no FDA in China?

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Just read a really interesting article in the LA Times today about the ingredients we import from China. I had no idea that it was a Chinese food ingredient that caused the sickness and death of all those pets from their food. It brings to light a very serious issue about Chinese globalization. We turn to them for the cheaper imports, but at what cost? Without a strict set of health standards death can and has been a resut. It is true that China is one of, if not THE worlds fastest growing economys, but they are still not at par with the health standards that keep us safe and secure. I've pasted the article below:
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China's additives on menu in U.S.
It is the leading supplier of many ingredients in packaged food. Barring the imports is difficult.
By Don Lee, Times Staff Writer
May 18, 2007

SHANGHAI — As the recall of tainted pet food mushroomed into an international scandal, two of the largest U.S. food manufacturers put out a blanket order to their American suppliers: No more ingredients from China.

The directive from Mission Foods Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc., made quietly this month, underscored consumers' and manufacturers' fears about the safety of imported food ingredients after contaminated wheat products from China killed and sickened cats and dogs in the United States.

The problem is, what Mission and Tyson want is next to impossible.

In the last decade, China has become the world's leading supplier of many food flavorings, vitamins and preservatives. Like fingernail clippers, playing cards, Christmas ornaments and other items, some food additives are available in vast quantities only from China.

China exported $2.5 billion of food ingredients to the United States and the rest of the world in 2006, an increase of 150% from just two years earlier, according to Chinese industry estimates. It is now the predominant maker of vanilla flavoring, citric acid and varieties of vitamin B such as thiamine, riboflavin and folic acid — nutrients commonly added to processed flour goods such as Mission tortillas and Tyson breaded chicken.

"It would be somewhat difficult to move away from all the vitamins in China," said Monte White, president of Research Products Co., a large supplier of nutrients for flour mixes. He said his Salina, Kan.-based company was stepping up its testing of imported goods despite having had "very consistent results" from China in the last five years.

*

Little oversight in China

China's overall food safety record is poor. Use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides is heavy. Fraud and corruption often thwart what lax controls exist. In recent years, U.S. officials have issued alerts about Chinese honey tainted with a harmful antibiotic; Chinese candy containing sulfites that can cause fatal allergic reactions; and infant formula missing vital nutrients, which in China left a dozen babies dead in 2004.

A small group of large manufacturers dominate the production of food ingredients in China, but hundreds if not thousands of small, virtually anonymous businesses — such as the two linked to the pet-food scandal — operate in an industry lacking tough standards and enforcement.

"Some of them are driven by profits; you can see dollar signs in their eyes," said Jan Willem Roben, head of Vision Ingredients, a Shanghai-based trader of food additives.

In the U.S., major food manufacturers often don't know where all their ingredients originate. Mission, a Texas-based unit of Mexican food giant Gruma, would not comment about that or its directive, but said it was working with its suppliers to ensure the products were safe. Arkansas-based Tyson, one of the nation's largest providers of beef and chicken, did not respond to interview requests.

Many packaged foods contain dozens of items from around the world, acquired through complex networks of traders and brokers, before they get processed at manufacturing plants where companies have more direct oversight.

"Until now, companies just didn't care about commodity additives," said Laszlo Somogyi, a retired senior consultant at SRI International, a nonprofit research institute in Menlo Park, Calif. "But that might be changing now. This was a warning," he said, referring to the pet-food debacle.

Somogyi believes tainted food additives pose a relatively low risk to humans because such ingredients are used in tiny amounts in any given product. Still, it wasn't until the pet-food poisoning that people learned that melamine, an industrial chemical banned in foods in the U.S., had been widely added to animal feed in China to artificially boost its protein level.

"The same thing could have happened in the human food chain," Somogyi said.

Chinese-made ingredients are probably found in every aisle of American supermarkets. Consider that American favorite, the Hostess Twinkie. Of its 39 ingredients, at least half a dozen — such as vitamin B compounds, the preservative sorbic acid and red and yellow colorings — are most likely made in China, says Steve Ettlinger, author of the book, "Twinkie, Deconstructed."

In an interview from New York, Ettlinger said he couldn't be sure where Interstate Bakeries Corp., the maker of Twinkies, obtained those ingredients. The Kansas City, Mo., company wouldn't help him with his research, he said, and food makers rarely list the origin of individual ingredients on packages. Nor do they necessarily want to know where it all comes from.

"The more you know, the pickier you get and the more it costs," Ettlinger said.

David Leavitt, Interstate Bakeries' vice president of snack marketing, said he wasn't aware of any Twinkie ingredients made in China. But in a brief e-mail statement, he indicated that Interstate was polling some of its smaller vendors to determine whether they obtained any products from China.
"This process involves gathering and verifying information from hundreds of companies," Leavitt said.

That process could eventually lead to a company such as Ningbo Wanglong Group, the world's largest maker of sorbic acid — a preservative made from natural gas that helps keep mold off baked goods and other products. The 14-year-old private company, located about 120 miles south of Shanghai, produces 1,000 tons of the white crystals every month. About one-third of that is exported to the U.S., said Li Ming, the company's office director.

Less than a decade ago, such food additives were made mainly in Europe and the United States. But China's looser environmental regulations, cheaper energy costs and lower wages helped shift the industry to Asia. Ningbo Wanglong's average salary is less than $200 a month. Giant food chemical makers such as BASF of Germany and Dutch-based DSM have teamed up with Chinese partners and cut back at plants in the West.

Ningbo Wanglong says it sells sorbic acid for about $1.30 a pound, including shipping charges to the U.S. The cost of the same product made in the United States: about $4.

For food companies, switching to non-Chinese vendors would almost certainly increase their costs, though the move could give them a marketing advantage over rivals.

Li welcomed visitors to tour his company's 80-acre campus, where he said 400 employees, many of them wearing white gloves and gray uniforms, work in 20 high-tech facilities.

"We have an analysis room, a quality lab and other quality control departments," he said, adding that 70 workers have advanced degrees.

But for every additive maker such as Ningbo Wanglong, scores of small operations compete in China, offering their cut-rate goods in food industry journals, at trade fairs and on the Internet. On the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba.com, at least 43 businesses claimed to produce sorbic acid, a complicated compound that requires considerable investment and government certifications.

For many other ingredients, though, people don't need much more than basic knowledge of chemistry and some simple equipment: a kettle, a scale and a dryer.

"The problem is that many small companies don't register their products as food additives, thus avoiding supervision," said He Jiguo, director of the food nutrition and safety department at China Agricultural University in Beijing. Instead, he said, these companies classify their goods as nonfood items. Many food additives also have industrial applications; citric acid, for example, is used to clean boilers and etch concrete floors.

He says Chinese government officials should boost enforcement and penalties. Currently, violators of food-safety rules are subject to fines of no more than a few thousand dollars and a temporary stop order.

But He doesn't expect any swift changes. Of the 1,750 government-approved food additives, quality standards have been established for only about 250, according to a report last year by Major China, a food-industry consulting firm in Shanghai.

"There is no clear food-classification system, no distinct definition for the range that the food includes, no related regulation about residues that additives leave on foods," the report said. "All these bring loopholes for additives manufacturing and usage, give illegal traders opportunities and affects customers' trust toward food additive safety."

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U.S. inspection spotty

Adding to U.S. consumers' concerns, inspection on the American end is spotty. The Food and Drug Administration has said it checks just 1% of all imported grocery items and food ingredients, excluding meat and poultry products. The agency didn't respond to interview requests for this article.

U.S. food ingredient suppliers can only hope that the pet-food scare blows over. Some managers say they are getting 50 calls a day from customers and consumers. They are struggling to reassure them that the goods from China are safe, promising more tests and tighter monitoring of vendors. But they also say that American food manufacturers will have little choice but to back away from demands to go without any Chinese additives.

"They're going to have to compromise," said a sales manager at a major food additive supplier who did not want to be identified by name. "At this point, it's simply impossible."

[Anonymous]

Several weeks ago, I read a similar article but it had to do with powder milk produced in China. Even the Chinese were essentially boycotting the powder milk because it did not have the nutrients that other milk have for the infants and toddlers. Infact, children were getting sick because of the milk.

Anywho,
I was at Wal-Mart on Sunday and as I was checking out, I noticed that Wal-Mart had posted a sign at all cashier checkstands assuring consumers that their pet food products are now being strictly monitored and that they will recall any pet food products that are under suspicion. As I recall from the article on the petfood product, Wal-Mart was one of the main middle party in distributing the product from China. Thought it was pretty interesting.

[Anonymous]

This is one of the exact reasons my husband and I have gone local and organic. It really is scary what is going on in our world right now. All the chemicals we keep adding to our food was sooner or later going to effect something. and it did.

The sad part, the article didn't seem to say anything about solving the problem. It just wants to let it blow over. I understand if the companies want to make more money, but at the expense of health and life is not right. It's pretty sad if that's what our world is coming to.

I highly recommend Trader Joe's. Half is organic, half is local and European products without preservatives or additives. The best part is not much is more expensive if you were to buy lower quality stuff at the market.

This article truly made me think, thanks!

[Anonymous]

This article has opened up my eyes and will make me think twice before putting something in my mouth. To think that the people from Twinkies have not idea where some of their ingredients come from or rather do not want to divulge the information to consumers is nerve wrecking.

My favorite are Hostess cupcakes not Twinkies but from now on every time I see them in the store I will think about it twice.

As for Trader Joe's with in the past couple of months I have become a frequent shopper there and can attest that the items sold at the store are similar in prices to those at bigger supermarkets. Plus here you will find items not easily accessible elsewhere. Just recently I purchased a bag of organic oranges and truly feel that for the first time I have tasted an orange. The richness if the color, smell and taste was an astounding experience.

[Anonymous]

Another article in the Times today about the state of China's food and drug safety. They say there really isn't a problem and are working on it, although there are still multiple scares going on, including fake blood platelets! Pretty interesting...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tainted13jun13,1,833589.story

[Anonymous]

I think that they are lying when the Chinese say there is no danger. Based on how they do business, I think that they would send over stuff this country that is marginally ediable without feeling bad about it.

[Anonymous]

This kind of thing happens when profit are put above safety. Like most developing nations, China is putting the almighty dollar (yuan) ahead of safety.

This will lead to tighter regulations and discussion of safety concerns will become more comon.

[Anonymous]

I too have heard quite a lot lately about concerns over the saftey of Chinese food products. Articles have surface in the LA times, stories have aired on NPR, and it has even been topic of conversation in the lunch room. In hearing all these reports, I cannot help but note a rather cynical and ominous tone in most of these reports and discussions. The underlying assumption seem to be two fold: 1) the chinese governement had no vigorous policing body in place to systematically check the saftey of many of the products produced in the country, and 2) chinese industrialists are so driven by profits and bottom lines that cutting corners is of no concequence to them.

I'll accept the first generalization as a report on the state of affairs in China's process of rapid modernization. I am able to draw comparison to America's first steps into 20th century modernity. Let us not foreget the lovely depictions of turn of the century Chicago slaughter houses as presented by Upton Sincalir in the Jungle. America too has felt the growing pains of rapid modernization and industrialization. China is no different. I'd venture to say that in order to stay competitive in the global market, the Chinese governemt will in time move to right these issues. How timely the response will be, well that has yet to be seen.

As for the second assumption, I cannot help but note a protectionist, almost isolationist, tone. Statements of this kind seem to imply that due to a lust for money and wealth, Chinese industry is willing to forego its future sucess in favor of the quick buck.

I do not see the problems with Chinese products to be some type of conspiracy. What I do see it as is an important wake-up call for the Chinese government to enact better laws on consumer protection and to establish criminal liability for the producers of dangerous or contaminated products. In the end, we may gripe about DDT sprayed Chinese garlic at the Walmart Superstore--yet think of the everyday Chinese. In some areas of China, local populations may ingest many more dangerous pollutants, in the form of heavy metals, etc., on a yealry basis than many Americans accumulate in a lifetime. [Edit by="chellmold on Jul 23, 5:42:06 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Part of me is not surprised by this article, as our nation's concern is profit gain over quality, and the welfare of society.
With resources and labor in China costing less, this allows a marginal benefit in profits.
Which is why I try so hard to not purchase items made in China, as quality is usually not considered in manufacturing products: items are mass produced by employees who are paid low wages, being abused by employers: who are the middle man of our large cooperations.

Unfortunately since eating to what is beneficial for our bodies and health is costly, it is only too easy for people to refrain to eat otherwise. When one understands the system of our government: logically if eating healthy was a norm and cost effective: the medical field would be greatly impacted. So why not make eating healthy impossible for the average low income family and keep supporting our medical field?
I do support shopping at Trader Joe; however I was made aware of the fact, that they are selective to the neighborhoods they open in. Which is why you won't find Trader Joe in Compton and such areas. This is unfortunate as what they sell is beneficial to all and should be encouraged. It always amazes me when I introduce items I purchase at Trader Joes, how people are resistant to try new products: which is a healthier way of eating.

Ironically, I believe in supporting Eastern Medicine and their philosophies on living a healthy lifestyle. I question how did the need to compete or be part of this corperate world contridict with the Eastern philosophies of living? What would their ancestors say to all that is happening?

[Anonymous]

That is a great question and I agree. What would their ancestors say?

I can't help but read this and think of two things I have heard these last few days.

The first on MSN NEWS station I saw a news story about cardboard being used in dumplings in China. The story seemed very matter of fact about it. They should the original news story from China and the cooks that were making the dumplings stating no one can taste the difference. It shocked me! I couldn't but say, it doesn't matter it's not healthy. Then I want to say well then maybe you need to change your recipe if no one can taste the difference between cardboard and not cardboard. The other thing about this news was the fact that the news story stated that the product isn't exported to the U.S. It shows trully what our priorities are.

Second, to add to the whole needing to feel healthy and eat healthy, we don't. I was listening to my morning radio show and they were discussing the trend in fast food making more for your value. We have turned into the value conscious. So instead of eating less, we want more for our money turning into a wasteful and unhealthy society just so we can feel like we are getting something for our money.

So in our search for value and the quick buck we continue to put ourselves at risk!

[Author]

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