Posted on 05/11/2007 10:47:40 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
China's business hub of Shanghai will use mobile testing units it says can verify the safety of most food within 30 minutes, as fears grow at home and abroad over contaminated Chinese products ranging from cough syrup to pet food.
All districts of the city have been equipped with "food safety testing vehicles and personnel," eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming laboratory tests, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a report issued late Wednesday.
"The system can tell the safety of most food products within 30 minutes," Li Jie, deputy director of the Shanghai Food and Drug Supervision Institute, was quoted as saying.
Separately, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said officials expect to begin using the system to test meat and vegetables in local markets by year's end, and use the results to enforce legal rulings such as fines.
Such contaminated products have frequently led to illness because of overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizer, or by the injection of liquids into meat to boost weight and sale prices.
The reports follow the announcement earlier Wednesday of a nationwide crackdown on contaminated and unsafe food and drugs that would compel companies to adopt standards used in food-importing countries, a tacit recognition of the threat China's food safety woes pose to farm exports.
Already this year, the U.S. government has blacklisted two Chinese companies linked to a pet food ingredient tainted with the chemical melamine that is blamed in the deaths of an unknown number of cats and dogs.
China earlier this week announced the detention of managers at the two firms, apparently on suspicion of mislabeling the exports to avoid inspections.
Mississippi and Alabama have also banned catfish from China after tests found ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, antibiotics forbidden from use in the United States. Louisiana officials said Monday they would begin testing Chinese seafood for the antibiotics.
Excessive antibiotic or pesticide residues have caused bans in Europe and Japan on Chinese shrimp, honey and other products. Hong Kong blocked imports of turbot last year after inspectors found traces of malachite green, a possibly cancer-causing chemical used to treat fungal infections, in some fish.
Within China, babies have died after being fed fake baby formula, eggs have been impregnated with dangerous dyes to make their yolks redder and raise their sale price, and children injected with worthless rabies vaccine that's nothing but saltwater.
Xinhua also cited an official with the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, saying his department was in the process of drafting amendments to the country's Food Safety Law. No details were given.
Ping your ping list.
I am sure we all feel safer now, don’t you?
Oh yeah, I feel SO much safer now. /s
First it was mobile execution labs, now mobile food testing labs... looks like a trend has started.
Sure. Right.
No need for private individuals to have their food tested by a private lab...why...we have these magic trucks, right here, for free! And...and we can do it magically cheaper and quicker! Honest. Trust Uncle Mao's Happy Van!
http://thepetfoodlist.com/forums/index.php?topic=381.0
Trace amounts of a melamine derivative identified in limited number of recalled products
ST. CHARLES, Mo., May 11 /PRNewswire/ — Royal Canin USA is announcing today the voluntary nationwide recall of eight Sensible Choice dry dog food products and seven Kasco dry dog and cat food products.
Chinese food and ingredients in food and vitamins are everywhere. Buying locally grown food will help, but it may not be possible to avoid all exposure unless all Chinese imports are banned unless tested in the US.
Neat idea. They are obviously using prisoners. This way they do not have to feed these prisoners.
I continue to send all of this China information to my co-worker that is going to China on vacation this summer (taking two children along)......hasn’t really had that big of an impact......I just don’t understand. She believes that if they just don’t buy food from street vendors they will be alright. I’m sure this information will make her feel like it’s totally safe to buy food from street vendors, too......(shaking my head).
Why in the world would someone want to visit that nasty place?
Her sister has been living and working there for a year, opening up American fast food restaurants. She thinks it’s a great opportunity for her family to see China.
Her choice......I wouldn’t go.
I’m betting she will have a totally different opinion of China after she gets back......I’ll let you know how it goes.
Please do. There is no chance I would ever go there.
An extremely liberal, very old friend of ours visited China a couple of years ago. She sent us emails describing the air pollution/water quality and ended them telling us to thank God for our being able to live in America. It was evidently quite the eye-opening experience for her.
Funny you should mention that......my friend is also quite liberal, thinks socialized medicine would be great, believes that humans are causing global warming, etc., etc., etc. Her husband is not liberal, however, so it will be fun to hear how the vacation goes from both of their points of view. They are going in July.
Leave the poor woman and her two children in peace. She already gave you her answer by ignoring your articles.
Despite the food, China is extremely interesting and a wonderful learning experience.
If I had a chance to return today, I would…this very second.
We peons are expendible for the greater good (A false economy based on an unlevel trading field). If we haven’t gotten that message, we’re not paying attention.
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