China Polishing Food Safety Image

Gov't Shuts Down Several Companies Involved In Product Safety Scares

(AP)  Melamine, used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants, has no nutritional value but is high in nitrogen, making products to which it is added appear to be higher in protein - a way to cut costs for the manufacturer.

China also has accused the companies of illegally mislabeling their exported products to avoid inspections. All have been banned from exporting.

Legal action was being taken against managers of the companies, the administration said, but did not give any details.

Since the incidents, U.S. authorities have turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe color additives and popular toy trains decorated with lead paint. Chinese-made toothpaste containing DEG has also been rejected or recalled in Japan, Singapore and Australia.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Chinese food safety authorities will meet in late July to discuss China's seafood exports.

Tensions were triggered last month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would seize Chinese catfish, basa and dace, as well as shrimp and eel, after repeated testing turned up contamination with drugs that have not been approved in the United States for use in farmed seafood.

Li said an investigation has found that some fish farms "did use banned substances in those exports" and were not officially registered, allowing them to slip through without detection.

However, Li also said that the U.S. had an import system that relies on random tests and does not require quarantine certificates for customs clearance.

This week, Philippine authorities said a Chinese candy was found to be tainted with formaldehyde - an allegation the maker denied on Wednesday, blaming counterfeit versions.

An official at the Shanghai branch of Swiss SGS, the testing company, said Friday that "the milk candy samples did not contain formaldehyde."

But the official, who gave only his surname, Zhang, said it was unclear if the products tested were the same as those found in the Philippines.

Li, the quality administration minister, said China has not received any official communication from the Philippines on the issue and that the country's embassy in Beijing has been unable to provide any information.

Li said the one of biggest problems in food safety is the regulatory nightmare of countless small and illegal food manufacturers that are springing up throughout the country.

"We will resolutely close down these small food manufactures ... who are engaged in producing substandard or fake or shoddy food and they will not be allowed to restart their business," Li said.

Also Friday, Chinese state media said at least seven more people have been fired or reprimanded over an allegedly fake television report about a street vendor selling buns stuffed with chemically treated cardboard.

Footage appeared to show a makeshift kitchen where people made buns stuffed with mixture of fatty pork and cardboard that had been softened to a pulp in caustic soda.

The reporter who allegedly filmed the report, Zi Beijia, already has been detained by police and Beijing Television issued an apology late Wednesday saying the report was not true.

[erasmus6]

China says that it isn't the only country that has problems with their food. That is probably true to a certain extent. You are bound to find certain chemicals and some bacteria in every countries food but NOT to the extent they have. I mean I really don't think that other countries are putting rat poison, plastic, pig slop and sewar in their food.

[rushlimpdrug]

Oh great, now I can brush my teeth with "Crust" and feed the dog the chow mein.
Although the dog looks a little stiff today.

[cbs_oliver]

Now if we could remove the restraints which Republicans have placed on US food and drug safety inspectors actually doing inspections we might actually have safer food.

It's hard to understand why folks continue to vote for representatives who conspire with others to rob and poison them.

But I guess other things are more important to some people.

[crater7]

I FEEL SAFER ALREADY.

WOULD ANYONE CARE TO JOIN ME IN SEAFOOD FROM CHINA?

WHY NOT?