It would be a good thing if all the food companies would specify exactly where their food products are from.

    Hello, how are you?  The weather is better this week. It’s 70 degrees here today.

I’m going to plant a couple of Begonia and Geranium plants tomorrow and finish

working on getting our taxes filed before the April 18th deadline. 

     I’m happy to report that today I bought USA tomatoes, lettuce, oranges, Washington State apples and California walnuts. I could have easily picked up tomatoes and lettuce from Mexico and Apples from New Zealand or another country except that I was looking for the USA label on each fruit and vegetable.

     This project of buying only USA foods and products is proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. This is because some of the products aren’t clearly marked as to what country they come from. I found out yesterday that 3 Kraft products that I brought home aren’t exactly from the US. I called and talked to a person at Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and here’s what I learned.

  

     I asked about their Kraft Dry Roasted Peanuts and where they are produced. The answer surprised me as I thought these peanuts were from the US. I was told that some of the Peanuts are from North Africa, India, China, North Carolina, Virginia and elsewhere. I asked what elsewhere meant.  I was told this could be “anywhere.” 

     Two other Kraft Products, Planters Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts and Planters Trail Mix

Go-Paks, Berry Almond Daybreak Blend are also from different countries

   The Kraft Foods’ representative said that the nuts in the Planters Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts came from various countries. The cashews are from India, Africa, Brazil and Vietnam. The Pecans are from Africa, Brazil and India and any country. The almonds and walnuts are from California. The peanuts are from different countries as in the Kraft Dry Roasted Peanuts mentioned above.

     The Kraft Planters Trail Mix Go-Paks, Berry Almond Mix has this breakdown. The cranberries, raisins and granola clusters are from “other countries” and the US. I wasn’t told what “other countries” these ingredients are from, but the almonds are from the US. I may call Kraft Foods again to see if I can find out where the cranberries and raisins are from.

  The dry roasted Planters Pistachios produced by Kraft that I bought are from California. 

     I asked the Kraft representative how to tell if a Kraft product was from the US. I was told that if it said Kraft Foods Global then it could be from a combination of different countries. If the product was from just one foreign country, it would give the name of that country on the product. It would say Kraft Foods if it’s from the US.  I noticed that on these 4 Kraft Products that I bought it says, Kraft Foods Global, Inc., Northfield, IL USA, and Kraft Foods.

     It would be a good thing if all the food companies would specify exactly where their food products are from.  I believe this is important information for consumers.

     Have a good day,

     

     Later,

         Carol Brown