posted on July 2, 2007 08:07:15 AM new
Dangerous Chinese imports
Deseret Morning News editorial
Considering the volume of products that China exports, it's impossible to inspect or test every product that leaves the country. In light of recent events, however, China must do more than it has in the past.
Two months after dogs and cats in the United States died from eating tainted pet food, a poison found in brake fluid and antifreeze has turned up in counterfeit toothpaste sold in stores in four U.S. states. The toothpaste was branded as Colgate and packaged in 5-ounce containers, a size that Colgate-Palmolive Co. does not manufacture. Colgate officials are pulling the suspect product off store shelves and increasing staff at its consumer hotline. Colgate, the world's largest toothpaste maker, suffered a 22-cent per share drop in the value of its stock on Friday.
The ripple effect of suspect products is large, indeed. Not only must American buyers of Chinese products insist upon more stringent inspection of these exports by manufacturers, China must step up government enforcement of food, supplements, personal products and toys.
Following the pet-food problem, in which wheat gluten had been laced with melamine, a plastic, and the discovery of tainted, counterfeit toothpaste, Chinese officials have vowed to step up inspections and institute the nation's first product recall system. This is a hopeful development. It is regrettable that so many people and animals had to die or be sickened before Chinese officials determined the need for such a system.
It is yet unclear how Chinese officials will get a handle on the quality of its exports. In 2005, China's total trade surpassed $1.4 trillion, making it the world's third-largest trading nation after the United States and Germany, according to the U.S. State Department.
China's ability to produce products inexpensively is premium in the world marketplace. It recognizes that introducing tainted or otherwise dangerous products threatens its image and relations with other countries. It should also do more for the safety of its own citizens. In 2004, least a dozen babies in China's Anhui province died of malnutrition after being fed phony infant formula. Another 200 infants suffered wasted limbs and swollen heads — common symptoms of malnutrition, according to Associated Press reports.
U.S. officials provide another layer of protection against dangerous imports but they, too, are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Chinese products sold to the U.S. market.
American consumers are the last line of defense. It is folly to suggest that consumers shun products made in China. They should, however, acknowledge that purchasing inexpensive products from nations that have immature consumer product-safety practices exposes them to certain risks. Buyer beware."""
Then there's the toys shipped here that were painted with lead-based paint. Hard to believe there is STILL lead based paint to use!!!
Trade with China kills your pets, your children, you.
It would be interesting to find out if it's the Americans who own or run these companies that are taking advantage of the lack of safety laws in China or if the Chinese manufacturers just don't care....sounds like a combination.
posted on July 2, 2007 08:12:55 AM new
Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Toys Recalled
Chinese Manufacturer Used Lead Paint on 1.5 Million Toys, as Nation's Recall Rate Troubles Safety Experts
Thomas & Friends wooden railway vehicles are the latest products from China to be recalled due to the use of lead in the products. (cpsc.com) By BRIAN HARTMAN
June 13, 2007
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Share One of the most-beloved toys in the world has joined the growing list of Chinese-made products to be pulled from store shelves for safety reasons.
RC2 Corp., which sells Thomas the Tank Engine toys, warned parents Wednesday to stop their children from using 1.5 million Thomas & Friends wooden railway vehicles and set components because their surface paint contains lead, a toxin that's dangerous if swallowed.
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"Consumers should take the recalled toys away from young children immediately," the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in the recall notice.
The company said this recall accounts for about 4 percent of the total wooden trains it sells in the United States (Click here for a list of the recalled products.)
"As part of a thorough investigation, RC2 identified the issue, isolated the manufacturing facility, and has implemented a corrective action plan," the company said in a prepared statement released by the PR firm Salmon Borre Group.
Salmon Borre Group refused to answer any questions about the timing of the investigation, the location of the facility or give urther details of what's been done to resolve the problem.
So far, the lead is not suspected of causing any injuries."At this time, there have been no reports of illness or injury as a result of this issue," said the recall notice. But consumer advocates said that doesn't necessarily mean children have not been injured.
"Even if the amounts of lead in one product are small, the cumulative exposure is the problem," said Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. "You have it in bibs and lunch boxes and over a period of time it can become a serious problem."
Recall Overload?
The CPSC has stepped up scrutiny of products made in China following a rise in dangerous imports from the country. Last month, Graco Children's Products recalled 40,000 stuffed fabric blocks decked in pictures of apples, bananas and fire engines after dozens of infants gagged and choked on a plastic film covering on the toys.
And the toy company Hasbro recalled nearly 1 million of its popular Easy-Bake Ovens -- also made in China -- following more than two dozen reports of children getting their hands and fingers stuck in the oven, with some suffering severe burns.
China by far leads the list of countries making products that are recalled in the United States, accounting for 65 percent of all the recalled products in this country this year, according to CPSC. In 2006, China accounted for 233 product recalls -- nearly double the rate from the previous year, with lead a recurring cause among the recalls. """"
NOTE:
""As part of a thorough investigation, RC2 identified the issue, isolated the manufacturing facility, and has implemented a corrective action plan," the company said in a prepared statement released by the PR firm Salmon Borre Group.
Salmon Borre Group refused to answer any questions about the timing of the investigation, the location of the facility or give urther details of what's been done to resolve the problem. """"
posted on July 2, 2007 09:21:52 AM new
The US importers and manufacturers who ask them to make these items have to give very clear instruction on how they should be made and how they should be packed,we cannot just assume they are just another country anxious for our business.They are not Singapore or Hong Kong or Japan.
Not only do they have to give clear instructions of dos and donts,they also need to make inspection and educate them what could be the consequences if they dont comply.
China is backward,people in China may be affluent now but they were poor and lived a subsistent lifestyle for many years,food is scarce,few amenities available and they are used to compromising-if food is spoiled,well,boil it long enough to kill the germs,if clothes stained or not fit,wear it anyway,water and detergent are scarce.
They are accustomed to 'less than perfect' lifestyle.
In rural area,people are still living primitive condition like dirt floor,getting water from the wells,brushing their teeth with salt,there is no Charmin tissue ,just plain old local made paper ,you can see the grass and weeds embedded in the paper.
I would not be surprised if they are stil using human feces as fertiliser!
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on July 2, 2007 09:45:11 AM new
""I would not be surprised if they are stil using human feces as fertiliser!""
*
Well, Hwahwa, then you won't be surprised...they do.
AND:
FDA Halts Imports Of
Some Chinese Seafood
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007; Page D01
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday banned the import of five types of farm-raised fish and shrimp from China because they have been found to contain unsafe drugs, some of which can cause cancer.
The species include catfish, shrimp, eels, basa -- a kind of catfish -- and the carp-like dace. The FDA is not ordering that the products be pulled out of restaurants or from supermarket shelves but said that all incoming shipments would be stopped immediately. The chemicals found in the food "could cause health problems if consumed over a long period of time," said David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection.
Officials check some 90 barrels of bean sprouts at a workshop without a business licence in Xiamen, in southeast China's Fujian province Thursday June 28, 2007. The workshop was found to have used bleaching powder to lighten the color of the bean sprouts. A government spokesman guaranteed the safety of Chinese exports on Thursday, in a rare direct commentary on rising international fears over Chinese products.
The order follows several months of concerns over food and drug imports from China that came to light with the discovery of tainted pet food in March, which led to manufacturer recalls of more than 100 brands and numerous pet deaths. Food from China meant for humans -- such as mushrooms, plums and scallops -- has been blocked from import by the FDA, which rejects about 200 shipments per month from China.
"There is no imminent threat to the public," Acheson said. He added that the Chinese government has been working to improve inspection of its farmed seafood exports but not enough to prevent yesterday's FDA action. There have been no recorded illnesses from the tainted Chinese fish, the FDA said. The drugs found in the imported fish were just above detectable levels, the agency said.
Chinese manufacturers must clear numerous FDA hurdles involving third-party inspections before their fish will be allowed in the United States, the agency said.
China is the world's largest fisher and second-largest fish exporter to the United States, after Cana da. Shrimp is the most popular imported fish in the United States, making up 34 percent of the market in 2004, according to the most recent statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Last year, the United States imported 1.3 billion pounds of shrimp, 150 million pounds of which came from China, according to the Department of Agriculture. The total value of U.S. imports of Chinese shrimp last year was $331 million, the USDA said.
Catfish is the fifth-most-popular American fish. It fueled economic growth in the Mississippi Delta until recent years, when the cheaper Asian catfish began undercutting the delta's hold on the market, though the United States still retains a large lead. Last year, the United States imported 12 million pounds of catfish from China while producing 565 million pounds of its own.
The potential toxins found in fish targeted by the FDA include a chemical called malachite green, which is used to treat fungal infections in fish, Acheson said, and has caused cancer in laboratory animals. Fluoroquinolones, also found in the Chinese fish, can increase antibiotic resistance in humans, the FDA said. The chemicals are often used to battle fish diseases caused by China's polluted waterways, fish experts said.
The FDA had already barred individual Chinese manufacturers found to be exporting tainted fish, as the problems date to 2001. But heightened FDA inspections over the past several months have found that as much as 15 percent of the newly halted seafood contained the harmful chemicals, leading to the countrywide ban.
"We don't know how much of this product is in the country," said Margaret O'K. Glavin, the FDA's associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.
Because of the low cost of farming and processing, the West has increasingly looked to China for food and drugs in addition to manufactured goods. The United States imported $2.3 billion worth of agricultural products from China last year, compared with $133 million in 1980.
The FDA action was good news for U.S. catfish farmers, largely based in the South. U.S. catfish production was down 12 percent in 2006 from 2003. "We're facing a lot of competition in fish," Roger Barlow, president of the Mississippi-based Catfish Institute, said.
Barlow said that catfish farmers have been dinged in recent years by imports of Chinese basa, which are cheaper. In 2002, at the urging of U.S. fish farmers, Congress declared that Vietnamese basa -- largely raised in the Mekong basin -- could not be labeled as the same kind of channel catfish raised in the delta.
"Our industry wants to thank the administration and our delegation for doing what's right," Barlow said of yesterday's ban.
Alabama and Mississippi, two of the largest catfish-producing states, banned sales of Chinese catfish last month after tests found two antibiotics prohibited by the FDA.
"Today's revelation appears to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to contaminated and dangerous Chinese goods coming in to the U.S.," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
Tension over the tainted food marred trade talks between Washington and Beijing last month in China. This month, China said it would overhaul its food inspection rules, some of which it said were dated.
posted on July 2, 2007 12:08:12 PM new
This says less about China than it does about the scary way modern groceries are made and marketed. Most consumers go blithely into our pretty supermarkets chock full of choices with their club member "discount" cards locked and loaded and don't have even the vaguest notion about where their food is grown, how or by whom it's been handled. I dare say most don't care and at worst don't want to know. The whole system is a time bomb and a perfect vehicle for poisonings on a global scale.
I wonder if Homeland "Security" is watching the grocery pipeline...they sure should be.
posted on July 2, 2007 01:18:53 PM new
I have an inlaw who is an inspector in Phoenix for the Maricopa County Health Dept.. He claims the Chinese restaurants have far and away the worst and most frequent kitchen violations. Like my favorite waitress in a Chinese place we like in Tucson says, "You want that with shrim', or crap?"
I always get the crap, don't much trust the shrim'.
posted on July 3, 2007 12:32:14 AM new
Oh but when the 'tainted' food was coming in from mexico.....so many here were defending their poor sanitation/etc.
Funny how some change their tune when it's china and not mexico. lol lol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on July 3, 2007 06:43:37 AM new Exactly right, Twig.
If we can label every single electronic gadget and list every single ingredient on food packages why on earth can't we label the origin of food...especially meat.
The answer in the case of meat is loss of profit to the American meat packers who import cheap foreign beef and sell it as expensive American beef.
posted on July 4, 2007 09:05:39 AM new
They do label country of origin if you buy them from supermarket,and if you ask in a restaurant,they will tell you where their lobster,steak and fish come from.
If the Chinese govt will set up our equivalent of FDA,FTC etc,cost of doing business will go up ,our local catfish farmers are selling more now!
Not just China,but Pakistan/Indian fresh water prawn ,Thai tiger shrimp,Vietnamese basa fish,Honduran shrimp etc etc ,no one knows how they are raised and packed.
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on July 4, 2007 09:32:03 AM new
And let's not forget the Marianas Commonwealth where slave labor is used to produce goods that legally can be labeled "Made in USA".
Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.
The women are forced into the sex trade and if they get pregnant they are forced to get abortions....all with Republican approval.
posted on July 4, 2007 11:30:14 AM new
"I have an inlaw who is an inspector in Phoenix for the Maricopa County Health Dept.. He claims the Chinese restaurants have far and away the worst and most frequent kitchen violations"
good thing I dont eat chink food-that sh*t sucks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on July 4, 2007 04:41:07 PM new
classic, do not use that word again.
""""classicrock000
posted on July 4, 2007 11:30:14 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have an inlaw who is an inspector in Phoenix for the Maricopa County Health Dept.. He claims the Chinese restaurants have far and away the worst and most frequent kitchen violations"
good thing I dont eat chink food-that sh*t sucks""""
posted on July 4, 2007 05:12:17 PM new
Classic,
your mother probably ate a ton of Chinese food laced with MSG,thats why you are born with a DEAD BRAIN!
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on July 5, 2007 06:39:49 AM new
Tainted food from mexico....and from canada
tsk tsk tsk
But let's ONLY blame china. LOL LOL LOL
Typical ......
BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease)
Additional Case of BSE Detected in Canada:
On May 2, 2007, the 11 th case of BSE in a Canadian-born bovine was identified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The eleven cases include one in a Canadian-born bovine identified in the United States in 2003 (see bar graph below). Preliminary information indicates that this most recent BSE case occurred in a mature dairy cow from British Columbia born in 2001, about 4 years after the 1997 Canadian feed ban.
For more information about BSE in Canada, see the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on July 5, 2007 06:49:32 AM new
"""But let's ONLY blame china. LOL LOL LOL"""
DUH, WHO IS ONLY BLAMING CHINA ?
I know your reading comprehension is nil but sheeeIT, the OP is about China.
If you care to add to it, fine, but NOBODY is purposely ignoring the rest of the world...the thread is about CHINA !
I even brought up the Marianas which I doubt YOU want to discuss.
Now please continue your predictable diatribe against Canada...
posted on July 5, 2007 07:15:39 AM new
If I remember correctly, the previous discussions here about the tainted lettuce and spinach had some blaming Mexico but the problem originated right in the US.
Canada is monitoring the Mad Cow Disease and does report it and take responsibility for it. The disease is believed to have been in the US for a long time but is covered up by the government.
Recently on our news they had a report about the ranchers in the US wanting to test their cattle more often to monitor their own herds but are denied the testing kits. Why is that?
U.S. government fights private testing
The U.S. government has prohibited the sale of test kits that detect BSE. Some beef producers want to be certain that their cattle are safe to eat, but the U.S. is preventing the sale of test kits. Also, the U.S. has fought against BSE testing by threatening with criminal prosecution American producers who want to test all of their own slaughtered cattle for BSE.
Canada isn't the only country that has this problem if you look at the chart.
posted on July 5, 2007 10:30:53 AM new
"Classic,
your mother probably ate a ton of Chinese food laced with MSG,thats why you are born with a DEAD BRAIN!"
No,that would not be the case.Chinkie food is not allowed in the classic household as dead cats are not on the menu.In fact the only cats that are allowed are LIVE ONES.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
[ edited by classicrock000 on Jul 5, 2007 10:31 AM ]
posted on July 5, 2007 01:03:22 PM new
I can see why- Chinese restaurant food is loaded with MSG,but Chinese households do not use MSG in their coooking.
But in recent years,my mother will add ACCENT when she prepares soup for the family!
The Japanese use it at home,you will see a bottle of white substance on their dinner table labeled AJIMOTO,it goes back to the day when meat is scarce,they will sell whale meat in a can with a label showing a cow head,making you believe you are buying beef,not whale meat.
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on July 5, 2007 01:13:34 PM new
Yea but the smell is un-godly-leave the left overs in a garbage can for a couple of days and you'll see what I mean.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
Quote mingotree: Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.
Oops, I knew the Republicans would get blamed, but glad you did. Now read who started all this below:
Quote: "The Chinese connection exploded with the arrival of the Clinton administration. A younger crowd of American politicians had skipped the part about patriotism, about the pledge of allegiance, about loyalty not only to country but to much of anything other than themselves. The Clinton policy toward China was merely an extension of these values: What's in for us and how soon? The notion of national security was almost alien to them; besides, they had the new paradigm of globalization to keep them warm. Here are just a few of the things that happened along the way:
• Named Commerce Secretary, Ron Brown treated his post as just another place to wheel and deal. He was irrepressible, on one occasion okaying the sale of new American engines for China to put in its cruise missiles. The engines had been built as military equipment but Brown reclassified them as civilian.
• Neither was Brown above doing a little business on the side. The Saudis wanted some American planes; Brown told them: You want the planes, you also want a phone contract with ATT. Cost of the planes and hardware: $6 billion. Cost of the phone contract: $4 billion. Part of the deal, it turned out, was an ATT side agreement with a firm called First International. The owner: Ron Brown
• Former London Sunday Times correspondent James Adams wrote a book in which he described the Chinese success with the Clinton crowd as "an espionage coup of epic proportions."
• According to the New York Times, Clinton removed $2 billion in trade with China from national security scrutiny. Among the results: 77 supercomputers – capable of 13 billion calculations per second – that could scramble and unscramble secret data and design nuclear weapons. These were purchased by the Chinese without a peep stateside. At least some of them would be used by the Chinese military...."
posted on July 5, 2007 01:42:49 PM new
don't even get me started at the traitor, schwartz, one of clintons biggest financial contributors.....because imo, they both SOLD OUT America with their 'trade' deals to china.
The fact that they gave china much need help to use AGAINST our nation should have landed them both in prison for their lifetimes.
'What is shocking, however, is to consider the fact that we have a president of the United States who is willing to make such treasonous decisions.
"To attach words like 'treason' and 'traitor' to these activities is a deeply disturbing development," moans Schwartz.
I'll bet it is. It's always disturbing when a criminal gets caught. It's even more disturbing when our highest elected officials, entrusted, first and foremost, with protecting the nation's vital interests, sell their political souls to nuclear-age tyrants. The only trouble I have with words like "treason" and "traitor" is that they don't seem harsh enough to describe the shameful activities of Clinton and Schwartz.
===
Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate.
posted on July 5, 2007 01:45:21 PM new
classic, do NOT use that word again.
extex, ""Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.""
That statement referred to the Marianas...NOT China.
Trade with China is inevitable no matter WHO is/was president.
posted on July 5, 2007 01:48:37 PM new
One year someone reported to New Orleans authority that some Southeast Asians (Cambodian) running a Chinese restaurant have cat meat in their freezer.
They found myserty meat and halved cat carcass in the freezer.
I dont know why they do it as chicken meat wholesale from restaurant supplier is so cheap,I guess these cat meat come free??
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on July 5, 2007 02:03:02 PM new
Quote mingotree: "extex, ""Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.""
That statement referred to the Marianas...NOT China."
I didn't make the statement, I quoted it from you in a topic that regards China.
posted on July 5, 2007 02:13:14 PM new
OK, etex, you are being deliberately or naturally ignorant but I will explain this one to you, too.
(1)
mingotree
posted on July 4, 2007 09:32:03 AM edit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And let's not forget the Marianas Commonwealth where slave labor is used to produce goods that legally can be labeled "Made in USA".
Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.
The women are forced into the sex trade and if they get pregnant they are forced to get abortions....all with Republican approval.
(2)
""etexbill posted on July 5, 2007 01:24:16 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote mingotree: Republicans have consistently stopped investigations and attempts to protect these people. Tom Delay said that it was a model of American business.
Oops, I knew the Republicans would get blamed, but glad you did. Now read who started all this below:
Quote: "The Chinese connection exploded with the arrival of the Clinton administration. """"
(3) The first post never referred to China. YOU connected it to China in YOUR post.
That's OK, I see what you're doing and am quite used to the neocon/repugs in here twisting, squirming, obsfucating when they know they're wrong
Let me know if you ever have a factual POINT to make
