I read an intriguing post recently on the Global Times about a Greenpeace investigation into China’s foreign-owned supermarket chains. This Greenpeace “Supermarket List for China” ranked the 15 largest supermarkets based on categories such as pesticides and GM foods. The report had Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Ito-Yokado rank at the bottom of the list, while Carrefour, …

Food allergies in children, as a diagnosis, are more common than before. But are we over-diagnosing? The main issue is that the tests we perform, especially the blood tests for allergens, may show a positive “in vitro” allergy but “in vivo”, AKA in real life, there may not be a clinically significant allergy. This growing …

Have you ever wondered just how healthy is a morning Chinese breakfast of zhou (congee, in Hong Kong)? What about most noodle and rice dishes? Yet again, the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety has given us the data…

Last week I posted a very popular piece discussing the nutrition levels in dim sum. This week we will discuss yet another very useful study from the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety, this time reviewing asian fruits and vegetables (Centre for Food Safety – Risk Assessment Studies – Nutrient Values of Fruit and Vegetables) I …

I love dim sum, and although it’s too bad that Beijing doesn’t serve it in the charming style of wheeling around carts, it still is a great tasting weekend brunch. I’ve always wondered about the oil content and feel a bit too heavy if I don’t also drink tea. So, how healthy (or unhealthy) is …

I must now confess to everyone that I am addicted. Yes, people, my body craves for my daily fix. And when I take it, my body feels healthier. What is my burden? Vinegar! This is definitely one of the stranger habits I’ve picked up in China, but somewhere along these three years I started to …

Soy milk has been popular in Asia for thousands of years, and is much more common than cow milk here. Are there different health effects? There is a lot of differing information out there, but some recent scholarly reviews help to find some answers. There’s a terrific 2006 review from the American Heart Association – here …

There’s a lot of evidence accumulating regarding which meats are good, or bad, for your health. We seem to understand the basics but it’s nice to start getting data to back up what common sense tells us. A recent study did indeed suggest what many have thought — that a diet high in red & …

Organics or not? Local market or expat market? Beijingers have many choices about where to buy their fruits and vegetables. I was curious as to what most people were choosing, and where, so I created this poll question. PREVIOUS POLLS: Did H1N1 Flu Change Your Summer Travel? How’s the Beijing air, one year post-Olympics?

Food quality is a constant issue in Beijing — or it should be! There are quite a few chemicals and pesticides that slip through here, so it’s very important to be aware of your foods’ supply chains. One way is to go organic, and the Yahoo group Beijing Organic Consumers has good resources, including a …

Removing chemicals from our food | Jiang Gaoming – China Dialogue. The excellent environmental website China Dialogue has the above article discussing chemicals and pesticides on foods, and steps we can take to alleviate this problem. This issue got stirred up a bit last April from a Greenpeace China investigation which found that only 5 …

The summer always brings a lot of stomach infections, but fortunately there are a lot of easy ways to treat it — without a visit to the doctor. Below is a slide show on gastroenteritis: the symptoms, treatment, and prevention. It is the compliment slide show to my Illness article on gastro. Gastro View more …