Complain about a product or service

China Cracks Down on Food Safety, Seizes U.S. Shipments

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 27, 2007

Food Safety • At Least 2 Deaths Reported in Massive E.Coli Ground Beef Recall • Food Toxin Linked To Liver Cancer • Senate Urged To Pass Food Safety Modernization Act • Consumers Have Little Trust That Food They Buy is Safe and Healthy • Consumers Union Opposes USDA Proposal On Salad Safety • New Food Registry Enables Quick Reporting of Dangerous Products • Nothing Simple about Food Dating, Expiration Dates or 'Use-By' Dates • Feds Announce New Food Safety Strategies • House Passes Food Safety Bill • Feds Seize Kentucky Livestock Kept In "Filthy Conditions" • FDA Tries To Improve Egg Safety • Tainted Dry Milk Recall Continues To Grow • Salmonella Scare Prompts Dairy Recall • Most Consumers Lack Confidence In Food Safety, Survey Says • House Committee Unanimously Passes Food Safety Bill • Food Safety Bill Aired In House • House Committee Moves Forward On Food Safety Legislation • Illinois Meat Packer Recalls 95,898 Pounds Of Beef • Alfalfa Sprouts Linked to Salmonella • Food Safety Results Level Off • Sprouts Recalled Due To Possible Listeria • FDA Warns About Listeria in Salmon • Food Industry Accused of Big Tobacco's Bad Habits • FDA Closes Tortilla Plant • Surface Water May Be Source Of Salmonella • Key Senator Blasts FDA Over Food Safety > • FDA Rolls Out Food Safety Plan • Brits Get Treats, Yanks Get Tricks From Food Companies • Hartz Recalls Rawhide Chips After Possible Salmonella Contamination • Vermont Firm Recalls Possibly-Tainted Ground Beef • Beef Sent to Puerto Rico May Be Contaminated with E. coli • Technology Offers Revolution in Food Safety Testing • Chinese Gorillas Fall Ill as Melamine Scandal Widens • Alfalfa Sprouts Recalled in Salmonella Outbreak • CDC Gives "All Clear" On Salmonella Outbreak • One Death Reported in Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak • Feds Approve Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce • FDA Issues Warning About Frozen Seafood • Whole Foods Extends Beef Recall • Whole Foods Recalls Fresh Ground Beef • Six New E. coli Cases Reported In Massachusetts --- • More ...

China says it has closed 180 food plants that were using industrial chemicals and additives in food products, acknowledging wide-ranging safety problems in its food supply.

But Chinese officials also reported seizing shipments of orange pulp and apricots shipped to China from the United States, claiming they contained excessive bacteria, mildew and sulfur dioxide.

The China Daily newspaper reported that most of the plants that were closed down were small, unlicensed operations, many with fewer than 10 employees. China has about 1 million food factories, most of them small.

It's the latest development in a string of food-safety problems including contaminated pet food and allegedly poisonous toothpaste being shipped to the U.S. and other North and South American countries.

In a spreading web of cross-border criticism, China is being blamed for shipping defective tires and lead-laden toys into the U.S.

The crackdown on food safety is being conducted by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The agency said it has found 23,000 cases of infractions this year.

"These are not isolated cases," Han Yi, director of the administration's quality control and inspection department, said at a press conference, China Daily reported.

Investigators said they found food factories using such raw materials as dyes, mineral oils, paraffin wax, formaldehyde and the carcinogenic malachite green, in the production of flour, candy, pickles, biscuits, black fungus, melon seeds, bean curd and seafood.

Meanwhile, China turned the tables on the United States, seizing shipments of orange pulp and dried apricots that it said contained excessive bacteria, mildew and sulfur dioxide, according to Xinhuanet.

A statement carried on the website of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the orange pulp was supplied by Modern Skill Co., Ltd. and the dried apricots were supplied by Mariani Packing Company, Inc., CCTV reported.

The orange pulp was seized in east China's Shandong Province, while the dried apricots in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, the statement said.

The Chinese government said it has ordered local inspectors to intensify scrutiny over food products imported from the United States.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.