February 2012
5 posts
Proposed budget increase will 'strengthen' China... →
The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has requested a budget increase of more than $250m for 2013 – including $10m to strengthen the safety of Chinese produced food.
Concerns about Chinese-made lighters - CBS News →
More than two million disposable lighters are sold every day in the United States.
Many of them are made in China, and may have dangerous flaws. Sharyl Attkisson met one Texas family paying the price for one bad lighter.
A Tale of Two Chinese Food Companies - WSJ →
Two Chinese food companies were butchered by the markets earlier today after profit warnings Friday, following a string of harmful reports in the local press questioning their safety and quality.
China’s Li Urges Tough Punishments Over Food... →
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang called for harsh punishments against food-safety violations as officials removed eggs that a shopper claimed were fake in southern China’s Guangzhou city.
BERNAMA - China Pledges Tightened Supervision To... →
BEIJING, Feb 3 (Bernama) — China’s Health Ministry has pledged to improve its supervision measures to keep the country’s food safe from contamination, reports Xinhua news agency.
January 2012
6 posts
Hard To Swallow: A Western Recipe For Improving... →
BEIJING – Food safety has become one of China’s biggest public concerns in recent years. From Ractopamine-fed pigs and tainted bread to recycled waste oil and bacteria-filled frozen food, endless food security hazards not only aggravate the already frayed nerves of Chinese consumers, but also challenge the society’s moral bottom line. “What is left to eat?,” we can’t help asking.
25,000 unsafe toys seized at Port of Houston -... →
Consumer safety inspectors at the Port of Houston have seized more toys deemed unsafe for children - largely because of choking hazards and lead paint - than almost any other consumer product imported to the United States, second only to fireworks.
China Campaigns to Ensure Meat Safety ahead of... →
Chinese government departments have jointly taken steps to ensure the safety of meat products for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted on its website Friday.
China probes another report of fake cooking oil |... →
(Reuters) - A factory in southern China is being investigated after reports it sold tons of adulterated cooking oil, which was possibly sold to makers of hugely popular instant noodles, the latest in a series of food safety scandals to hit the country.
Nestle Gains With Heinz as China Fears Local Food... →
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) — Tainted milk from China’s largest dairy company, discovered amid a state crackdown on food safety, is set to be a windfall for foreign companies such as Nestle SA.
AFP: New China food safety scandal widens to oil,... →
BEIJING — Chinese authorities in a southern boomtown have detected a cancer-causing toxin in peanuts and cooking oil that was only recently discovered in milk, in the nation’s latest food safety scandal.
December 2011
7 posts
China jails six for selling chemical-tainted pork... →
(Reuters) - A Chinese court has jailed six people for producing and selling chemical-tainted pork, state media said on Wednesday, the latest ruling in a food safety scandal.
China arrests 52 over cooking oil scandal | World... →
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have arrested 52 people for making and selling cooking oil dredged up from restaurant gutters, state media reported on Tuesday, in the latest food safety scandal to hit the country.
IBM System Monitors Food Supply Chains in China |... →
IBM is helping a Chinese state-owned firm to monitor food safety in the country, by building a new system meant to prevent tainted products from being sold to consumers.
IBM to Build Food-Safety System for Pork in... →
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the world’s largest computer-services company, won a contract to build a food-monitoring system in China as the nation toughens supervision of food safety after scandals.
Coke Defends Product as Dairy Safety Issues... →
A ten-year-old boy in north-eastern China died on Tuesday of apparent pesticide poisoning from a tainted bottle of strawberry yoghurt drink, bringing renewed attention to the country’s persistent problems with dairy safety. China Daily published an account of the incident from the boy’s father, Chu Shiwei:
The Associated Press: China sentences 113 in... →
BEIJING (AP) — More than 100 people, including over a dozen Chinese government employees, have been sentenced over chemical-laced pork that caused a food safety scandal earlier this year, state media said Saturday. One person was given the death penalty.
Return of China’s Milk Issue | China Power →
China’s food safety standards are under fire again as a 4-year-old boy lies dead, and his mother in a coma, after drinking a bottle of Minute Maid strawberry-flavored milk last Tuesday that police say was laced with toxic pesticide. The incident has drawn attention to the country’s weak – and possibly weakening – standards for safe milk, and raised the specter of powerful special interests. In...
November 2011
4 posts
China says Johnson & Johnson should 'practise... →
China said on Monday Johnson & Johnson should “practise morality”, a week after the U.S. consumer and healthcare group was accused of continuing to sell baby shampoo with a possible cancer-causing ingredient.
FDA Officials In China To Plug New Food Safety Law... →
Fifteen percent of the food Americans eat is imported, including 80 percent of the seafood, and two-thirds of the fruit and vegetables. Our current food safety system can’t even begin to keep tabs on the 24 million shipping containers loaded with food that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates arrived this year from overseas. Increasingly, that food is coming from China, which has...
U.S. Seeks China Aid on Food Safety - WSJ.com →
BEIJING—U.S. food and drug regulators are requesting Beijing’s help in implementing a new food-safety law requiring stricter oversight of exported food, a sign of China’s growing importance as a food exporter for Americans.
Bennet: Chinese Counterfeit Drug Sting Amplifies... →
Reacting to the news that officials in China’s central Henan province arrested 114 people and seized nearly $30 million in fake medications, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said the U.S. needs to get serious about its drug safety laws, according to a news release.
October 2011
9 posts
Another Food Safety Scare in China as Sheep Were... →
Agricultural authorities in east China said Thursday they had begun testing sheep after media reports claimed the livestock had been fed an illegal additive meant to make their meat leaner.
Food safety in China: In the gutter | The... →
WALMART, an American supermarket chain, has been having a tough time recently in China, one of its fastest growing markets. On October 25th it reopened 13 stores in the south-western region of Chongqing which were closed for two weeks as punishment for mislabelling a pork product. Chinese officials have recently had a pang of food-safety conscience, and a big foreign firm has offered an easy...
China Starts National Food Safety Checks on Dairy,... →
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — China has started nationwide food safety checks as the government seeks to ease concerns about the quality of milk, pork and cooking oil.
Wal-Mart reopens 13 stores in southwestern China... →
BEIJING — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday reopened 13 of its stores in a southwestern Chinese city after they were ordered shut for 15 days over the mislabeling of tons of regular pork as “organic,” state media reported.
China’s windfarms: new safety fears – FT.com →
China is the biggest wind turbine maker – and consumer – in the world. But its wind industry is increasingly being plagued by safety concerns, most recently with an accident this week that killed five people.
Chinese car safety under the blowtorch: New C-NCAP... →
The heat is on China’s new car manufacturers to improve the safety of their vehicles after authorities confirmed the country’s crash test program is set for a major overhaul
Heard on the Street: Mislabeling China Risk at... →
For foreign food retailers, a slice of China’s market looks appetizing. But as Wal-Mart Stores is finding out, food safety and political risks can make it hard to digest.
China forms food safety risk assessment center →
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — China has established a national professional center for food safety risk assessment, which is a major move for China in applying improved scientific management to preventing food scandals.
Tainted seafood reaching U.S., experts say -... →
Filthy seafood infected with bacteria or tainted with drugs and antibiotics banned in the U.S. is finding its way onto the plates of Americans, according to state and federal officials, consumer advocates, academics and food safety experts.
September 2011
2 posts
China Cracks Down on “Gutter Oil,” a Substance... →
Among the list of food safety scandals that have plagued China in recent years—toxic infant formula, pesticide-tainted vegetables, exploding watermelons, “lean meat powder” and pork reconstituted as beef—few are quite as stomach churning as the nauseatingly-named “gutter oil.”
US tests spark toothpaste toxin fears | Companies... →
BEIJING - Concerns have resurfaced in China over the safety of toothpastes containing triclosan, a chemical that may lead to cancer, after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started a new round of safety reviews.
August 2011
5 posts
Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S.... →
A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals. A Food Safety News investigation has documented that millions of pounds of honey banned as unsafe in dozens of countries are being imported and sold here in record quantities.
China arrests thousands to improve food safety -... →
Around 2000 people have been arrested, and nearly 5000 businesses shut down, as Chinese authorities try to force their food industry to improve its safety standards.
CHINA China now "admits" that high speed trains... →
The central government decreases the speed of trains, suspends new projects, subject to thorough study and further security measures. High speed travel was great pride of the Chinese government, but now the authorities continue silence on security and Wenzhou disaster.
Amid anger over tainted food, China says it’s... →
BEIJING — “Bodybuilder” pigs given illegal growth hormones in their feed. Harmful additives to make pork taste like beef. Outdated steamed buns painted with coloring to look new. Formaldehyde in a popular Sichuan dish. Exploding watermelons treated with plant growth chemicals.
July 2011
1 post
China: Food Safety Informers Will Be Rewarded... |... →
China is offering money for food safety informers to come forward with information about companies that illegally use additives or sell meat from animals which die of disease. Fortunately, China isn’t just going to give cash to anyone that phones in a report because the food safety informers will only be paid if their claims can be proven after a thorough investigation.
June 2011
1 post
BERNAMA - China's Food Safety Watchdog Bans Local... →
BEIJING, June 12 (Bernama) — China’s food safety watchdog has banned eight food products produced by four local companies in Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Jiangmen which contain plasticiser.
May 2011
16 posts
Chinese battery producers halt operations in... →
Battery manufacturers in China have suspended production amid a government crackdown on heavy metal pollution, according to a report.
Chinese courts ordered to severely punish food... →
BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhua) — The country’s courts have been ordered to impose even harsher punishments for food safety crimes and work-related crimes concerning food safety.
China Pushes Hon Hai, Peers to Improve Safety -... →
BEIJING—China’s government said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and other Taiwanese companies operating on the mainland should strengthen safety measures following a deadly explosion at the electronics manufacturer’s plant that has also triggered criticism from labor activists over working conditions.
China investigates 57 government staff involved in... →
BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) — Chinese prosecutors have launched investigations on 57 government staff involved in food safety cases this year, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said on Monday.
Chinese police crack 1,000 severe food safety... →
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese police nationwide have solved more than 1,000 cases that “severely” jeopardized food safety so far this year in the latest efforts to clean up the scandal-prone food industry.
BERNAMA - Chinese Police Crackdown On Food Safety... →
BEIJING, May 21 (Bernama) — Chinese police have cracked down on 1,000 food safety violation cases, the Ministry of Public Security said.
China Making Improvements With Product Safety,... →
After a staggering run of lead-related toy recalls a few years ago, mostly imported from China, Congress made meaningful advances in consumer product safety laws for the first time in decades.
Fake Eggs and Contaminated Rice: Let the Consumer... →
Americans all too often chafe at federal oversight of their lives. Reading about recent food-safety scandals in China, where there’s fewer than one food inspector for every 10,000 people, reminds one of why consumer advocacy organizations and federal regulations thanks to agencies like the Food and Drug Administration are so important.
China to promote food safety knowledge among... →
BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) — China will enhance its public education efforts in the next five years to promote scientific food safety knowledge, according to the country’s food safety authority on Sunday.
Despite government efforts, tainted food... →
SHANGHAI — On a corner near downtown Shanghai recently, some shoppers avoided the steamed buns sold by Zhu Qinghe in a street-side cubbyhole. Instead, they bought the packaged buns in the freezer section of Hualian, a supermarket chain store in the same building.