Pete C. wrote:

>> >> Is there a problem with Chinese garlic?
>> >
>> >Their food safety standards, notwhistanding the very heavy penalties for
>> >infringements, are still among the worst on Earth
>>
>> So your decision falls under "Precautionary" rather than driven by
>> some specific event?
>
>They are driven by a great many specific events, just not one specific
>to garlic. The recent Chinese milk and wheat gluten issues come to mind
>as do their "gutter oil" problem, a case where more expensive glycerin
>was substituted with a cheaper and toxic "look alike" chemical in a
>shipment to a pharmaceutical company which resulted in a couple hundred
>deaths, and many other "QC" issues.

I've heard of some of those events, but none of them is a simple
vegetable. All those examples went through processing. I don't know
how an agribiz company could produce garlic cheaper than by just
harvesting and packing it. Do you?

The reason I question dismissing Chinese garlic is because around
here, it's usually fresher than the Cal. garlic. Seems unlikely, but
it's true. Except today, when the domestic garlic at HT was both
cheaper and fresher-looking.