> That said, I've noticed a lot of foods, in particular imported
> from Asia, that are obviously not in compliance with U.S. law.
> I've seen products that were obviously colored with something
> that did not list any color in their ingredients. I once bought
> a can alleged to contain scallops (with a big picture of a scallop
> on the label) which contained cut-up shapes made from squid.
> I've also seen products that listed "vegetable oil" or "vegetable
> shortening" that I'm deeply skeptical did not contain
> hydrogenated fats.
>
> The Asian food industries are a cesspool. If you check out
> the FDA's OASIS detentions (seizures of food imports),
> you'll see lots of examples. They use food additives in
> places like Viet Nam and mainland China that were banned
> in the U.S. over 50 years ago.

Right on the money. Many of the labels on Asian imports are absolutely
false -- I remember buying a pack of hard candy and the content listed
sugar=0 and calorie=0, but right there on the list of ingredients was
"sugar". Must be some sort of "new" sugar that isn't sugar and has no
calorie.

The reality is that there is no active monitoring of imported food
products for accuracy/truth in its labelling. The FDA operates like any
other government agencies -- it only reacts when a certain number of
people dies and only if it gets on the news and stays news-worth for a
long period of time.