Sen. Rick Scott files to ban importing garlic from China over ‘sewage’ concerns
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., filed federal legislation banning U.S. importation of Chinese garlic over concerns of the plant growing in “raw human sewage, then bleached and harvested in abhorrent conditions.”
The legislation from Scott is called the Stopping Eating Waste And Guarantee Excellence for Garlic Assurance and Regulatory Legislation to Inhibit Chinese, or SEWAGE GARLIC, Imports Act.
Most of global garlic reportedly comes from China.
“Communist China produces the majority of the world’s garlic, and we can’t be sure that it’s safe,” Scott said. “We already know Communist China has a proven track record of producing unsafe goods and that we can’t trust its food to be safe for our families. This is especially true for garlic grown in Communist China.”
“Reports indicate Chinese garlic is grown using raw sewage – possibly including human feces – and that the garlic is then bleached to make it appear whiter and cleaner to the eye after its growth in unsanitary conditions,” he said. “Not to mention, Communist China does all this using slave labor. It’s horrific and means that Chinese Sewage Garlic shouldn’t be acceptable for human consumption until we can be absolutely positive that it’s safe and up to our standards.”
The legislation, a little more than one page long, simply bans the importation of garlic from the People’s Republic of China in any form.
Scott had previously penned letters to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo calling for an investigation into Chinese garlic’s safety.
“Food safety and security is an existential emergency that poses grave threats to our national security, public health, and economic prosperity,” Scott told Raimondo in December.
The website “China Daily,” a Chinese domain, reported about Scott’s December letter on “sewage” garlic, citing a Chinese researcher, Zhu Chenge, saying Scott’s claims are a “hoax.”
“The US border quarantine inspection has not reported any case of problematic imports over its decades long trade history,” the outlet reported.
“Communist China’s growth practices are well-documented in the public domain, from cooking blogs and home magazines to YouTube videos and documentaries,” Scott wrote in his letter.
“These practices include such offenses as fertilizing garlic with human feces and forms of sewage, growing garlic in sewage, bleaching garlic to make it appear whiter and cleaner to the eye after its growth in unsanitary conditions, and stripping the root end from garlic before it enters U.S. markets as to make it appear more appealing and also to comply with U.S. laws regarding prevention of soil-borne diseases and contaminants,” he said.
