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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #1395 on: November 21, 2008, 03:13:23 PM » |
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Thanks, Carol. I sent off an inquiry to the reporter for Kraft, too. Like every other piggish, greedy corporation who has jumped on trying to get market share in China and make profit from China' s substandard food exports, Fonterra deserves worse than what's happened to them for utter disregard of consumer food safety. Fonterra can't blame the baby milk scandal entirely on Chinese producers since Fonterra was aware it was happening, had three members on the board of directors of Sanlu Group, and could have acted much differently had it been concerned with anything but profit. Makes it very hard to convince the Kiwis or the Yanks or anyone else in the entire world that Fonterra even remotely cares about consumer health: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/21/business/AS-New-Zealand-Dairy-Downturn.phpNZ dairy farmers facing big earnings cut
The Associated PressPublished: November 21, 2008
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand's dairy farmers, a mainstay of the isolated South Pacific nation's exports, face a 24 percent fall in payments for milk this year because of slumping world prices, a new blow for an economy already in recession.
The lower payment from New Zealand dairy-farmer owned Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's largest dairy exporter, will shave at least $521 million from dairy incomes nationwide.
Henry van der Heyden, the company's chairman, said Friday that milk suppliers will be paid 6 New Zealand dollars ($3.14) for each 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of milk solids for the production year ending May, 2009, down from a record $4.13 the previous year.
New Zealand's dairy farmers enjoyed boom times in the last milking season with the industry's 10,724 farmers receiving their highest payout since the industry was established in its current form 43 years ago.
Dairy producers, who on average each received more than $438,000, must pay production, labor, rental and all other costs from their Fonterra payout. They don't receive any government subsidies.
But a decline in global commodity prices from record highs has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis, and contributed to dragging New Zealand's economy into recession.
"No one should underestimate what is actually happening in the global markets," Van der Heyden said in broadcast to farmers.
"This is probably the worst that it has been for two generations," he said. "The message is for farmers to be cautious in their planning. On my farms, I'm just telling everybody to just hunker down."
Fonterra, which controls more than 95 percent of New Zealand's milk supply, is the country's largest multinational business, its second-biggest foreign currency earner and accounts for more than 24 percent of the nation's exports.
The company's global standing took a blow earlier this year when Chinese milk producer Sanlu Group Co., Fonterra's partner in China, was identified at the center of a tainted milk scandal.
Fonterra Chief Executive Andrew Ferrier said world prices for butter, milk and cheese were down about 42 percent from record levels a year ago, with dairy commodity prices down 21 percent in October alone on a Dow Jones index of commodities.
Prices were likely to keep on falling, and further than had been expected, he warned.
"With consumer confidence deteriorating, it is likely that prices will remain weak, rather than recover" by mid-2009 as initially expected, Ferrier said.
Turning to China, Ferrier said it was increasingly likely that Fonterra would have to write off the estimated $38 million balance of its investment in the joint venture with Sanlu.
No agreement has been finalized to sell Sanlu's assets, but it seemed likely any proceeds would go to meeting the Chinese milk producer's liabilities, he said.
Fonterra wrote down $85 million of its investment in its 43 percent share of the joint venture with Sanlu in September after the Chinese company's role in the tainted milk scandal was exposed. |
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« Last Edit: November 21, 2008, 03:20:56 PM by 3catkidneyfailure »
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straybaby
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« Reply #1396 on: November 21, 2008, 06:47:57 PM » |
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I must say, I find it interesting that a reporter is looking into Kraft. Can we have some more, please?  |
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DMS
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« Reply #1397 on: November 21, 2008, 07:19:28 PM » |
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I sent in my questions. I would love to see some answers on the country of origin, if they do melamine testing in-house, and why the EU and China get gmo-free guarantees.
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None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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straybaby
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« Reply #1398 on: November 21, 2008, 10:20:01 PM » |
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and why the EU and China get gmo-free guarantees.
Isn't Monsanto US based? One of my concerns about Obama (the president-elect for those confused by the "edit" ) was/is, he's from a corn state. You only get props by "supporting" your people (for reelection) . . . It's why Waxman may be better than Dingle for green auto biz . . . |
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DMS
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« Reply #1399 on: November 25, 2008, 07:41:40 PM » |
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Yes, Straybaby, they are out of St. Louis, Missouri, or one of the near suburbs. I had this on Pandora's, but it is another reason to keep a watchful eye on the president elect's GMO, energy, food safety, and regulatory policies in general. Hopefully these types of shenanigans won't be repeating themselves, but this is not a good indication: Not exactly what I was hoping to hear: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/19/6373/9820I don't think I'm a jaded enough observer of Washington's ways to figure it out. But here's what I know. The [president elect's] transition named its "team members" looking at energy and natural resources agencies, which includes USDA. The list includes Michael R. Taylor, a man who spent his career bouncing between the employ of GMO-seed giant Monsanto and Bill Clinton's FDA and USDA. Taylor is widely credited with ushering Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) through the FDA regulatory process and into the milk supply. |
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« Last Edit: November 25, 2008, 07:48:57 PM by DMS »
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None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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straybaby
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« Reply #1401 on: November 25, 2008, 11:24:34 PM » |
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DMS, I spent a lot of time trying to trace O and his corn connections when he first announced. HOURS! I couldn't find much, but his past state records aren't really the open book he pretends they are. And in DC he had the whole "underground" K street going. I knew Hillary was more aware in the food area. Especially the cheaper processed food sold to those who had no choice. She's also been active since starting in the senate here with our smaller farms and getting the food into low income communities and schools. The best health care is good nutrition and prevention. If she goes SoS, I'll miss her domestic presence, but we'll prob get another pushy NYer in her place  At least we know we have some friends in congress on this issue. Hopefully there will be some change . . . . I try and read grist a few times a week. Got a recipe for sweet potato rolls I'm trying for the holiday there  |
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Poco
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« Reply #1402 on: November 26, 2008, 01:23:08 AM » |
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Had to add this. No way can China test our imports! Get real China! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAI"In July 2008 it was reported that QAI had mistakenly certified as organic powdered ginger produced in China, which tests showed was contaminated with the banned pesticide Aldicarb. QAI blamed the oversight on the fact that it had not actually certified or tested the ginger itself, but instead relied on two Chinese certifiers to certify the ginger.[1] Under Chinese law, foreigners may not inspect Chinese farms.[2]" |
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straybaby
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« Reply #1403 on: November 26, 2008, 10:03:37 AM » |
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Poco, didn't we have importers/manufacturers saying that they had "certification" on the glutens/protein concentrates during the PFR? Seems to me even ChemNutra used that excuse . . .
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mary blonde
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« Reply #1404 on: November 28, 2008, 05:02:14 PM » |
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I finally got that email re: barcodes. Not sure if this was already posted somewhere here.
The whole world is concerned about China made 'black hearted goods'. Can you differentiate which one is made in Canada, Philippines, Taiwan or China?
The first 3 digits of the barcode is the country code wherein the product was made.
Sample: All barcodes that start at 690 - 695 are all MADE IN CHINA.
471 is Made in Taiwan
Government and related departments won't educate the public.
Therefore, we have to educate ourselves.
Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products 'Made in China', so they don't show from which country it is made.
However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are: 690-695 then it is Made in China.
BARCODES
00 ~ 13 USA & CANADA
30 ~ 37 FRANCE
40 ~ 44 GERMANY
49 ~ JAPAN
50 ~ UK
57 ~ Denmark
64 ~ Finland
76 ~ Switzerland and Lienchtenstein
471 ~ Taiwan
480 ~ Philippines
628 ~ Saudi-Arabien
629 ~ United Arab Emirates
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straybaby
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« Reply #1405 on: November 28, 2008, 06:13:33 PM » |
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Is this just for food products Mary?
I do packaging for home products that are produced in China, I use the same code (first 6 digits) for items produced in the US or anywhere else. It's the UPC code found at the bottom of the bar code. It's th company identifier number 087918. The second set of 6 digits is to identify the particular product/design. I've been doing packaging for this company for several years and nothing has changed.
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mary blonde
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« Reply #1406 on: November 28, 2008, 06:21:54 PM » |
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I'm not sure. The woman who sent me this wasn't sure, but thought it was for everything???
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trudy1
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« Reply #1407 on: November 28, 2008, 07:03:58 PM » |
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So, does anyone on here eat anything Kraft?
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lesliek
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« Reply #1408 on: November 28, 2008, 07:14:23 PM » |
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My DH still eats his velveeta "cheese" product. I have gotten him to eat less of it,but he won't give it up.
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"the world's most inept extortionist"
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #1409 on: November 28, 2008, 08:45:06 PM » |
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I believe the barcode email is a hoax, Mary Blonde. It has been discussed several times on different Itchmo threads. The bar code identifies the manufacturer, I believe, not the country of origin. Several people, including me, got this email, and upon exploring it, found it does not tell you the country of origin. That would be too easy and too useful to the consumer. If you follow this link and set up an account, the website will identify manufacturer and product for the bar code you input. It's a pricing convenience for retailers, not consumer info on country of origin: http://www.cproductinfo.com/index.asp?Page=112It's also on page 92 of this thread, the research looking into bar codes: http://itchmoforums.com/recall-nonpet-food/melamine-suspected-chinese-officials-say-baby-formula-tied-to-kidney-stones-t6256.0.html;msg99006;topicseen#msg99006 |
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« Last Edit: November 28, 2008, 08:48:24 PM by 3catkidneyfailure »
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