Is a China-free diet possible in Japan?

Japan’s single biggest news story since the beginning of February has been the ongoing revelations of pesticide-laced frozen gyoza (dumplings) from China and the repercussions thereof.

Japan only produces 39% of its total food requirements, and as long as this high dependency on food imports continues, concerns are likely to persist over whether imports can be made to meet even minimal sanitation and safety requirements.

So where does this leave the average person? Is it possible, at the very least, to ensure a “China-free” dietary lifestyle? Writing in Asahi Geino (Feb 28), investigative journalist Hirokatsu Azuma offers 10 advisories for those bent on pursuing such a program.

First, Azuma writes, if you eat buckwheat noodles, you can be almost 100% certain you’re eating a Chinese import. About 70% of all buckwheat flour consumed in Japan is sourced from China; but the remaining 30% is served only in the highest class specialty soba restaurants.

Actually, virtually any food item that contains ground-up, powdered or processed contents — such as the fish used in “chikuwa” and “hanpen” (typical ingredients in “oden” hodgepodge) — is likely to have at least some Chinese content.

Secondly, Azuma advises, if you’re bent on avoiding Chinese products, you should eat out in restaurants as little as possible. Even the leeks in ramen noodles or the ginger, “aonori” (dried laver) and “wasabi” (green horseradish) in sushi are likely to be from China.

Likewise for the condiments and seasonings you sprinkle on your foods, such as “Shichimi togarashi.” Most if not all of the sesame seeds, red pepper, flax seeds, seaweed, citrus essence and “sansho” (Zanthoxylum piperitum) are likely to be Chinese imports.

“Basically,” advises Azuma, “with ‘shichimi togarashi’ or ‘rayu’ (hot pepper oil), the only way to be sure they’re safe is to make it at home yourself.”

What’s more, paying more for premium items is no assurance of safety, since, as has been revealed of late, even famous old Japanese brands can no longer be trusted to label their ingredients in an honest, straightforward manner.

That said, low-priced goods are to be definitely avoided. “Pure” honey from China, for example, is frequently cut with sweet malt syrup, and has been know to sicken some people due to the presence of antibiotics such as chlortetracycline, used to protect bees from infestations of Paenibacillus larvae.

If you’re convinced, as is Azuma, that imported meat (beef, chicken and pork) is to be eschewed, this means avoiding meat in all forms — not only gyoza but hamburgers (ground patties) and croquettes. And because so many vegetables originate from China, if you are determined to consume “komatsuna” (a green, leafy vegetable) or spinach, you might consider buying a planter and cultivating them on your veranda.

Other precautions — although not necessarily reliable — are to take extra pains to verify the source of all sea foods you purchase, and make efforts to do business only at shops that clearly label which foods’ ingredients contain preservatives and other additives.

In the end, Azuma concludes, when truly dangerous items find their way into the food chain, it’s a few unfortunate humans who fall victim. In a sense, they’re performing a function analogous to canaries in a coal mine.

When it’s all said and done, Azuma advises Asahi Geino readers, the only sensible way to avoid a similar fate is to eat as warily, and as little, as possible.