It seems that China has become the world's workshop, rapidly turning raw materials into an avalanche of consumable goods. Every day numerous new factories open across China. The problem is that many of the Chinese-made products pose a very real threat to health.
From dangerous toys, contaminated pet food, bad toothpaste, poisoned baby milk, to unsafe seafood - the problematic list of Chinese imports continues to increase. The cost of Chinese products are low and the advantage of short production cycles, are a great draw card. After making products that come up to the buyer's specifications, innovations inside the factory turns to cutting costs, in ways that vary from unsavoury, to downright deadly.
Spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, Scott Wolfson, said "Chinese-made products account for more than 60% of recalls this year, with a return of 338 products".
A lot of producers say their products are safe and totally deny any responsibility. The Chinese government has collated and published a black list. Some manufacturers get caught but the cleverer ones stay out front, by using products which have not yet been placed on the forbidden list.
Many of the large, modern factories outsource their work to smaller, dirtier facilities, even though this means they must forgo the production benefits from economies of scale. The smaller outfits have a greater ability to bypass environmental controls and safety standards, both for the products and the workers.
Mr Midler, a consultant for the growing number of Western companies in China, said "Many production problems are well-known within local manufacturing circles, but collusion is rampant and there are no rewards in China for whistle-blowing".
China's food and drug safety inspectors claim in 2008, they food factories in the first six months of the year, seizing tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax.
A ban has been placed on five types of Chinese farmed fish and seafood, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They say they have found products containing traces of antifungal and antibiotic drugs that are potentially harmful to people.
When Chinese-made toothpaste was tested it proved to have an ingredient used in antifreeze in the product. The chemical has been known to be used as a low-cost, but sometimes deadly substitute for glycerin – a sweetener frequently used in drugs. The same chemical found in the toothpaste was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama, after they took tainted cough medicine.
Government officials in Beijing banned the use of 10 types of drugs as a result of their makers' exaggerated and false claims, which they were unable to support in clinical testing.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
