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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/27/china-tomato-production-rise
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Playing ketchup: China grabs share of tomato production | Playing ketchup: China grabs share of tomato production |
| (30 days later) | |
| Tomatoes do not feature in the Chinese national diet yet the country now grows more tomatoes for processing than anywhere except California. | Tomatoes do not feature in the Chinese national diet yet the country now grows more tomatoes for processing than anywhere except California. |
| Once mashed into basic paste they are shipped mainly to Europe in industrial quantities to be processed into favourites such as puree, passata, ketchup, pasta sauce and salsa. | Once mashed into basic paste they are shipped mainly to Europe in industrial quantities to be processed into favourites such as puree, passata, ketchup, pasta sauce and salsa. |
| The extraordinary rise of the country's tomato industry, which barely existed 10 years ago, is troubling growers in countries which have a rather longer association with the fruit, including Italy. Fresh and dried tomatoes as well as tomato powder, lycopene powder and oil and canned tomatoes are also exported from China. | The extraordinary rise of the country's tomato industry, which barely existed 10 years ago, is troubling growers in countries which have a rather longer association with the fruit, including Italy. Fresh and dried tomatoes as well as tomato powder, lycopene powder and oil and canned tomatoes are also exported from China. |
| Yet consumers are generally ignorant of the original provenance of such foods. Under hugely complex EU labelling regulations, it is legal to describe Chinese tomato puree as "produced in Italy", provided that – as in this case – it was processed there into a different form. | Yet consumers are generally ignorant of the original provenance of such foods. Under hugely complex EU labelling regulations, it is legal to describe Chinese tomato puree as "produced in Italy", provided that – as in this case – it was processed there into a different form. |
| With the international food chain snaking from China to the UK, British consumers may not be immune from China's notorious track record when it comes to food safety standards, with human health sometimes put at risk by profiteers introducing fake and adulterated foodstuffs. | With the international food chain snaking from China to the UK, British consumers may not be immune from China's notorious track record when it comes to food safety standards, with human health sometimes put at risk by profiteers introducing fake and adulterated foodstuffs. |
| The 2008 contaminated milk scandal in China killed three people and left 6,000 sick. Authorities have failed to crack down on "gutter oil" – used cooking oil dredged from the gutters of restaurants and resold. Last year, a cancer-causing industrial dye – Rhodamine B – was found in chilli paste and red chilli powder products. | The 2008 contaminated milk scandal in China killed three people and left 6,000 sick. Authorities have failed to crack down on "gutter oil" – used cooking oil dredged from the gutters of restaurants and resold. Last year, a cancer-causing industrial dye – Rhodamine B – was found in chilli paste and red chilli powder products. |
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