Posted on 04/24/2007 9:06:46 PM PDT by Flavius
BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged the country's farming sector to improve food safety and develop the organic sector, state media said on Wednesday, reflecting widespread anxiety after a series of health scares.
The ruling Communist Party's Politburo -- an inner council with some two dozen members -- listened to reports about food safety and Hu issued his warning, promising stricter rules on growing and processing, the official People's Daily reported.
"Resolving the food problems of 1.3 billion people and improving agricultural returns and farmers' incomes demands that we accelerate implementation of agricultural standardisation," Hu said.
"Without agricultural standardisation, there can be no agricultural modernisation and no assurance of food safety," he added.
"Speed up the development of pollution-free agricultural products, green food and organic food, and push the development of top quality goods," Hu said.
In recent years, China has been shaken by scandals over everything from fake baby milk to carcinogenic fish, blamed on unscrupulous businesses and lax official supervision, fuelling public anger.
Last August, nearly 40 people in Beijing contracted meningitis after they ate raw or partially cooked snails at a chain of Sichuan restaurants.
In 2004, a major health scandal erupted when China revealed that at least 13 babies had died from malnutrition in the country's impoverished eastern province of Anhui after being fed fake baby milk.
Chinese Government today: We'll be more careful.
see they learn from masters
all you have to do is feel and say things
and world is a happy place
ping
They can take our manufacturing jobs and our farm jobs and our high tech jobs, but damned if I'll stand around while they create a substitution for our beloved Tony Robbins!
The Chinese are being initiated into what it really means to be in a “market economy”. IOW, you can’t cheat, poison, or otherwise abuse your customer base without screwing yourselves. It gives a concrete face to the phrase “what goes around, comes around.”
Anybody remember the "steel mill in every backyard" plan a few decades ago? That was going to save China, too.
Does that mean I should, should not add the 250 pounds of powdered thorium to the 250 tons of ground pepper they bought?
If I do, it is so much easier and cheaper than sending it to a licensed disposal site....
bump
Hit them in the pocket book and they’ll say anything. It’s too late for them to convince me of the safety of their food. Matter of fact, I didn’t believe it before, come to think of it.
I generally hate government regulation , But I think we do need a truth in labeling law - If it comes from China I want to know it so I can leave it on the shelf.
The idea that we have food products coming from China is very disturbing.
The US government is reportedly paying US farmers not to grow crops. What a load of crap. Give me US grown food that goes to support US farmers.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/house_food_safety.html
This is a blog of the minutes of the hearing the other day.
Glad the Chinese are cleaning up their act. yeah right.
bump!
Me too. I would never buy any food if it was made in China. Even if I have to pay more, I want the choice. You are right, this is very disturbing.
Check your garlic powder. :-)
Up to yesterday, China would not let inspectors into the contaminated wheat gluten factories. The response of this administration was to only stop imports from ONE COMPANY. “Chinese wheat gluten continues to pour into this country.” Gambling with American health so as not to disturb trading profits of the Chinese. The government response has been a “national scandal.”
The lack of real attention to these hearings reminds me why I like to read Whole Dog Journal -- they are not beholden to advertisers so can tell the truth where pet magazines, as a rule, will never print the truth of what is killing so mnay dogs and cats --- and cable is not really telling about all the sick people from something as popular as peanut butter, a food many kids eat as a staple of their diets.
...... and your vitamins.
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