This is amazing to me but you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. I can only imagine the logistics involved. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3256375 Thursday, February 21, 2008 Team USA supplying its own food for Summer Games Associated Press BEIJING -- The United States Olympic Committee's plan to bring its own food to China has disappointed the head of food services for the Beijing Olympics. Wary of food quality in China following recent incidents of tainted products and reports of the heavy use of drugs and insecticides in food production, the USOC is planning to transport tons of meats and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University. "I feel it's a pity that they [Americans] decided to take their own food," Kang Yi, the head of the Food Division for the Beijing organizing committee, said Thursday. She added the U.S. had not officially notified her department of the plan. The U.S. delegation will number more than 600, and many will eat their daily meals at the training camp, rather than the Athletes Village. The Village will house about 17,000 athletes and officials during the Aug. 8-24 Games and will be capable of serving 6,000 meals simultaneously. The New York Times reported earlier that the U.S. will ship 25,000 pounds of lean meat to China. "We have made lots of preparations to ensure that they [athletes] can get together at the Olympic Games," Kang added, speaking at a news conference Thursday on food safety. "If the American delegation is not at that gathering, it's a pity." The safety of food in China has become a major issue for the Olympics, where athletes will face extensive drug testing. Security officials are aware that a positive drug test triggered by contaminated food could ruin an athlete's career and generate a public-relations disaster for China, which is intent on showing itself as a modern, sophisticated country. Other countries are also reported to be considering plans to cater their own food. In a related issue, dozens of teams have announced plans to arrive in China as late as possible, choosing to train elsewhere and avoid Beijing and the city's noxious air pollution. Tang Yunhua, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Municipal Office for Food Safety, repeated claims Thursday of extensive monitoring from the pasture to the plate -- using bar codes, satellite tracking devices and labor-intensive operations -- for food served at the Olympic Village. "We can guarantee the food safety during the Olympic Games," Tang said. "We have a safety plan during the Olympics Games to guarantee our venues will be safe," she added. "And the standards for Olympic food safety are much more strict than international standards. So all the delegations can enjoy the food provided during the Olympic Games." Another official said there was no evidence that drugs and growth stimulants used in meat production could trigger positive doping tests. "As far as we know we haven't found any scientific report on this," said Lu Yong, director of the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Monitoring Center.
food takes a bad seat to the air quality there imo a coworker of mine recently went back to China to celebrate Chinese New Years, she came back a week ago, and just describes the air quality as dirty, thick, and unhealthy. she's still coughing severely
It sounds to me like they are less concerned with general food safety and more about the possibility of food being tampered with. IMO this strikes me as paranoia. While the PRC has environmental and other problems its not like the athletes are going to be eating food from street vendors.
Hasn't there been an effort the last few years to improve the air quality at Beijing for the Olympics?
i have had dyssentery in china - if i was a high-performance athlete and had 4 years of work at stake, I would either eat in the highest quality restaurants only or brign my own food. The problem is not really the food so much as the water that it is cooked/washed in.
I think that is the main concern. You don't want 4 years of busting your ass to go to waste. SF also brings up a good point, the water quality probably isn't too great.
I've gotten food poisoining in NYC too so perhaps I should bring my own food if I have to compete at a Judo tournament in NYC. There is no doubt the PRC has environmental problems but its not like the athlete's village is going to be hooked up the same water as the rest of Beijing or the same food as served by street vendors.
That's good. A noticeable improvement is all you can hope for. The Olympic committee knew how things were in Beijing when they made the decision. So what will the U.S. cooks do, grill everything? Maybe I'm fortunate, but I've been to China several times, have taken a few chances with what/where I ate and never had any problems. This whole idea of taking all of their food seems outlandish, but you make some good points Sam.
I don't think this is all that unusual for sports events like this. I know there are soccer teams that do this during the World Cup, of course they're dealing with a lot fewer people (40-50 compared to a few hundred). The quality is a concern along with tampering (this is probably the biggest concern during the World Cup) but there's also the mental aspect. The athletes will likely be more comfortable and relaxed with foods they are familiar with. Even though I'm sure the people in charge of preparing the food can make any type of food it will still be different from what they are used to.
I think different people also have different tolerance level. I know whenever I go back to Asia I have to be careful where my sister can eat from the street vendors and be fine. My brother was in the hospital for more than a month. so different people, with different reactions. But I wouldn't take any chances for athletes especially before competing. They're the the right thing. The Chinese officials should understand and not take too much of an offense. Maybe if Yao Ming's mum can cook for team USA's bball team.
I see nothing wrong with this...Maybe from a PR standpoint, but this is in the best interest of the athletes...Kind of sux that they may not co-mingle with the other athletes, but you never know...
Unless the animals were raised in the athlete's village too I understand where the USOC is coming from.
what's the big deal? all athletes do this. if you are a professional athlete, would you want to eat the food you have always eat or suddenly switch to a chinese dish or sri lanka dish right before a big game? athletes usually just bring their own chef and everything.
You know what would be really funny is if the PRC doesn't allow the US to bring in its food because of agricultural regulations.
I had no issues at all eating in China last summer (3 weeks). Food was good, and largely healthier than what you'd get at home. I believe one (paranoid) concern is the scenario that eating meats from steroid-injected livestock or food high in chemicals could possibly cause a positive drug test result. It's not likely at all (your body breaks down complex compounds before digesting them), but it'd be nightmare if it did. Can't blame anyone for being cautious - like others have said, olympic-caliber athletes need to have complete control over what goes into their bodies, especially during competition. Look at all the pros here that have personal chefs. Evan
I have gotten food poisoning in NY too. I've gotten it once in 8 years. IWhile traveling in china and other undeveloped countries I've gotten it a lot more frequently. Some of it is due to sanitation and waterborne infectious agents, some of it is due to your body not beig used to the food I don't really care that much, but I understand if a track and field athlete doesn't want to risk being doubled over on the toilet in pain before the marathon - some of it is legitimate health concerns, some of it just becausee it takes a while for people to adjust to certain foods. I imagine when chinese athletes come to the us they stick to an eastern-based diet rather than eating cheese fondue or giant burritos or other foods that would disrupt their system.
