BBC Confirms - Chinese garlic poses a severe public health risk
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A US senator has called for a government investigation into the impact on national security of garlic imports from China.
Republican Senator Rick Scott has written to the commerce secretary, claiming Chinese garlic is unsafe, citing unsanitary production methods.
China is the world's biggest exporter of fresh and chilled garlic and the US is a major consumer.
But the trade has been controversial for many years.
The US has accused China of "dumping" garlic on to the market at below-cost price.
Since the mid-1990s it has levied heavy tariffs or taxes on Chinese imports in order to prevent US producers from being priced out of the market.
In 2019, during the Trump administration, these tariffs were increased.
In his letter Senator Scott refers to these existing concerns. But he goes on to highlight "a severe public health concern over the quality and safety of garlic grown in foreign countries - most notably, garlic grown in Communist China".
He refers to practices which, he says, have been "well documented" in online videos, cooking blogs and documentaries, including growing garlic in sewage.
