The New York Times reports that the U.S. Olympic team will be importing 25K pounds of “lean protein” for the U.S. athletes.  According to the article:

‘COLORADO SPRINGS — When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues.’

That’s some chicken breast!  I wonder what the live bird looked like…

“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”

Is this comment true?  Can you really test positive from eating chicken with steroids?  Wouldn’t a human’s digestive processes break down the steroids?  I thought that steroids had to be injected to have any impact on performance.  Does the testing done for he Olympics really detect animal steroids that have been eaten by the athletes?

“In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.

In the past two years, the U.S.O.C. has tried to figure out how to avoid such dangers at the Olympics. It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods, which will ship 25,000 pounds of lean protein to China about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at the Games.”

I guess that the team won’t be getting much fresh meat, but I’m sure that they are better safe than sorry.  I often wonder about the food that I eat in China, but I’ve decided to just not let it bother me.  Some of my expat friends, especially those with young children, do face this as a constant concern.  I haven’t heard of a good solution, since they can’t really import their food from the U.S..

I couldn’t help smiling over the concept of “high security food.”

‘In preparation for the Olympics, Tyson will ship beef, chicken and pork to China. When the food arrives, customs agents will review the shipment — the U.S.O.C. has budgeted 10 days to complete this process — before it is delivered to U.S.O.C. representatives and taken to a holding site at Beijing Normal University. The food will remain there for about three weeks until athletes arrive.

“The security is so tight that there is pre-screening before it even gets to me,” said Terri Moreman, the U.S.O.C.’s associate director of food and nutrition services.’

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