China warns of more health scares amid slowdown
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese food and drug makers struggling in a declining economy could be tempted to cut corners and ignore quality standards, a senior Chinese official warned as the country awaits court verdicts in a tainted milk scandal.
China has been rocked by a number of scandals in recent years involving unsafe food and drugs which have sometimes killed people and prompted global recalls of Chinese-made goods.
At least six children last year died from drinking milk formula adulterated with melamine, an industrial compound used to cheat nutrition tests, and more than 290,000 fell ill with kidney stones. China has put on trial a number of company officials and farmers accused of producing and selling the toxic milk.
Shao Mingli, a senior official from China’s food and drug safety watchdog, said that the country was on “high alert” as the impact of the financial crisis began to hit home, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying late on Tuesday.
“Some enterprises might conduct production in violation of standards and regulations in an attempt to ease their financial burdens,” Shao said.
“On the other hand, conflicts and disputes arising from some companies’ regrouping or merger and acquisition might impact production and quality management,” the official added, calling for tighter supervision of all levels of the supply chain.
The watchdog had dealt with 297,500 cases of “illegal drugs and medical equipment” with a value of about 600 million yuan ($88 million) last year, Xinhua said, in an indication of the seriousness of the problem.
The report comes amid an investigation into a health scare involving a foreign brand of dog food, which local media have linked to the deaths of dozens of pets.
The China Daily on Tuesday said that at least 30 dogs had died from liver complications after eating a brand of dog food which the state newspaper said was tainted with aflatoxin.
The paper quoted vets who said a number of dogs had been diagnosed with liver damage after eating the pet food, and a local supplier that had stopped selling it.
But China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it had neither approved the food for import, nor had border quarantine units ever allowed its import, Xinhua said, casting doubt over the product’s origins.
In 2007, pet food made with Chinese ingredients tainted with melamine killed a number of dogs and cats in the United States.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, fighting a health scandal over melamine found in milk and other food products, now says it is investigating melamine tableware, following reports it might be harmful to health when hot. Quality inspectors told Xinhua news agency they were organizing tests of melamine tableware “following reports that some products contained poisonous ingredients.” Melamine is
Full Post: China now probes melamine tableware scare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has lifted to six the number of children believed killed from drinking toxic milk formula, months after a scare that has battered confidence among local and foreign consumers. The Health Ministry had until now said four infants died from kidney stones and other complications after consuming milk powder tainted with melamine, an
Full Post: China raises death estimate from tainted milk to six
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Emma Graham-Harrison BEIJING (Reuters) - Washington plans to check Chinese food for bugs and toxins before it even sets sail for the United States, as part of a strategy to keep consumers safe in the face of global trade challenges, the U.S. Health Secretary said on Tuesday. Mike Leavitt, speaking ahead of the opening of Food
Full Post: U.S. food watchdog sets up in China, amid dairy clash
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is to publish a blacklist of food additives which make products taste better or appear nutritious but are damaging to health, state media said, as it struggles to restore faith in the “made in China” brand. China has weathered a series of health scares in recent months, the most recent being tainted
Full Post: China to draw up blacklist of dangerous ingredients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Emma Graham-Harrison SHIJIAZHUANG, China (Reuters) - The parents of the first Chinese child killed by tainted milk formula have received $29,000 compensation, state media said, with the government hoping the payments and a trial will quell popular anger. The melamine scandal has battered faith in China-made products after a series of other food- and product-safety scares,
Full Post: China parents of melamine victim paid $29,000