In recent years, an abundance of information has been reported, regarding quality and use of ingredients from China that are marketed as “organic.” The findings portray a grim landscape for China’s farmlands, with organic crops tainted by the heavy metals polluting the nation’s land, water, and air.
More and more supplement companies are using these toxic ingredients in their products – unbeknownst to doctors, patients, and retail consumers, who don’t often look into their nutritional-supplements’ ingredient sources.
The strength of NutriPlex Formulas’ community hinges on its collective dedication to health and offering supplements with the highest level of integrity to support fast, effective healing. Simply put: If our aim is to help patients suffering from toxicity and ill health, then it would be completely counter-intuitive to offer a product that adds to their toxic overload.
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NutriPlex Formulas has thoroughly investigated our raw food suppliers to verify their quality, and we’ve taken immediate action to find alternative sources to Chinese organics.
Because using Chinese sources allows nutritional supplement companies to state their products are “organic” and pay a fraction of the price of a purely organic source, they are forsaking the integrity of their products. This means realizing an impressive margin when consumers are reportedly willing to pay up to ten times more for organic (versus conventional) foods.
After researching the facts about Chinese organics and making numerous calls to QAI (Quality Assurance International), Dr. Victor Shayne, NutriPlex Formulas formulator, verified that the organization does not conduct any lab work to ensure products are, indeed, untainted with pollutants, from farm to end-product. Rather, QAI merely places its stamp on items that have the appropriate paperwork.
While NutriPlex Formulas has traditionally attempted to source its ingredients from a variety of nations that have reported using standards upon which we built our formulas, we’ve needed to tighten our policy – prioritizing quality – and therefore find better and verifiable sources.
Here Are 3 Reasons Why We Refuse to Source Our Ingredients from China:
1. China’s Environmental Toxicity
China unfortunately has a reputation for having a dire state of environmental health, with its water quality often in crisis. Even when foods are grown without chemical sprays, they often become toxic with the heavy metals that China’s industrial wastewater leaches into the soil.
Now, nearly 20 percent of China’s farmland is polluted – with cadmium, nickel, and arsenic found as the top three toxic heavy metals present.
2. Illicit Labeling
Even if Chinese foods are certified as organic through Chinese organizations, it should be noted that China has its own set of organic qualifications that don’t even come close to reaching the standards held by their counterparts in the United States. Thus, certified-organic Chinese foods often contain chemicals or are farmed using agricultural practices considered unacceptable to those of us looking out for our health.
As reported by the USDA, 9 of 23 cases of fraudulent organic certificates – from 2011 to 2013 – came from Chinese companies.
3. Corruption
Not only are fraudulent organic certificates created by farmers, but it is not uncommon for the certifiers themselves to falsely grant organic certifications in exchange for bribes. While the USDA is in charge of certifying all organic imports, they often outsource their certification work to third parties – the majority of which are in China (it lies in their best interest to keep pushing exports through to the United States).
Neither the USDA, nor the third-party certifiers, generally inspect organic farm products themselves for fulfillment of organic code – Chinese products are often only certified based on their paperwork alone.
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None of this is to say that the Chinese people do not care about the integrity of their country’s food sources. The major problem, as we see it, is that corruption, carelessness, and fraudulence are allowed to exist – despite much publicity – on the part of distributors who offer supplement manufacturers cheap raw ingredients with “organic” certification.
Further, many supplement companies never really know where their ingredients are coming from because they outsource their manufacturing to laboratories that procure the raw ingredients for them. Additionally, in such a competitive industry, companies are always looking to cut costs and are often willing to look the other way as long as they can still tout the organic branding.
NutriPlex Formulas refuses to compromise.
At this point, we are sourcing 99.5 percent of our ingredients from countries other than China. The remaining .5 percent is sourced from small, verified farmers in China that are tested by our American importer for not only pesticide, herbicide, and insecticide residues, but also for heavy metals and other toxins.
NutriPlex Formulas has made the decision to opt for safe, verified organic ingredients – even though this policy has meant a loss in company revenue and an increase in backorders as we research and forge new alliances with the small farmers who will grow our ingredients. In doing so, we maintain our commitment to the health of our planet, our community, and our ethics.
NutriPlex Formulas began our company with the goal of healing and uplifting people. To compromise on our raw ingredients, even at the peril of delays and cost, is something we cannot do in good conscience.
Sources:
draxe.com/organic-foods-china-shocking-and-exposed
naturalmentor.com/beware-of-chinas-fake-organic-food
blog.globalfoodsafetyresource.com/industry-trends/right-to-food-safety
www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2014/apr/18/china-one-fifth-farmland-soil-pollution
foodrevolution.org/blog/organic-food-from-china