Cause for Concern In Chinese Bulbs?

Former FDA lawyer Michael Taylor says that "real hard data" on food safety is limited: "They've never been able to inspect more than 1 or 2 percent of shipments, and they test even fewer."

So how safe is garlic?

"Unless there's an import alert out from the FDA," says agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings, food "is considered safe."

The FDA said it could not provide information on detention and refusal rates of Chinese produce and how they compare with those for other countries. But FDA records show that since 1994, fresh and processed garlic have been targeted for automatic detention and surveillance. Numerous shipments from several companies -- five Chinese, one Canadian and one Argentine -- were refused because of insects or insect damage, mold or filth between 1994 and 1996. The Canadian firm had repacked Chinese garlic and shipped it, peeled, in five-pound jars. Thirteen fresh garlic shipments from China were refused at California ports.

A Washington Post search of nearly 900 FDA "refusal actions" from May 2006 to April 2007 turned up 18 shipments of garlic products from several countries. Some examples of rejections: from China, chili garlic sauce, because manufacturing information was not provided; from Canada, garlic paste, made in unsanitary conditions and inadequately labeled; from Argentina, "filthy" garlic bulbs. In May and July 2006, 13 shipments of garlic in mango, tomato and green chili sauces from India were refused, 11 because of pesticide residue.

Since 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that three food-borne illness outbreaks (each involving fewer than five people) were caused by garlic oils. Twice, the bacterium that causes botulism was found. After outbreaks in the 1980s related to garlic in soybean and olive oils, the FDA required that oils contain an acidifying agent, and it recommended refrigeration.

For several reasons, experts say, fresh garlic is safer than processed, and they suggest ways for consumers to make it even safer.

Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, says that garlic has natural inhibitors against pesticides. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University and author of "What to Eat," says the skin also protects somewhat against pesticides, if any were used. "Pesticide residues can be removed by washing," she says.

E. coli and other bacteria on fresh garlic would probably be only on the exterior, Nestle says.

She and Doyle agree that besides peeling and discarding the skin, the one sure-fire way to kill off microorganisms is to turn up the heat.

"A quick dip in boiling water would do it," Nestle says, "as would searing."