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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]whole foods frozen organic asparagus is from China as well

[/quote]

Nearly all of the frozen (organic) foods from Whole Foods are from China.  [/quote]

That's disappointing. I thought Whole Foods pride themselves in sourcing locally. And I like shopping there because I generally don't have to read the labels to know it's okay (unlike shopping at Safeway/Giant).[/quote]

Please do a little research before you start rumors. The organic frozen food I just bought at Whole Foods says PRODUCT OF USA.

WE ONLY DISCRIMINATE WHEN IT COMES TO QUALITY AND TASTE, NOT COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.
Whole Foods Market continues to buy from China because we believe in supporting farmers that provide high quality products.
Our strategy is not to run away from our Chinese suppliers, but to take a stand and get closer to our suppliers. We will continue to improve on the audit and testing procedures that are already in place.
Organic farming has a long history in China.
Our strategy is to build long term partnerships with our Chinese suppliers.
We are confident in the quality and integrity of our products from all countries, including China.

No matter where a product originates, all organic products that we carry must meet strict USDA organic certification, as well as our own Quality Standards.
A USDA approved certifying agent works with the producer on both growing and manufacturing processes to insure the organic integrity of their product.
Quality Assurance International (QAI) works on our behalf with that certifier to make sure that all of their procedures are in accordance with the USDA standard.
No matter where a product is grown the same USDA standard is used to evaluate suppliers. Organic standards in China are no different than they are in Brazil, Turkey, Thailand or anywhere else.
Any product that is going to be sold as organic in the U.S. must be audited by a USDA-accredited certifier. For example, the Chinese government does not certify U.S.-bound organic product in China. That certification is done by USDA-accredited certifiers in China who are themselves reviewed, approved and accredited directly by the USDA.

WE DON'T STOP AT "REQUIRED," WE AIM HIGHER.
In keeping with our commitment to quality, we instituted Country of Origin (COO) policies before they were required by the government.
Regulations have been passed and will be implemented on Sept 30, 2008, which will impact labeling requirements for certain products and will give our customers even more transparency in terms of where products come from. We take a progressive approach on "Country of Origin Labeling." We are ahead of the regulations and many of our products have already been labeled to identify country of origin because our customers expect that from us.

When creating our Private Label products, we use a multiple testing safeguard approach.
All of our suppliers are asked to produce specifications for their products and assure compliance with those specifications through testing.
We require they use highly credentialed laboratories who are specialists in their fields. We establish elaborate product profiles and risk potential testing methodologies for food testing. For example, a frozen meal is at a higher risk than sea salt due to the number of ingredients required to make the product. Different levels of risks results in different testing regimens.
When we develop testing profiles we also take into consideration country of origin. For instance, our testing profiles for frozen vegetables produced in China were developed in conjunction with a world class testing laboratory, and include specific tests to assess a broad spectrum of potential environmental contaminants. We periodically test our products using these profiles, as do our vendors, to ensure compliance to regulatory, safety and quality standards.
If specifications are not met, we have corrective action systems we use that can get to the root of the problem and we work together with our suppliers to fix any issues uncovered.

WE GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO SECURE THE SAFEST, HIGHEST-QUALITY FOOD.
Multiple layers of auditing and oversight are provided to assure the quality, safety and legality of our products.
Our team of buyers and auditors personally visit farms and facilities where private label products are sourced. Every Whole Foods Market Private Label vendor is subject to strict quality assurance audits on site, wherever they are located.
All organic products are audited and certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent.
We have highly trained internal experts who visit our suppliers and perform quality evaluations. We also use some of the most highly credentialed and experienced audit companies in the world to do independent inspections and thoroughly evaluate food safety at the supplier manufacturing plants.
Quality Assurance International (QAI), is an example of an independent certifier of Organic products. When you see their seal on our packages it means they have confirmed we sourced the product from a certified organic operation.[/quote]

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