Get your Trader Joe's edamame while you can

Companies including Mattel and Pro Dental are no strangers to recalling products, from toys to toothpaste, with the “made in China” label. Even pet food companies have had to recall China made animal food that contained tainted wheat gluten believed to have killed cats, dogs and fish, as well as farm animals.

And hundreds of stores across America have pulled China made products off the shelves because of the recalls—helping ease the worried minds of both parents and pet lovers.

Now Trader Joe’s is turning into an almost China free operation. USA Today reported today that by April 1, all 285 Trader Joe’s stores in 23 states—including all four Tucson area locations and nine others across Arizona—will have phased out all single item products from China.

What products you ask? Edamame, garlic and frozen spinach.

"Our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region, and we have listened," spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said to the USA Today. But Trader Joe’s will continue to sell products that have an ingredient made in China.

The Arizona Daily Star reported on Jan. 9 that the stores already “discontinued single-ingredient items from mainland China but will continue to carry products that have an ingredient from China in their makeup.”

But you can still find some China-produced edamame in the freezer at 4209 N. Campbell Ave. The package clearly states that the edamame is “hand picked in China” in black letters.

(Edamame is a fancy Japanese word for soybeans with sea salt, if you haven’t experienced the cheap treat at local sushi restaurants including Yoshimatsu at 2745 N. Campbell Ave.)

The number of blue and yellow packages has dwindled over the past few weeks. Shortly after the Star reported that the products were nixed, there were none of the blue and yellow packages at the Campbell location. But there were some in late January and 10 packages on Feb. 8.

(OK, only six after I decided to live dangerously and stock up.)

A Trader Joe's worker, who declined to be named, said he was not sure when the Campbell store would stop carrying the Chinese edamame. He also did not know if there would be a replacement.

So pick up the edamame while you can—because it might be gone for a while.

Also, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China is the leading exporter of seafood so you might need scratch those products off your next Trader Joe’s shopping list (until they find a non-China made replacement of course).

On a slightly unrelated note, The Epoch Times reported that over 1,000 people in Japan recently became sick after eating frozen dumplings from China Tianyang Food Processing Ltd. The newspaper said “the questionable dumplings were proven to contain the pesticide methamidophos, a highly toxic chemical that could kill an adult weighting 50 kilogram by as little as 1.5 grams.”

Will that prompt other stores to follow Trader Joe’s? Stay tuned.

Until next time, happy eating.