Imagine you went into your local grocery store only to learn that one out of five items on the shelves was substandard or tainted. Would you go ahead and shop or turn on your heel and find another store? Dumb question.
It turns out that's the very situation in today's China. From the New York Times:
"The government said, for instance, that canned and preserved fruit and dried fish contained excessive bacteria; that 20 percent of the fruit and vegetable juice surveyed was deemed substandard, and that some children’s products were defective or laced with harmful chemicals.
"The announcement came in the midst of a growing scandal over the quality and safety of Chinese-made exports and follows a series of international recalls involving everything from contaminated pet food ingredients and counterfeit toothpaste to toxic toys, defective tires and contaminated seafood.
"The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the survey, conducted in the first half of this year, showed quality and safety improvements compared with conditions in the period a year earlier. But the announcement also suggested that Chinese consumers are at serious risk of being harmed by purchasing tainted foods, substandard goods and suspect or defective equipment.
"Regulators said, in effect, that goods sold in China were far more hazardous than the exports that were driving the country’s economic growth and now partly the subject of safety and quality debates."
As part of a general, cleanup campaign, Chinese authorities have closed down 180 food factories. Still, it's nice to know we're getting the "good stuff", eh?
4 comments:
Imagine
...that you're the United States and you've unsuccessfully tried to force China to stop devaluing their currency because it's created a massive trade imbalance. What would you do?
I'd blow something like this all out of proportion by finding a few products imported from China that are hazardous and then conflating them with hazardous Chinese products that are meant for domestic consumption.
This isn't about product safety. It's a--so far--one sided trade war.
Agree with R. MdClelland: The US is running a PR campaign against the Chinese because they pose the next economic threat. Of course 2 wrongs don't make a right... Hazardous products are all over, from all sides of the ocean. Look at the new 'organic' fad being spearheaded by major multinationals (can they really profit w/ 100% organic growth?).
Robert, you're missing the point. This isn't some trade war conspiracy but a flat out admission by CHINESE authorities that their foodstuffs and other products are horribly contaminated and substandard. Nobody in the US made this up, the Chinese brought it out. And you're wrong, this is very much about product safety. By the way, how do you like that faux-Colgate?
Enna says......at least the Chinese admit to the problem. I wonder what western countries would do. Get that point?
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