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By Michael Downey
A ‘GROWING’ RISK FROM CHINA – AND WAL-MART?
China is rapidly becoming the world’s greatest exporter of vegetables, other foods, medicines, food additives, pet foods and other consumables. And in view of China’s recent history of shoddy quality control (contaminated products, counterfeit ingredients, foods laced with synthetic and long-banned pesticides, toxic pet food and risky animal medications), this huge importing trend may pose a serious health risk.
In the first three months of 2007, US imports of fresh vegetables from China grew by 66%, juice imports by 98% and fresh fruit imports by an astonishing 279%. China now produces half of all vegetables grown on the planet. A similar trend has been occurring, quietly, in the markets for fruits and other foods. Even medicine often originates in China, which makes 70% of all penicillin, 50% of all aspirin, a third of all acetaminophen and most of the world’s enzymes, analgesics, amino acids and antibiotics. China is rapidly dominating the market for some herbs as well. For example, in 2000, China accounted for less than 1% of all North American fresh garlic imports; in 2005, China made up 73% of the same market.
As large manufacturers (and large retailers such as Wal-Mart) buy more food and medicines from the country, China is poised to become the same export juggernaut for fresh foods, processed foods and medicines that it already had become for manufactured goods. But is this a health risk? Yes. Because China’s safety record for food imports is frightening.
In April alone, 107 food imports from China were detained by the FDA at US ports. You no doubt heard about the scare surrounding North American pet food products containing Chinese ingredients that were laced with toxic melamine. Adulterated Chinese wheat gluten led to the deaths of thousands of pets in North America. Other export disasters from China within the last few months alone include: imported livestock quarantined for disease and banned contaminants; catfish fillets tainted with bacteria and heavy metals; dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical; cuttlefish soaked in calligraphic ink to improve colour; eels fed oral contraceptives to make them grow longer and slimmer; and mushrooms contaminated with illegal pesticides. Aside from exports, in China itself, fake baby formula was sold to the public and as a result, a number of babies died.
Fish imported from China (North America’s leading source of imported fish, with exports up 34% in the past year) are often raised in sewage-infested fish farms in Chinese lakes and rivers, necessitating the pumping in of massive levels of antibiotics, pesticides and fungicides. Many of these chemicals are banned in Canada. Only about 0.6 of 1% of seafood imports are inspected.
Warnings recently went out in the US and Canada, about imported toothpaste, containing potentially toxic antifreeze. Many other toiletry items made cheaply in China, sometimes imported from a third country, have been found to contain dangerous chemicals. Fake medicines to treat impotency and help with weight loss are legion among China’s exports. African nations have complained of counterfeit Chinese medicines hitting their pharmacy shelves. Shady pharmaceutical firms have exported bogus anti-malaria medication to Southeast Asia, where the illness is prevalent, allowing sick people to grow sicker. There were at least 51 deaths in Panama attributed to medicine originating in China that was tainted with diethylene glycol (the same chemical found in Canada in fake “Colgate” toothpaste made in China). “We really believe they are criminals,” said Henk Bekedam, PhD, chief of the World Health Organization office in China, referring to producers of fake medicines.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected 257 Chinese food shipments in May of this year, with at least 137 labelled “filthy,” after testing positive for salmonella or for containing banned ingredients. The FDA seized more than 1,000 shipments of tainted cosmetics, food additives and counterfeit medicine from China last month. And yet, less than 1% of Chinese imports are inspected – how many of these seizures would there be if the inspection rate were higher?
Questionable Chinese imports can be found anywhere, from small dollar stores to major grocery chains. But can you guess where you’ll find the greatest number and volume of Chinese products? At China’s eighth-largest trading partner: Wal-Mart. The giant is also the largest food retailer in North America.
How does China find the manpower to process, pack and ship such vast quantities of food and other products? According to National Geographic magazine, over 140 million rural Chinese already have left their homes for city jobs; another 45 million are expected to join them within five years. Often entire workers’ cities are built within months. (One entire factory was relocated in a single day.) Add in the communist regime’s poverty wages and you have a recipe for a cheap-export juggernaut.
What can you do? Not much because current laws do not require these products to be labelled with their country of origin. Of course, greater Canadian government inspection of foods, medicines, additives and other foodstuffs imported from China might be instituted eventually; but only about 1% of Chinese imports are inspected at present. The Chinese government may even recognize the greater long-term economic benefit of exporting products that are not merely far cheaper but also of consistent quality and safety; but corruption in China is rampant.
So tighter inspection and greater quality control may depend, in part, on the probing and skeptical questions we start asking our food and toiletry suppliers—and our politicians.
Readers who would like to learn more about the growing risk of Chinese imports should read “China’s Growing Exports: Food and Fear,” in the May 23, 2007 issue of Business Week magazine, which is available online at: China's Growing Exports: Food and Fear
Readers interested in the massive internal migration that feeds China’s export machine should read “China’s Instant Cities,” in the June, 2007 edition of National Geographic magazine. It is currently available at: China, China's Boomtowns - National Geographic Magazine
A report by World Net Daily on how fish imported from China are raised in raw sewage and a soup of dangerous drugs and chemicals is available at: WorldNetDaily: Seafood imports from China raised in untreated sewage
source
A ‘GROWING’ RISK FROM CHINA – AND WAL-MART?
China is rapidly becoming the world’s greatest exporter of vegetables, other foods, medicines, food additives, pet foods and other consumables. And in view of China’s recent history of shoddy quality control (contaminated products, counterfeit ingredients, foods laced with synthetic and long-banned pesticides, toxic pet food and risky animal medications), this huge importing trend may pose a serious health risk.
In the first three months of 2007, US imports of fresh vegetables from China grew by 66%, juice imports by 98% and fresh fruit imports by an astonishing 279%. China now produces half of all vegetables grown on the planet. A similar trend has been occurring, quietly, in the markets for fruits and other foods. Even medicine often originates in China, which makes 70% of all penicillin, 50% of all aspirin, a third of all acetaminophen and most of the world’s enzymes, analgesics, amino acids and antibiotics. China is rapidly dominating the market for some herbs as well. For example, in 2000, China accounted for less than 1% of all North American fresh garlic imports; in 2005, China made up 73% of the same market.
As large manufacturers (and large retailers such as Wal-Mart) buy more food and medicines from the country, China is poised to become the same export juggernaut for fresh foods, processed foods and medicines that it already had become for manufactured goods. But is this a health risk? Yes. Because China’s safety record for food imports is frightening.
In April alone, 107 food imports from China were detained by the FDA at US ports. You no doubt heard about the scare surrounding North American pet food products containing Chinese ingredients that were laced with toxic melamine. Adulterated Chinese wheat gluten led to the deaths of thousands of pets in North America. Other export disasters from China within the last few months alone include: imported livestock quarantined for disease and banned contaminants; catfish fillets tainted with bacteria and heavy metals; dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical; cuttlefish soaked in calligraphic ink to improve colour; eels fed oral contraceptives to make them grow longer and slimmer; and mushrooms contaminated with illegal pesticides. Aside from exports, in China itself, fake baby formula was sold to the public and as a result, a number of babies died.
Fish imported from China (North America’s leading source of imported fish, with exports up 34% in the past year) are often raised in sewage-infested fish farms in Chinese lakes and rivers, necessitating the pumping in of massive levels of antibiotics, pesticides and fungicides. Many of these chemicals are banned in Canada. Only about 0.6 of 1% of seafood imports are inspected.
Warnings recently went out in the US and Canada, about imported toothpaste, containing potentially toxic antifreeze. Many other toiletry items made cheaply in China, sometimes imported from a third country, have been found to contain dangerous chemicals. Fake medicines to treat impotency and help with weight loss are legion among China’s exports. African nations have complained of counterfeit Chinese medicines hitting their pharmacy shelves. Shady pharmaceutical firms have exported bogus anti-malaria medication to Southeast Asia, where the illness is prevalent, allowing sick people to grow sicker. There were at least 51 deaths in Panama attributed to medicine originating in China that was tainted with diethylene glycol (the same chemical found in Canada in fake “Colgate” toothpaste made in China). “We really believe they are criminals,” said Henk Bekedam, PhD, chief of the World Health Organization office in China, referring to producers of fake medicines.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected 257 Chinese food shipments in May of this year, with at least 137 labelled “filthy,” after testing positive for salmonella or for containing banned ingredients. The FDA seized more than 1,000 shipments of tainted cosmetics, food additives and counterfeit medicine from China last month. And yet, less than 1% of Chinese imports are inspected – how many of these seizures would there be if the inspection rate were higher?
Questionable Chinese imports can be found anywhere, from small dollar stores to major grocery chains. But can you guess where you’ll find the greatest number and volume of Chinese products? At China’s eighth-largest trading partner: Wal-Mart. The giant is also the largest food retailer in North America.
How does China find the manpower to process, pack and ship such vast quantities of food and other products? According to National Geographic magazine, over 140 million rural Chinese already have left their homes for city jobs; another 45 million are expected to join them within five years. Often entire workers’ cities are built within months. (One entire factory was relocated in a single day.) Add in the communist regime’s poverty wages and you have a recipe for a cheap-export juggernaut.
What can you do? Not much because current laws do not require these products to be labelled with their country of origin. Of course, greater Canadian government inspection of foods, medicines, additives and other foodstuffs imported from China might be instituted eventually; but only about 1% of Chinese imports are inspected at present. The Chinese government may even recognize the greater long-term economic benefit of exporting products that are not merely far cheaper but also of consistent quality and safety; but corruption in China is rampant.
So tighter inspection and greater quality control may depend, in part, on the probing and skeptical questions we start asking our food and toiletry suppliers—and our politicians.
Readers who would like to learn more about the growing risk of Chinese imports should read “China’s Growing Exports: Food and Fear,” in the May 23, 2007 issue of Business Week magazine, which is available online at: China's Growing Exports: Food and Fear
Readers interested in the massive internal migration that feeds China’s export machine should read “China’s Instant Cities,” in the June, 2007 edition of National Geographic magazine. It is currently available at: China, China's Boomtowns - National Geographic Magazine
A report by World Net Daily on how fish imported from China are raised in raw sewage and a soup of dangerous drugs and chemicals is available at: WorldNetDaily: Seafood imports from China raised in untreated sewage
source
