Pranked by the CCP

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I am a medicinal herbalist. To make a heart and lung medicine, I usually collect hawthorn berries from local trees in the late summer/ early fall. I make a few quarts of tinctures to last all year.

I haven't been feeling well for months now, far too weak to go up in the mountains and collect hawthorn from a wheelchair. So instead of foraging, I went to an Asian grocery store and bought 2 bags of dried hawthorn from China.

It is very important that I get hawthorn, because I use it for a tincture for my palpatations and breathing problems. Tincture of hawthorn brings instant relief.

Yes, I was highly suspicious of herbs from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). I have read accounts of fake drugs and supplements sold from China.

But these were labeled "Organic" and they looked like Hawthorn, except they were double the size. Maybe it was another variety? I thought, as there are different sizes and varieties of hawthorn. Most of which were very small. So I trusted it, mostly.

Last night I put the hawthorn in a jar with brandy to start a tincture.

Immediately IMMEDIATELY red started bleeding off the outside of the berries leaching into the alcohol. This never happens during tincturing. I assume this is food coloring. Left overnight, the "hawthorn berries" are now practically yellow.

Those Commie bastards dyed crabapples red with food coloring and sold it, claiming it was a potent cardiopulmonary tonic herb.

Evil. People rely on hawthorn for lowering blood pressure and for stopping asthma attacks. It is an advanced herb to say the least. And to sell crabapples listed as hawthorn, it's wicked. Someone could end up in the hospital or worse.

Fool me once...

 

[Judge]

You are placing too much emphasis on an herb that is not regulated by either their government or ours:

"There is no clear evidence that China deliberately markets crabapple as hawthorn. However, both belong to the same family and can sometimes be confused due to their similar appearances."

"The Chinese Communist Party does not specifically regulate hawthorn as an herb; however, hawthorn is recognized in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is used for various health benefits. Its use is guided by traditional practices rather than strict regulatory measures."

"In China, hawthorn is treated both as a snack and an herb. It is commonly used in traditional medicine for its health benefits, while also being enjoyed in various forms like haw flakes and candies as a popular treat."

"No, the U.S. government does not regulate hawthorn as an herb in the same way it regulates medications. Herbal supplements, including hawthorn, are treated as foods and do not have to prove their safety or effectiveness before being sold."

-Duck Duck Go Search Assist

About the only legal aspect of this scenario here remains "caveat emptor". - "Buyer Beware".

I suppose the only real question is whether it was an innocent mistake confusing one food for another, or done intentionally for some kind of monetary gain. Though counterfeiting goods remains a criminal offense in China. A nation recognized as having harsher penalties for criminal offenses compared to the United States.

 

[Metalhead]

I am a medicinal herbalist. To make a heart and lung medicine, I usually collect hawthorn berries from local trees in the late summer/ early fall. I make a few quarts of tinctures to last all year.

I haven't been feeling well for months now, far too weak to go up in the mountains and collect hawthorn from a wheelchair. So instead of foraging, I went to an Asian grocery store and bought 2 bags of dried hawthorn from China.

It is very important that I get hawthorn, because I use it for a tincture for my palpatations and breathing problems. Tincture of hawthorn brings instant relief.

Yes, I was highly suspicious of herbs from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). I have read accounts of fake drugs and supplements sold from China.

But these were labeled "Organic" and they looked like Hawthorn, except they were double the size. Maybe it was another variety? I thought, as there are different sizes and varieties of hawthorn. Most of which were very small. So I trusted it, mostly.

Last night I put the hawthorn in a jar with brandy to start a tincture.

Immediately IMMEDIATELY red started bleeding off the outside of the berries leaching into the alcohol. This never happens during tincturing. I assume this is food coloring. Left overnight, the "hawthorn berries" are now practically yellow.

Those Commie bastards dyed crabapples red with food coloring and sold it, claiming it was a potent cardiopulmonary tonic herb.

Evil. People rely on hawthorn for lowering blood pressure and for stopping asthma attacks. It is an advanced herb to say the least. And to sell crabapples listed as hawthorn, it's wicked. Someone could end up in the hospital or worse.

Fool me once...

It is important to specify that most Chinese people disapprove of doing such deceptive things. Blame the people who are con artists, not the entire country.

 

[Jumpinbare]

The red food coloring implies that it was not an honest mistaking of the species.

 

[Judge]

The red food coloring implies that it was not an honest mistaking of the species.

That smells like private sector capitali$m- not communism. After all, China is a mixed economy. The state hasn't controlled ALL means of production and distribution for a very long time.

Though is the market difference between the two sufficient to make such a switch be lucrative on a large scale? Sounds more like something very small-time. I mean they're food products in the eyes of both governments.

And if so, it might have happened at the port of entry rather than the port of exit. The amount of domestic corruption at our own ports of entry has always been staggering. Something I learned underwriting commercial insurance, particularly with trip-transit coverage. With occasional information solicited by federal law enforcement.

 

[Jumpinbare]

That smells like private sector capitali$m- not communism. After all, China is a mixed economy. The state hasn't controlled ALL means of production and distribution for a very long time.

Though is the market difference between the two sufficient to make such a switch be lucrative on a large scale? Sounds more like something very small-time. I mean they're food products in the eyes of both governments.

And if so, it might have happened at the port of entry rather than the port of exit. The amount of domestic corruption at our own ports of entry has always been staggering. Something I learned underwriting commercial insurance, particularly with trip-transit coverage. With occasional information solicited by federal law enforcement.

If I'm not mistaken, @Yeshuasdaughter is from outside the US.

 

[Judge]

If I'm not mistaken, @Yeshuasdaughter is from outside the US.

Nope...I believe she's in the USA.
Although she'd rather not specify.

 

[Mary Terry]

Nope...I believe she's in the USA.
Although she'd rather not specify.

She's from the west coast USA.

 

[Mary Terry]

I know nothing about hawthorn tinctures, but I do know that dozens of brands of ground cinnamon have been urgently recalled due to lead contamination. If you have a jar of cinnamon in your spice cabinet, you'd be wise to check whether that brand has been recalled. I'd be wary of eating any baked goods or apple juice containing cinnamon, too.

 

[TBRS1]

Leaving Hawthorne aside for a moment -

People who buy seeds have to be extremely careful about buying from China.

Check etsy, amazon, eBay and you'll find that people in China sell "seeds" for exotic plants that don't exist, and seeds for things like roses that NEVER breed true (in colors that roses NEVER come in).

I have bought them (stupidly) in the past, and what I got wasn't even seed - just plant detritus.

In the past, from China: poisonous dog food, poisonous cat food, lead or cadmium paint of children's toys, contaminated food products, etc.

Also, cheap honey from China imported to American markets is mostly corn syrup.

Do be careful of what you buy.

 

[Judge]

I use generic pharmaceutical products from China, however I will avoid their food products. (I have always avoided brand name pharmaceuticals and their excessive costs like the plague.)

I accept the possibility that such pharmaceuticals may be at a lesser strength than domestic brand name products. That nominal regulatory practices are generally sufficient to avoid contamination concerns with pharmaceuticals, while it is a much greater concern and exposure found in industrial food processing, an issue that is prevalent all across the globe whether involving "developed nations" or not.

Y'all would be shocked at what major domestic food/drink processors have been liable for over their own products liability, in the course of mass producing such products. An accepted risk many insurers take and are acutely aware of.

How about a rat sealed in a popular soda bottle? Or a twig sticking out of a popular candy bar? Or melamine detected in pet food ? (Hint: Two out of three occurred with American companies.)

And when those "nominal regulatory practices" may not be enough, such as patients with eye problems find there are certain ingredients that could be very harmful found in foreign manufactured eye drops that you can find with major discount retailers. A "bullet" I personally dodged a few years ago. Yet ultimately while I stayed away from one foreign producer, I chose another from a nation that is more conscientious and reliable in regulating such products.

Businesses have their priorities relative to the cost of producing such products. And governments have their priorities for what they choose (or not) to regulate in the consumers' best interests. Which inevitably leave "gaps" in a process that is anything but "airtight". Leaving one other party in the equation to consider- organized crime who inevitably operate at all our ports of entry. Seeking to profit from even the most legitimate and lucrative trade practices between one nation and another.

Ultimately leaving the consumer on their own to successfully avoid such exposures. - "Caveat Emptor"

Making such decisions especially difficult- even complex for herbalists in general.

 

[Judge]

The red food coloring implies that it was not an honest mistaking of the species.

Reminding me of how many food processors have used such means to make their product look more attractive, yet not necessarily taste more attractive. Whatever it takes to "move" their product.

Regardless of their origin, where the common denominator may well be that producers can get away with it, simply because they can. Even where the cost differential between the herb and fruit may ultimately not be as lucrative as the deception itself may be to consumers. In market of little to no government regulation in terms of exporters and importers.

A deception that may well be used in the case of either the herb- or the fruit. Again, because they can.

"Good capitalists exploit demand. Great capitalists invent it where it didn't exist" :

"Artificial food coloring was invented by Sir William Henry Perkin in 1856 when he accidentally created a synthetic dye called mauve while attempting to synthesize quinine. This discovery marked the beginning of the use of synthetic dyes in food and other products."

 

[Mary Terry]

I buy some Chinese food products such as fish sauce, Miran, soy and tamara sauces, rice and various kinds of noodles. I also buy some fresh produce and occasionally fish from the local Chinese grocery store. They have better and fresher ginger, lemon grass, mushrooms, pineapples and onions than local stores. I'm very careful about the fresh fish - clear eyes, no fishy smell, red inside the gills, good looking scales and I have to know what kind of fish it is and where it came from. I like buying fresh squid and baby octopus there, too.

 

[Aspychata]

I had the fresh squid salad at a Chinese restaurant yesterday. This restaurant is owned by a Chinese family and uses extremely high quality Asian ingredients. I feel so lucky that they chose Florida to open up their restaurant. In every country, there are those that take advantage of others, and there are those that are very honest.

l understand the OP has faced a very difficult year, as l have read her posts. I would like to believe her comment was based on her frustration and nothing else.