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China Milk Scandal Update
China's Science Headache
Two articles that raise troubling questions on the issue of science in China. The article in the NY Times brought up a lock of the challenges that China has. They are using an industrial model for scientific research. The challenge is there is also a culture of many scientists for papers at any cost. The cost being a bit of faking. Is science from China in danger of going down the same path of food safety in China? Will there be a contaminated milk type scandal in the sciences that will taint science in China? Lancet and Nature both had editorials after 70 papers with fake data were withdrawn. It's disturbing that in a survey more than half of scientists in China, knew of someone faking data. Labels: china food safety, china's future, made in china
Milk Scandal Finale? Or just scapegoats?
Bao Recommendations
My Mother in law (who I live with) makes Bao. She does a nice job and the dough is good. She's very opinionated when the family goes out to eat. I wonder if I can translate this The trick to making bao? Starting with the perfect doughA couple of things in the article that I disagree with. 1. Just because a Costco carries it does not make it universal across the US. Costco's carry different items depending on their markets. The ones in the LA area seem to carry more Asian items than other Costco's. I was pleasantly surprised by my local Costco carrying Moon Cakes. And then selling them at $15.88 (being very culturally sensitive on the pricing, 8's are lucky, and you want to avoid 4's, so no $14.99). 2. 99 Ranch Market only has their stores in more Chinese areas mostly in California (28 of them). Most people in the US don't have a 99 Market around them. If you do, they are a great place to visit and they usually have a food court! A fun book for kids to introduce them to Chinese Food is Dim Sum For Everyone! by Grace Lin Labels: china food safety
New Political Force in China - Parents
Grieving Parents Gain Clout in China - Washington Post I am surprised by how the party treating the parents, being very careful and treading lightly. My guess is since the Earth Quake and Milk Scandal have such high awareness, they don't want it to explode. Good quote out of the article: "In today's Chinese society, too much attention has shifted to material pursuits while social fairness and justice are scarce," he said. "If this situation continues, tragedies like the [milk powder scandal] will happen over and over again." Labels: china food safety
China Fires 8 Top Regulators Over Milk Scandal
It's great that that China is still pursuing the milk scandal and working to clean up their system. The real issue that needs to be addressed is corruption and government set prices for agriculture products. Labels: china food safety
Food Poisoning - What is it?
Key Points: - Runs it course in 24-48 hours.
- Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping.
- Self care includes drinking clear liquids and when your stomach is ready, plain foods.
Labels: china food safety
Peanut Butter China Link
Lawmakers, industry in accord after salmonella outbreak - Baltimore Sun
had this quote: Peter Hurley denounced Peanut Corp. of America - and the government watchdogs who were unable for months to trace the source of the contamination. "What is this, China?" 9 dead and 600 sick so far due to the outbreak. Peanut Butter consumption has dropped 22% in the US. The plant supplied about 1% of the Peanut Butter in the US and the company has filed for bankruptcy. My guesses: - Food safety will be combined in one agency. Currently it's in both the department of agriculture and FDA. 75% chance.
- New Safety programs for food will be put in place.
- New safety programs for imported food will be put in place.
Labels: china food safety
90% of Families accept Milk Deal
China Milk Update
Wow, 2 sentenced to death. Head of Dairy company, 66 years old, sentenced to life in prison. They are definitely being made an example of and it's a sensitive issue for the Chinese Government. Part of the implicit bargain of the Mandate of Heaven is the government will take care of the people, but in this case obviously the government did not by allowing this situation to exist. This explains why this possible public scandal that could revoke the perceived mandate of heaven is so touchy, as is corruption and economic issues. Death sentences given in Chinese milk scandal - International Herald Tribune. Labels: china food safety
Drug Making’s Move Abroad Stirs Concerns
Drug Making’s Move Abroad Stirs Concerns - NY Times. Worrisome! Key Points: - Drug making including ingredients have moved to China due to cost.
- China has pushed with state resources the manufacturing of drugs.
- China has a history of quality concerns. From Heparin to Tainted Pet Food.
- Pills that are assembled in the US and say made in USA, often have ingredients from China.
- Inspections of Chinese manufacturers are less due to cost. So US manufacturers get inspected more increasing cost.
- Due to competitive reasons, the FDA does not have a good idea of whom the suppliers are for drug ingredients.
Labels: china food safety, china's future
China Ban's 17 More Food Additives
China reports higher total for Melamine
Another China Food Scandal
When will it stop - China's contaminated food scandal widens International Herald Tribune There was even stories of parents being worried about Halloween Candy since some of it may have been made in China. And with the long list of food scandals, it is surprising another done dealing with Melamine comes up. Last one was with milk, so now any type of food animal or product of an animal may be at risk due to contaminated animal feed. The start of the latest scandal was eggs, and since eggs are used in so many types of processed foods the problem grows. And China exports a huge amount of food! This type of scandal is a tremendous threat to the made in China Brand. Labels: china food safety, china's future
Is nothing Sacred - Now Chocolate
Melamine - What China Can Do
Melamine, Melamine, and Melamine. The same type of scandal happened a year ago, but then it only affected Pets in the US and some toothpaste. Now it's affecting China and getting massive publicity, and do the the huge amount of Chinese food exports recalls have spread to Sausage in Japan, to Baked Goods in Taiwan, and to the Mr. Brown Ice Coffee drink that used ingredients from China. This has hurt the positive bounce that China got in their reputation for quality with the Olympics. The space walk that China just did was overshadowed by the milk contamination scandal. So what can China do?Current Actions by Chinese Government: - Publicity inside China on this disaster, allow only trusted media to write about it. China's government for over a year had issued orders to the Chinese news media not to write about food safety issues.
- Delete any references on the Internet in China on blogs, web sites, etc.
- Have Chinese leadership do photo ops with victims.
- Arrest a few people (only 12 arrested so far).
- Fire local officials (I think 5 so far) and have head of testing resign.
- Threaten any lawyers who try to help victims to sue.
- Run articles saying how milk remaining on shelf is OK.
- Run stories about how more testing is being done and this only happened at large firms that were exempt from testing since the were trusted. My opinion on this - BS. Lots of corruption allowed this to happen.
Summary - Show the problem has been fixed and downplay as much as possible so can focus on more important issues. Very similar to what was done with Szechuan School Collapse disaster.My suggestions:- Allow the news media in China to report on food safety stories.
- Allow Chinese Media to write about corruption issues.
- Remove threat of retaliation from local officials on news stories.
- Stop censoring of Internet inside China on corruption and food safety stories. I would totally free the media, but I don't see China's leadership doing this. The problem with corruption is it goes pretty far up and includes the communist party, and the leadership is worried that more stories about corruption will hurt the credibility of the communist party.
- Allow food prices to be set by the market. What happened was China's milk prices were kept artificially low, so producers increased their profits by watering down the milk and then adding Melamine so it could pass the test for having enough protein. The protein test was probably put in place after several babies died due to baby formula that did not have enough protein in it in 2004.
- Hold local elections.
- Separate the local governments from local businesses. Local business leaders are often also local government officials.
Labels: china food safety, made in china
China Milk Crisis and Taiwan
Taiwan orders 160 China-linked goods off shelves from the IHT. The Taiwan government raised the allowable limits for Melamine under pressure from merchants, but there was such a backlash that the minister in charge of that area was forced to resign. Taiwan has been opening up to China in trade, but this milk scandal is causing doubts about the government's China policy. 25 tons of milk powder were imported into Taiwan for baking and $31.3 Million of China milk products/goods have been removed from shops in Taiwan. 3 Kids in Taiwan were found to have Kidney stones, but it seems they spent a lot of time in China. And this is just dumb for those bakers who are unhappy: Meanwhile bakeries in Taipei County have decided to forego milk powder and only use Taiwanese milk as the scare over tainted dairy products from China spread yesterday the Taipei County Bakeries Association told the Chinese-language Liberty Times. Not all bakers welcomed the association's decision, saying switching entirely to Taiwanese milk would drive up their costs by at least 20 percent, while business was already down 50 percent because of the melamine scare. Labels: china food safety, taiwan
US Recalls - China Milk Crisis
Originally I was going to title this O No, Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown Coffee made by King Car in Taiwan started buying some creamer from China, and Melamine was tested in their ice coffee. Somebody is still doing google ads for Mr. Brown Coffee and here is a cute Review : Mr.Brown Iced Coffee. I used to drink it all the time, but since I have been trying to lose a bit of weight I stopped. Last night my dear wife was going through our cabinet and getting rid of all the delicious breakfast powders and instant drinks she had bought made in Taiwan. Unfortunately the milk in them may be contaminated. So bye bye the instant Almond Tea, the instant Ginger Tea, whole grain instant cereal with curry, etc. In Taiwan, people are avoiding bakeries because you don't know where the milk came from. and milk sales are down - Carrefour dairy sales halved after milk scare in China. A test for Melamine has been developed in China that takes 20 minutes and costs $2.90, where is used to cost $20 and take a week. Taiwan has banned the importation of Chinese dairy products.
Last year after the thousands of pets lost their lives due to Melamine many US companies started researching to find out which of their ingredients came from China and to find out if they could get rid of them to limit their exposure. I wonder how much more of that there is going to be after this milk scare.
Labels: china food safety, made in china
Tainted Milk Flowed Through Holes in Scrutiny
Key Points: - Communist system due to lack of checks and balances may not be able to guarantee food safety.
- One year ago the party launched a big effort to clean up the food system.
- Newspapers and other Media within China were told not to write about Food Safety Issues for the past year by the central government.
- The New Zealand communications were the reason this came out.
Labels: china food safety
Milk Scandal started December of last year
Upsetting Article - Baby Food Update
The poisoning of China's babies from UK's Telegraph. Pretty upsetting article. Key Points: - Sanlu first started receiving complaints in December of last year.
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Li Changjiang, the minister in charge of product safety, has been forced to resign. That was a telling moment. Mr Li became a celebrity last year for his handling of the row over poisoned Chinese exports, which began with pet food tainted with melamine and moved on to lead-coated toys. He said it was a "foreign plot" by Western countries to protect themselves from Chinese imports. That hubris has now been his undoing, as it has China's.
There was another article, but of course now I can't find it, discussing how the New Zealand company that bought a minority share of the Chinese company, how they are being hurt. They attempted to work within the system in China, and now they are being blamed. Of course if they had worked outside of it, they would probably never be able to do business in China again, but more babies would not have gotten sick. Labels: china food safety
White Rabbit Candy - Melamine? Ouch!
White Rabbit Candy - really yummy, was tested and melamine was found in some samples. This is a bit upsetting, because it's one of my favorite candies. General UpdateNumber is now up to 12,000 babies who have been hospitalized, and 54,000 affected. The heads of China's Quality Control just resigned. And the Made in China quality campaign has been postponed. Only the most trusted media in China is being allowed to report on this. References:Labels: china food safety, china's future
Saving Face and the Baby Formula Tragedy
It's interesting to read the official time lines. The Chinese version has the central government being informed one day prior to the New Zealand Ambassador notifying China's central government. I see three options: - China to save face officially was told a day before being contacted by New Zealand. This way China is not embarrassed having to be told by an outside source about this tragedy.
- The NZ company told the local government their government in two days would be contacting the central government. This allowed China to find out internally.
- The city decided out of the goodness of their heart to notify the provincial government and it was just a coincidence this happened at the same time as the New Zealand government's communication.
My guess is on number 2. Time Line:- March - Chinese company, Sanlu, received complaints.
- August - Tests by Sanlu confirm presence of Melamine in milk.
- August 2nd - Fonterra told the local government the problem but were ignored.
- September 9th - NZ Prime Minister informed and gives two days before she contact central Chinese government.
- Sept 9th - City government informs provincial government.
- September 10 - The central government was informed of the issue the local provincial government. One day delay.
- September 11th - NZ Ambassador informs central Chinese Government.
- Recall of Baby Formula ordered.
Labels: china food safety
Chinese Baby Formula Update
6200 Chinese babies ill, 3 die from tainted milk from the AP. Lots of interesting and sad information in the article. - 20% of all Chinese Milk Producers had melamine in their product.
- 6244 from 1,200 a day earlier for the count of sick babies, 3 dead.
- China's cabinet met to discuss nationwide testing of milk.
- Sanlu's general manager Tian Wenhua was arrested.
- The Mayor of Hebei province's capital, Shijiazhuang, was fired. Four other city officials from Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, were also fired.
- Fonterra told the local government on August 2nd about the problem but were ignored. Last week after letting the New Zealand Prime Minster know, who contacted the central Chinese government the problem on Sept. 11, which then became public.
- The central government was informed of the issue on Sept. 10th by the local government.
Labels: china food safety
Can it get worse? China's Baby Formula Debacle
China Finds Melamine In More Baby Formula from the WSJ. China has now found Melamine in 22 other manufacturer's Baby Formula products. This quote provides a clue: China's dairy industry has boomed over the past five years. Milk formula alone is expected to be a $3.45 billion-revenue industry in 2008, up 191.7% since 2003, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.Translation - demand outstripped production, so the milk was watered down and Melamine added to it appeared to have enough protein in the Milk so the milk suppliers could meet the market needs. Labels: china food safety, china's future
Baby Formula Strange Turns
Per the Times of London, 1253 babies have been sickened. The article also mentions that it was the joint partner, Fonterra, somehow got the NZ Prime Minister to help out to have a recall. But the scandal only came to light due to the intervention of Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who had been informed by the New Zealand joint venture partner of the Chinese company of its failure to persuade the Chinese side to implement a full recall of the tainted product. Ms Clark told TVNZ that food giant Fonterra had been trying for weeks to get its partner, Sanlu Group, to recall the milk powder. “The local authorities in China would not do it. I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall.” Fonterra holds a 43 per cent stake in Sanlu and could only follow Chinese rules in handling the incident. The contamination apparently was by suppliers of mill to the baby formula manufacturer. Two infants have already died from drinking the formula laced with melamine in a ploy by farmers to boost the protein content of the milk they sold to one of the country’s biggest and best-known milk powder manufacturers. Police have arrested 19 people, including two brothers who ran a milk collection station. Chinese milk powder contaminated with melamine sickens 1,253 babiesLabels: china food safety, china's future
Made in China - Test, Test, and Test. Trust Nothing
Infant milk powder is latest worry in China from LA Times. Sad comments in the article: - Anything you're going to buy from China, you have to test everything, You can't assume anything.
- Foreign companies such as Fonterra that form partnerships with Chinese companies have to be careful, particularly if they don't control the production process.
Desmond O'Toole, an adjunct professor of chemistry at the City University of Hong Kong. Past Posts: Labels: china food safety, china's future
Not Again - Now Baby Formula
Fortune Cookie Chronicles
Somebody is doing some serious press: It's a good read that is interesting and fun to read. Labels: china food safety
China Drug Supplier - Non-Licensed
FDA and China Drug Companies
Chinese Drug Contamination - 4 Deaths possible link
Page one from the Wall Street Journal - China Plant Played Role In Drug Tied to 4 Deaths - There blog has some comments. Key Points: - The drug thinner Heparin had production halted by Baxter, which has 50% of the market share
- FDA may only inspect around 7% of foreign drug-making facilities in a given year.
- FDA has not inspected the plant ever, and it has been making the drug ingredient for Baxter for 20 years.
- China is now the world's largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredient
- The Chinese plant may not be the reason for the 4 deaths.
- This is scary - FDA "cannot provide the exact number of foreign establishments that have never been inspected."
Labels: china economy, china food safety
Wary U.S. Olympians Will Bring Food to China
Sad that the US Olympics committee sees it as necessary to bring food to China, due to concerns over food safety. This comment is a nice summary of the why: 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.“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.” I understand the caution, especially after 80 Japanese have reportedly fallen ill due to poisoned dumplings from China . Labels: china food safety, china's future, Chinese Food
More Chinese Food Safety Issues
Japan has a case of pesticides in Dumplings impored from China that has 10 people ill. The scandal has stopped the merger of two companies. Supposedly, this may have been deliberately caused to harm Japan China relations. Of course, the alternative is sloppy food safety that I would guess China would not want to be the cause, since this would harm the made in China label. A friend of mine refuses to eat any food from China because he believes there is a high chance it's contaminated. Due to this he does not eat out at Chinese restaurants, because he is suspicious of where the ingredients come from. Correction - 700 people ill per the Economist. The higher number makes more sense on why there is so much scandal about this. As well as why the Japanese and Chinese governments are interested in downplaying it. Labels: china food safety
Tainted Pet Food - Charges Filed
Charges were filed for a US couple who are owners of a US firm that imported the chemical that was mixed with pet food and resulted in the death of thousands of pets. Charges were also filed against two Chinese companies. Per the LA Times: ChemNutra Inc., which imports Chinese food and ingredients for distribution across the United States, along with married owners Sally Qing Miller, 41, and Stephen S. Miller, 55, were charged in a 27-count indictment with evading mandatory inspections of the ingredients in China, delivering adulterated food, misbranding food and conspiring to defraud the companies that unknowingly bought the tainted ingredient. All but the conspiracy count are misdemeanors.Comments - I thought the history was a bit different, and did not realize the product was directly imported from China. I thought it went through another country. Overview/commentary of what happened.Related Posts: China's Food Safety UpdateDetails - US Getting more access on China SafetyLabels: china food safety, made in china
Made in China - In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low Pay
Details - US Getting more access on China Safety
Various articles including Washington Post, LA Times, etc. From what I read: 1. Inside China, giving access to the US is seen as a major concession. 2. Only a limited amount of food and drugs are covered by the agreement. This will require licensing of the companies exporting. Before, there was no license required to export. Basically the areas that have had the most issues have been covered, such as pet food ingredients. 3. Food production is a cottage industry, so there are questions if it's even possible for China to regulate this area. 4. Regional differences in interpretation of the standards will be a challenge. 5. Best quote so far "They have got a good framework, but if the agreement is not policed adequately both in China and at our ports of entry, it won't be worth much more than the paper it's written on," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest in the LA Times. 6. Questions on if the FDA has enough resources to make the agreement work. Labels: china food safety
China's Food Safety Update
NY Times article mentions that China is also cracking down on food issues which is good if China wants to rescue the Made in China Label. This goes back to the big pet food scandal of the wrong labeling on a chemical that killed many pets. And the counterfeit sweeteners in Panama that were used in cough syrup that killed365 mostly children. Now the Toy District in Los Angeles is suffering because of safety worries about products that are imported with sales down 40%. This indicates the Made In China label is taking some hits, which is understandable with the Lead Paint and other toy scandals I mentioned: And there were a few I have not mentioned - like aquadots, but this is Child friendly blog. Labels: china food safety, made in china
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