China Defends Safety Of Its Exports

Officials Criticize Bans On Nation's Products, As Report Says U.S. Has Found More Tainted Toothpaste

(CBS/AP)  Officials said today that thousands of tubes of contaminated Chinese-made toothpaste were shipped to correctional facilities and hospitals in the Southeast, in a sign that U.S. distribution of the tainted products was wider than initially thought.

Georgia state officials have confirmed to the Associated Press that toothpaste containing the chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), a poison used in some antifreeze products, was purchased by the state and distributed to two state prisons, five state psychiatric hospitals and four juvenile detention facilities. The toothpaste was removed after an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"It's being stored," Rick Beal in the purchasing division of the Georgia Department of Administrative Services told The Associated Press. "It's segregated from their operating supply. 'Do not use' signs are placed on them. And they're pending disposition."

The New York Times reported today that approximately 900,000 tubes of tainted Chinese toothpaste has shown up in prisons, juvenile detention centers and hospitals in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, including some serving the general population.

State officials in Georgia and North Carolina said no illnesses have been reported, and the toothpaste in question is being replaced with brands not manufactured in China.

The report came the same day that a Chinese official defended the safety of his country's exports, taking the rare step of commenting directly on rising fears over Chinese products following toothpaste and tire recalls, as well as reports of food tainted with industrial chemicals and pigs headed for slaughter with bellies full of wastewater.

Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said China "has paid great attention" to the issue, especially food safety because it concerns people's health.

"It can be said that the quality of China's exports all are guaranteed," Wang told reporters at a regularly scheduled briefing.

The statement was among Beijing's most public assertions of the safety of its exports since they came under scrutiny earlier this year with the deaths of dogs and cats in North America blamed on Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.

Since then, U.S. authorities have turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe color additives, and popular toy trains decorated with leaded paint.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for North Carolina's Department of Correction said Pacific brand toothpaste was distributed to prisoners who could not afford to buy a name brand at prison stores. The tubes were taken away after trace amounts of DEG was found in them.

The FDA, which has stopped all imports of toothpaste from China, said DEG in toothpaste "has a low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury" to children and individuals with kidney or liver disease, among others.

The FDA advised consumers to "avoid using tubes of toothpaste labeled as made in China," according to a statement posted on the agency's Web site.

Officials in Georgia told the Times that their investigation had located almost 6,000 cases of toothpaste containing up to 5 percent of DEG, which were removed from correctional facilities and mental health care centers. The toothpaste had been purchased as long ago as 2002, at 9 cents a tube.

Chinese-made toothpaste has also been banned by numerous countries in North and South America and Asia for containing DEG, a chemical often found in antifreeze which also serves as a low-cost — and sometimes deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener in many drugs.

On Wednesday, three Japanese importers recalled millions of Chinese-made travel toothpaste sets, after they were found to contain as much as 6.2 percent diethylene glycol. No illnesses were reported.

Wang, the Commerce Ministry spokesman, said Chinese experts have already "explained the situation."

He gave no details, although the country's quality watchdog has in the past cited tests from 2000 that it said showed toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was harmless to humans.

[unsuppressed]

erasmus6,

Well well, lets see here, we Americans "may not":

Force feed pigs with wastewater,
Distribute bad baby formula,
Place hog slop, sewage, pesticides and recycled industrial oil in lard for human consumption,

No Americans "may not" do these things, which are not good by any means, BUT, BUT, BUT,

Americans are mass murderers! i.e.

WW1-Lusitania 5-7-1915(1200 dead)323,000 total dead,

WW2-Pearl Harbor 12-7-1941(2400 dead)450,000 total dead,

Vietnam-The Gulf of Tonkin 8-2-1964(0 dead complete lie) 58,000 total dead,

Iraq-World Trade Center(2,976 dead)

These are just the big public named wars, try imagining ALL the years in between the dates I posted, there has never been a stop on killing in between!

I can go on:
The illegal Federal Reserve
The illegal taxation
The corrupt FDA
The education system(sewer)
ETC...........

So yeah you can say that the Chinese are "SICK" people, but if they are "SICK" THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL AMERICANS????

[donteplays]

I agree with erasmus6 on this issue. you can compare china's policing of its product standards to how the US has handled piracy. Here in the great ol' US of A the Federal government has emplimented some laws that have tried to stop people from bootlegging movies and such, and have even threatened with jail time, but as we all know one can still find that DVD you oh so wanted from Dave the bootlegger for half the price. What I'm trying to say is the Chinese government can say they're taking a stance all they want, but in all reality they could care less, because in the end these exports are benefiting the Chinese economy.

[erasmus6]

Spectrum108

Also these are people that are shoving pipes down pigs throats and force feeding them 44 pounds of wastewater to boost their weight before they are slaughtered.

These are people who caused the deaths of at least a dozen babies and 200 more were made sick because they drank infant formula that was made of sugar and starch with few nutrients.

These are people who put hog slop, sewage, pesticides and recycled industrial oil in lard for human consumption.

Do you think that we do those kind of things here? Do you think that people that do these kinds of things are actually capable of changing their ways? These are SICK people.

[erasmus6]

"Remember how the Chinese handled that pet food contamination? Death Penalties. Do you still think they're not serious about product control?" posted by Spectrum108

NO, I do not think they are serious about product control.

I would say it is you that doesn't know what you are talking about. The person that they sentenced to death was a person that had been fired from that job a number of years ago. Why would he have anything to do with what is happening now? Why wouldn't it have been the person who is in charge now? Also it wasn't that long ago that the guy that was sentenced to death was trying to make some deal or something. So obviously he ain't dead yet and probably never will be.

The contamination is massive. It probably involves everything we get from them. All food and non-food. I bet there is lead in just about everything. There is no way they will be able to get it under control. They obviously do not THINK the same way we do or there wouldn't be these kind of problems. Do we have some contamination, yes of course we do, but nothing like they do. Their contamination is way out of control. Their contamination is deliberate. They are actually deliberately putting this stuff in our food. It ain't no accident.

[jsilver2th]

"It can be said that the quality of China's exports all are guaranteed." Wang Xinpei, spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry

What a joke! Wal-Mart buzz off- Americans need to boycott all this junk- it's the next mass movement.

[chinesespy]

no let chinese fud in amrica

[erasmus6]

Actually when we go to buy our groceries, we should start hounding them to know whether a product has ingredients from China in it or not. If they can't tell us then we tell them we won't buy it then. If everyone was to do this they would start losing money and it wouldn't be long until they made it THEIR business to know what is in the food.

[erasmus6]

"I'm gonna go home and make sure my daughter's tooth paste is made in America." posted by proudmama1

Good luck on that one! It doesn't matter whether it says it is made in China or not. It can say it was made in the U.S.A. but that doesn't mean that some of the ingredients didn't come from China.

[rushlimpdrug]

I say we build a time machine a bring back FDR and reinstate him . . . . .
Posted by donteplays
- ok but can we build it in China 'cause it would be a lot cheaper to build it there and ship it in.

[donteplays]

I say we build a time machine a bring back FDR and reinstate him as President and then maybe, and this is a huge maybe, this country will return to the prominence and mistique it once had. A guy can dream right?

[gangesdak]

It is the greed of the American companies that is driving this Chinese business. First order of business is to expose those American businesses who have established those Chinese factories that do not have to pay any attention to safety and welfare of the consumers.

[hamishdad]

Anybody want to buy Chinese condoms? They're guaranteed.

[gkc99]

"Mao Tse Tung said "Americans will sell you the bullet with which to shoot them." "

I think the actual quote is from Lenin, who said "The capitalists will sell you the rope with which you will hang them."

In the case of the USA, the greedy 1000 who own the USA have not just sold the rope, but the rope factory, to the Chinese and other Asians.

[proudmama1]

WHY ARE WE STILL DEALING WITH THESE PEOPLE???????
I'm gonna go home and make sure my daughter's tooth paste is made in America. I never in my life imagined we could be so careless when dealing with our food safety. This country has gone to hell in a handbasket!!!!

[jetauma]

Thsi is easy to prevent. Buy American, bring back manufacturing jobs, undo tax benefits to greey companies that move to these sources, give braeks to those who stay...isn't really that simple? Bush, congress, big companies: are you listening?
Everyone, please (I know it's hard)do your best to stop buying Chinese and other foreign goods that cut our own throats. Wal-Mart: Mao Tse Tung said "Americans will sell you the bullet with which to shoot them." Hmmm.

[erasmus6]

"...raided a village where live pigs were force-fed wastewater to boost their weight before slaughter. Plastic pipes had been forced down the pigs' throats and villagers had pumped each 220 pound pig with 44 pounds of waste water."

Okay, these people are savages. They are being cruel to these animals. Someone needs to put a stop to this.

Why are we still dealing with these people? This b-u-l-l-sh-t is never going to end!
They are either too stupid to figure it out or they just don't want to figure it out. Either way something needs to be done about it. NOW
The fact that we still keep dealing with them shows that we are even more stupid than they are!

[rushlimpdrug]

I waiting for them to defend their pirating market. . . . . .

[nskduke]

Saftey my a$$. This is what happens when you buy cheap goods from another country. China you ***!