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So...You Want Chinese Do You????

Mike

Well-known member
China shuts 180 food factories for using illegal chemicals
POSTED: 2:58 a.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
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BEIJING, China (AP) -- China has closed 180 food factories after inspectors found industrial chemicals being used in products from candy to seafood, state media said Wednesday.

The closures came amid a nationwide crackdown on shoddy and dangerous products launched in December that also uncovered use of recycled or expired food, the China Daily said.

Formaldehyde, illegal dyes, and industrial wax were found being used to make candy, pickles, crackers and seafood, it said, citing Han Yi, an official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which is responsible for food safety.

"These are not isolated cases," Han, director of the administration's quality control and inspection department, was quoted as saying.

Han's admission was significant because the administration has said in the past that safety violations were the work of a few rogue operators, a claim which is likely part of a strategy to protect China's billions of dollars (euros) of food exports.

International concerns over China's food safety problems ballooned this year after high levels of toxins and industrial chemicals were found in exported products.

Chinese-made toothpaste has been rejected by several countries in North and South America and Asia, while Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine was blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America. Other products turned away by U.S. inspectors include toxic monkfish, frozen eel and juice made with unsafe color additives.

Authorities in China have pushed for more stringent controls and increased publicity of their efforts to control the problem.

Han said most of the offending manufacturers were small, unlicensed food plants with fewer than 10 employees, and all had been shut down. China Daily said 75 percent of China's estimated 1 million food processing plants are small and privately owned.

According to Han, the ongoing inspections are focusing on commonly consumed food such as meat, milk, beverages, soy sauce and cooking oil. Rural areas and the suburbs -- where standards are likely less strict -- are still considered key areas for inspectors, he said.

Meanwhile, another regulating agency, China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said it closed 152,000 unlicensed food manufacturers and retailers last year for making fake and low-quality products.

It also banned 15,000 tons of "unqualified food" from entering the market because it failed to meet national standards.

The report, posted on the administration's Web site Tuesday, gave no other details and telephone calls to the administration were not answered.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Chi-Com Inspections are focusing on commonly consumed food such as meat, milk, beverages, soy sauce and cooking oil.

And We have importer's in the US that buy this S**T to sell to our retailers?????

Yup it' the TRUTH!!!
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Sometimes cheap does mean 'nasty'
Montreal Gazette.
Published: Thursday, July 05, 2007
MONTREAL -- China's export-goods reputation is getting dangerously close to the point where people will start thinking twice about buying many Chinese products.

One or two mistakes in manufacturing might be overlooked, especially when most Chinese imports arrive with unbeatably low prices. But, unfortunately for China, mistakes are being made in the manufacture of certain products where personal safety could be jeopardized.

The growing list includes poisoned pet food; toothpaste containing a chemical used in antifreeze; seafood containing contaminated drugs; and tires that are missing an essential safety component, exported in the millions.
This week, reports from China said hundreds of Chinese citizens were victimized by China's lax drug-safety standards. At least 14 people died and more than 1,240 were injured by poorly sterilized drugs, according to a Globe and Mail report.

In China, a belated investigation found that the manufacturer, Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biopharmaceutical Co., took short cuts, allowing drugs to become contaminated with bacteria. Other subsidiaries of parent firm Shanghai Worldbest produce large quantities of vitamin C sold in Canada and other Western countries.

If a recent Canadian poll is any indication, China is facing a serious problem of consumer confidence. According to Decima polling company head Bruce Anderson, cited on the company Web site, "stories about hazardous products circulate very quickly in society."

More than one in four Canadians does not consider Chinese-made toothpaste or pet food safe at all. That suggests,

Anderson said, an "elevated level of concern about the safety processes used in Chinese manufacturing."

Western consumers should remember that Japan was also dismissed as a manufacturer of shoddy goods in the post-Second World War years, but today is seen as a virtual gold standard in areas such as cars and electronics.

Chinese manufacturing is growing at a breakneck pace and problems with quality are inevitable. Few western consumers will care if their cheap T-shirts or plastic buckets are less than perfect. Nor should they. Consumers who want rock-bottom prices shouldn't expect French couture quality. But as soon as physical safety becomes an issue, low prices lose their attraction.

The Chinese government seems to be overwhelmed by the success of its manufacturing sector. It is not doing the product-policing and oversight job western consumers --and, increasingly, domestic ones -- expect.

China remains too slow to acknowledge errors or impose corrective measures. This is not the way to protect the "Made in China" brand.

The Chinese government should realize that a reputation for producing poor-quality goods could slow down the country's economic growth for many years to come.

The government is not doing itself any good by preferring to see in Western consumer concerns an anti-Chinese political agenda. Westerners give every evidence of loving Chinese goods -- but only if they're safe to use.

- This editorial was originally published in the Montreal Gazette.
 

Mike

Well-known member
INSPECTIONS FOR CHINESE IMPORTS
May 14, 2007 - CONGRESSMAN ARTUR DAVIS, AG COMM. RON SPARKS CALL FOR TOUGHER INSPECTIONS FOR CHINESE IMPORTS
BIRMINGHAM - Alabama 7th District U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Birmingham) submitted a letter today to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calling for tougher inspection standards for catfish products imported from China. This move follows the “stop sale order” issued by Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks last month after tests conducted by the state found dangerous levels of a banned antibiotic in 14 out of 20 catfish imported from China.

U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Ala.) and Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks call for tougher federal inspection standards for catfish imported from China during a press conference in Birmingham May 14, 2007. Congressman Davis issued a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supporting Commissioner Sparks' ban on the sale of Chinese catfish in Alabama and called for tougher inspection standards on Chinese imports.

In the letter addressed to the FDA Commissioner, Davis offers his support of Commissioner Sparks’ decision to enact the ban. Davis also calls for tougher inspection standards for Chinese imports as well as a renewed interest by the agency for global food and safety standards based on the continuously emerging world-wide economy.

“It is alarming that only 1.3 percent of imported fish, fruit, and vegetables are currently inspected,” Davis says in the letter. “The FDA, the federal agency with responsibility for the safety of 80 percent of the food supply, needs to take the lead in maintaining a rigorous, flexible, and transparent food safety process.”

Tests conducted by the state department of agriculture discovered the banned antibiotic fluoroquinolones, which has been found to allow the development of certain antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This discovery comes on the heels of other issues with Chinese food imports, including wheat gluten contaminated with melamine, which has been connected to animal deaths from pet food in the United States. Melamine is a chemical used in fertilizer in Asia.

"This is a strong message we are sending to Washington, DC today,” said Sparks. “The FDA should be the leader in issues of food safety. The bottom line is that our food supply is vulnerable and we are working towards making it better."

In addition to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have also banned the sale of Chinese catfish, and the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has removed catfish fillet products from China from its shelves.
 
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