects imported mushrooms, it focuses on the impurities, pollutants, and decay contained in mushrooms, which also reminds mainland enterprises to strictly follow the requirements of the US FDA when exporting to the United States to avoid the risk of detaining export products.
The development of the food industry in mainland China
Nowadays, the scale of the food industry in the mainland is expanding, and the food industry has formed a huge industrial chain, from the production, sales, distribution and other links of food, the mainland has a mature industrial system.
In 2023, according to the China Food Association, the revenue of the mainland's food industry has reached 9 trillion yuan, and the proportion of the country's GDP is rising.
From the revenue in recent years, we have observed that the top ten provinces in the mainland of the food industry zone are Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Henan, Fujian, Hubei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hebei, Zhejiang, Anhui and other food industry regions.
It is mainly distributed in the central and eastern regions of the continent.
Among the provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in the food industry, Shandong Province is the province with the highest income, and in 2021 and 2022, it has been the province with the highest revenue in the food industry.
In recent years, consumer demand has increased a lot, and the competition between brands has gradually become fierce, which has further stimulated the development and innovation of mainland food brands, making the mainland food industry develop rapidly.
epilogue
The hegemony of the United States in the world is everywhere, not only suppressing the mainland's high-tech industries for a long time, but also setting up layers of checkpoints to encircle and block mainland enterprises in the food trade.
No matter how much the United States tosses, it will absolutely not be able to stop it, and the mainland's rapid development and progress have been spurned by the people of the mainland through the United States' multifaceted targeted actions.
This kind of targeted behavior of the United States only makes the pace of mainland development more solid, so that the level of the mainland's manufacturing industry has reached a higher level!
Resources:
International Food - "4 companies in mainland China were included in the FDA red list, involving products such as mung beans, beef ear cakes, etc."
Food Partner Network - "The Products of Two Enterprises in China Obtained the "Green Card" of the US FDA
China Quality News - "National Intangible Cultural Heritage - Fuling Mustard"
China Light Industry Information Network - "The Quality of Mushrooms Exported by Ten Enterprises in Mainland China Has Been Recognized by the US FDA"
Baidu Encyclopedia - "Cyclamate"