Beware of Chinese Garlic.

There is an interesting item in the latest Straight Furrow about the Chinese Garlic that is in NZ supermarkets. Apparently Chinese garlic is not grown to ANY standard! It is bleached to disguise imperfections and is grown in fertiliser that is harmful to humans. It seems that our lax labelling laws mean that importers don't have to reveal these "details"!
The item is written by the business development manager of a NZ Garlic company and also claims that MAF Biosecurity have kept very quiet about the details of disease in Chinese garlic in order to avoid political embarrassment. Additionally it is now accepted by the NZ garlic industry that Chinese garlic seed has carried many of the plant viruses that were not previously present in NZ, but are here now.
Makes you wonder what else we are not told!!
It's also worrying that lots of Kiwis plant this garlic in their gardens. [xx(] [xx(]

I haven't bought Garlic for ages for this very reason and am going to try to get some from Koanga to plant myself as it is easy enough to grow, even for me. I notice now in the supermarkets they are labelling where the fruit and veg come from, well, mostly anyway, a lot has NZ on the signs now.

welshie;171366 wrote: There is an interesting item in the latest Straight Furrow about the Chinese Garlic that is in NZ supermarkets. Apparently Chinese garlic is not grown to ANY standard!

What vegetable is? Is there a beetroot standard in NZ for example?

It is bleached to disguise imperfections and is grown in fertiliser that is harmful to humans. It seems that our lax labelling laws mean that importers don't have to reveal these "details"!

Fertiliser harmful to humans, that would include horse manure and lime and probably every commercial fertiliser available (in NZ)

The item is written by the business development manager of a NZ Garlic company

So that would be an impartial opinion would it?

Sorry, but having grown up in the UK with food scare after food scare I have very little tollerance for scaremongering

It's also worrying that lots of Kiwis plant this garlic in their gardens.

Why is it worrying? Yes the garlic has had some treatment, but can you tell me after 6 months growing in the ground what bad chemicals will be contained in the new growth?

Grow ya own, I reckon. Just gotta stick the stuff in the ground and wait 6 months... The trick is growing enough to last the year ofcourse, mine has run out already.... When faced with the choice of Chinese or US garlic, I bought US.

We've grown our own since we got here and have always managed to get it from garden centres to plant, mainly because I assumed the supermarket stuff wouldn't work!
Oskatd is right though, getting the amount right is tricky! This year we have lots left so far, last year we ran out early!

this year I will definitely be planting about 3 times what I did last year or even more, it only lasted a couple of months

Can you freeze it? Or can you mince it and put it in a jar? Google found a few suggestions, but I'd rather hear from someone who actually does it. (What I did find is you should never store raw garlic in oil as it can lead to botulism if not done properly).

A

I bought my freezer off an indian woman who used to freeze whole cloves of garlic, took years to get rid of the smell. Could have been worse though...

Welshie's post is similar to my aussie understanding as well, and I haven't read anything from the NZ garlic industry at all.

I "thought" I read it from the Diggers catelogue from Victoria Aust. some years back. The thrust of the article I read was more about the sprays applied to the garlic prior to leaving China.:confused:

Garlic from China is required to be fumigated with methyl-bromide prior to arriving in New Zealand.
www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/ihs/garlic-prc.pdf

"I notice now in the supermarkets they are labelling where the fruit and veg come from"
yip, like the plums I saw today that were labelled "Plums- products of Chilli"
Ahem, what country was that again? Must be a fairly spicy variety then perhaps!

Oh noes!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromomethane

A

I bought garlic for 'seed' today - finally found some, the bag had five bulbs in for $5.49, too much for me, do you want some tigger?

Crikey Moggy, settle down. I don't think it's necessary to dissect and attack every sentence I write!
Yes, the author of the article I mentioned is in the NZ garlic industry but I see that as adding credibility to his words, rather than instantly deciding he is biased. I'd suggest he'd know a heck of a lot more about garlic growing and the importation issues than you (or me)!
I've been to China and in some areas have seen for myself the (hu)manure grow crops in! [xx(] If you think that's nothing to worry about, and you're still happy to eat and plant Chinese garlic......then good for you. Personally I'll stick to growing my own from Koanga.

Tigger, my understanding from reading the reference you posted is that MAF accept the certification from China that the garlic is "safe". :rolleyes:

I hope everyone takes a look at the wikipedia reference Ame has posted about Methyl bromide. [:0]

Any garlic that has the root system removed is most likely from overseas, it you buy garlic make sure it still has the roots attached.
Growing it yourself is great too!