Do We Really Know Where Frozen Vegetables Come From?

Did you ever stop to think where frozen vegetables come from?

If you believe the American Alliance for Honest Labeling, a Washington-based coalition of farmers, most frozen produce is processed and packaged in Mexico.

The group says that means some of the frozen broccoli you’re feeding your family hasn’t met the same safety and sanitation standards laid out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Not so, insists the Pillsbury Co., which produces Green Giant frozen vegetables. Company spokesperson Rob Longendyke says Green Giant’s standards are the same at its Mexican plant as they are in the United States, and besides, most of its frozen produce comes from this country, though it has no figures to substantiate that claim.

Longendyke also notes that if safety and sanitation measures weren’t met, people would become ill after eating the products, something that would be very bad for business. So far, he says, that hasn’t happened.

Just so everybody knows exactly what they’re sinking their teeth into, U.S. Customs has proposed new regulations that would require clear labeling of country of origin in a prominent place on the front of frozen packages. Currently, the law is worded hazily, Customs complains, leaving room for smudged or illegible identification stickers.

For the record, Pillsbury thinks that will only add more cost to the relatively cheap products because many are mixed together, as are sources for the best produce at any given time of the year.