How often do you enjoy the pleasures of garlic? Have you ever looked at the garlic you buy at the grocery store closely and thought where this edible pleasure travelled from?

You probably haven’t. Because you are absolutely sure it’s a home-made product of your fruitful country. You go on enjoying a delicious meal leaving a jealous odor in your apartment, and putting your mouth cavity on fire, while tasting some serious chemicals imported from, believe it or not, not-home-made China.

Is Chinese Garlic Safe To Eat?

Here is an interesting fact: more than 80% of the imported garlic worldwide comes from China. This wouldn’t mean anything to us if we think about it lightly, saying “Everything was made in China”, but it should be a major alarm for our health.

Some may remember a decade ago, when CA, the “Garlic Capital of the World”, produced all of the garlic in the USA and we were all healthy and safe.

Now we have a different story and CA garlic is slowly pushing its way out of the country with only 40% production. Even our dearest friend – organic garlic is shipped from China, where you can hardly call anything organic. Surprised?

Statistics say that suppliers provided a devastating one-third of the garlic in the USA stores and markets in 2014, which amounts to nearly 65,000 tons, or devastating 60% of garlic in the USA.

This fact goes along with the information about Chinese garlic containing toxic materials. You keep wondering what makes garlic toxic? It is the way Chinese people cultivate it. They put pesticides not allowed to use by Chinese law in order to increase their production of garlic, some of which include parathion and phorate, illegal in China.

These pesticides have been on the list of High Toxic Poisons for quite a long time. They cause serious harm to people’s health. Garlic contains methyl bromide with the purpose of killing the bugs.

Exposure to this hazardous chemical in great concentration can lead to harming the respiratory and central nervous system. In some cases, it can be lethal. Garlic also contains other lethal substances, including sulfites and lead.

As if the chemicals are not enough, garlic in China is exposed to cold temperatures, treated with growth inhibitors and over-storage is a major issue. When it comes to over-storage, it is important to point out that allicin, the ingredient responsible for the health benefits of garlic decreases under these conditions.

To put this in one sentence, Chinese garlic is bleached.It is stated that various chemicals are used so that garlic is whitened, stopped from sprouting, and insects are killed. Moreover, instead of proper irrigation, untreated sewage is being used for crops fertilization.

Not only is the garlic itself toxic, but also the Chinese environment and soil are toxic as well because of the pollution problem that has been going on in China.

One of the reports made by the government in 2014 claims the severe pollution of Chinese land with heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium, whereas the amounts of fertilizers and pesticides is unsustainably high and health-damaging. Having this in mind, we can all picture Chinese contaminated rivers receiving all these poisons from industrial life and Chinese homes as well.

So, what can the poor customer, who only wants to enjoy a happy garlic meal, do to outsmart the toxic threat of the Chinese garlic?

Stop using Chinese garlic in their diet is the obvious thing, but are there any ways to spot it? We need to learn how to spot this danger coming from China and become experts in garlic shopping.

I have some great news for you, because it is actually very easy to spot the difference between California fresh garlic and the toxic one imported from China. You just need to look at the garlic at its bottom.

Next time you go shopping, pay close attention to the following things:

– The regular garlic is heavier than the Chinese one, which is also less bulbous. Chinese traders save money on shipping, so they reduce the weight;

– There is a difference in the flavor – American garlic has a richer taste than the Chinese one. If we measure the garlic on the big flavor measurement scale, American garlic is 40 out of 40, whereas Chinese one measures 28 out of 40;

– Chinese garlic usually has its roots removed with a clean spot left, whereas American garlic always has roots. According to the Garlic Growers Association, no US garlic grower removes the roots from the garlic;

– The top safest way to prevent you from consuming toxins is to buy garlic from the local farmer that you trust or even growing it at your own home. There is no better feeling than eating something you have grown yourself!

Just be more cautious next time you go to the market and enjoy the benefits of the good old home-grown garlic in our diet without any worries!

You can also easily grow your own garlic: How to Grow an Endless Supply of Garlic Indoors