[NEW: Updated info 3rd February 2008. Click here for New York Times article.]
The Chinese are an ancient culture. I wish I could with integrity say ‘civilisation’. Regretfully that word hardly applies and it looks like it won’t for a very long time.
The Royal Canin (Vet’s Choice) range of dog foods has taken enormous strain in the last two weeks courtesy of, it has been discovered, contaminated raw materials (formica-laced, no less) supplied by China. Similar problems have beset many other manufacturers of pet and other foods, using base ingredients imported from China. China seems to have adopted a growth-by-any-means and to hell with quality and ethics in the process, strategy. Time Magazine of a few weeks back (this is the scan) revealed some horrifying information on their 'NoteBook' page.
Here’s an excerpt:
‘Chinese shoppers are used to warnings about tainted food. According to a November report by the Asian Development Bank, food-borne disease affects 300 million Chinese per year, costing up to US$14 Billion [yes, that’s not a typo!] in lost productivity and medical expenses. But a recent string of high-profile scares involving toxic ingredients has consumers worried about more than a stomach ache.
In Hong Kong, imports of freshwater fish from the mainland were halted in November for 18 days after officials discovered malachite green, a banned fungicide, possibly linked to cancer, in samples of fish from local markets.
On Feb 5th, the Chinese government released a list of 10 of last year’s most egregious food-safety cases – everything from selling homemade beer in brand-name bottles to making ‘edible’ gelatin from old leather.
The top spot went to a firm in Jiangsu province who were busted for adulterating its nationally sold nutritional supplement, supposedly made from silkworm chrysalis. The real ingredients? Dried pig’s blood and chicken feathers.
On Feb 6th, Chinese health officials ordered six kinds of lipstick from two Shantou-based companies – including a strawberry-flavoured variety – pulled from stores after they were found to contain Sudan Red, an industrial dye known to cause cancer in lab animals. The dye, used to colour petrol and floor polish, has also shown up in some Chinese chili powders and eggs.
Tests by environmental group Greenpeace recently detected residue from pesticides such as DDT in 4 out of 5 main-land-grown tangerines, strawberries and green vegetables bought in Hong Kong produce markets. One tangerine tested positive for 13 different pesticides.' [end of article]
In South Africa right now, you have to be very circumspect about buying honey because most of our imported honey comes from China – and guess what? Yep, they feed their bees huge quantities of antibiotic in order to keep disease at bay. That antibiotic now contaminates the honey imported from China. So unless you can verify that it’s a local honey you’re buying, or it’s from Woolworths, then don’t buy it.
What does all of this add up to? It means that exponentially accelerating growth as is found in China and India (Chindia) can have and is proving to have, some seriously nasty side-effects. Manufacturers and producers around the world are going to have to adopt the Woolworths (South Africa) model of having their own quality assurance people on site at source, to ensure that things don’t get totally out of control. They appear to be close to that point already.
The bottom line is this: Reading the ingredients label isn’t much help, because it doesn’t specify the source of ingredients. Maybe food retailers need to start insisting on ‘source-code’ information. Then if we see something contains unexpected surprises from unethical China or we notice that China has been a role-player in the value-chain, we can choose not to buy it. A disgraceful state of affairs indeed! Particularly if these products were consumed by small children. They could have irreversible neurological effects.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect is that China's mantra is Guanxi - relationship capital. It used to regard good relationships as a national asset. Like Ubuntu in South Africa, it's clearly bitten the dust. And both for the same reason - greed.
Technorati tags: China Contamination Formica Chindia Guanxi Ubuntu
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