8 Asians

Are Chinese Goods Bad For You ?

So no doubt, you have heard within the past few months, that Chinese food products for human and pet consumption and products have had some problems - that indeed, many of the food products have had substitute ingredients that are not exactly healthy…. The latest report being that “F.D.A. Curbs Sale of Five Seafoods Farmed in China” ,  “China shuts 180 food factories for using illegal chemicals” , “Tainted [Chinese-sourced] toothpaste more widespread” , “Chinese tire recall to start Monday” , ” Can tainted toys spark U.S.-China trade tiff?” , and of course, the original scandal that started things off, “FDA’s Ongoing Pet Food Investigation.”
A Taiwanese-American friend of mine questioned whether or not this was becoming an alarmist and possibly racist response for fears of China’s economic rise. To be honest, in any rapidly rising economy, I always have my doubts as to the quality (and in the case of food products, safety) of any food product or products in general. The short-term incentive is to skim on quality and purity to make a quick buck. But a country quickly learns that short-term shortcuts can cut into long-term profitability. Japan, Inc. is the clearest example that in post-World War II Japan, quality suffered, but they learned with a vengeance and now Japan = quality. China has quickly compressed its conversion to capitalism from the early 80s to the present…. and has not had the learning curve adopted over time for consumer protection and a general appreciation for quality and safety.

And surely with America’s increased dependence on imported goods, the United States needs to make more of a concerted effort to do a better job of educating exporters and hiring more inspectors.

Other posts you might be interested in:

• Quick Link: China Executes Former Food Regulator
• Don’t Forget to Flush!
• Hello Kitty to enter MMORPG Market
• With great manufacturing, comes great pollution
• Au Bon Pain (get it?)

Comments (6) to “Are Chinese Goods Bad For You ?”

1. HCG wrote:

   I don’t purchase ANY food goods that are made in China. That means no frozen edamame, no organic spinach from Trader Joes, etc. and yes to kikkoman soy sauce (made in wisconsin or something) Of course that’s nearly impossible since many processed foods have ingredients all mixed up in them…and that also means I pretty much give up most asian foods in asian grocery stores. sigh. And NO Costco organic.

   Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 6:48 am | Permalink

2. Claire wrote:

   Thanks for posting about this John. I agree with you. I don’t think the concerns are racist or alarmist (YET).

   Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 9:00 am | Permalink

3. Akrypti wrote:

   Americans have vilified China since the 50s. Any time a human rights violation occurs over there, it’s exploded into an atrocity over here. “Look at them. They’re uncivilized and cruel.”

   Never mind we commit the same human rights violations all over the world all the time. Never mind we do not hold our soldiers responsible when they rape 13 year old girls in Okinawa.

   In all likelihood, the practices China is being accused of are true. At the same time, in our minds, we certainly do not permit them the right of innocent until proven guilty. In our Westernized minds, they ARE guilty by default of being big Communist China.

   Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 9:44 am | Permalink

4. jozjozjoz wrote:

   The funny thing is that in Asia, the hazards of dangerous imported goods from China have been well documented. The bans of various Chinese foodstuffs in Taiwan and Japan for years reflect the common knowledge of this.

   In 2002, Japan banned vegetables from China for excess residual pesticide. A few years ago, my Dad got really upset because of Chinese oysters imported into Taiwan which were literally bleached to “preserve” the oysters. Not only was this extremely dangerous to consumers and hazardous to the Taiwanese oyster farming industry, it ruined the thought of having uh-ah-gen (蚵仔煎). THAT is simply egregious, in my opinion!

   All of a sudden the US has now discovered what people in Asia have known for a long time: it’s the Wild, Wild East in China right now and there are no rules for consumer safety when there’s the opportunity to make a quick buck RMB.

   Further info:
   http://english.people.com.cn/200207/19/eng20020719_100000.shtml
   http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?categid=10&recordid=101018

   Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 10:30 am | Permalink

5. Christine wrote:

   FYI - if they haven’t already … they’re executing the food inspector and his family for taking bribes.

   http://www.cnbc.com/id/18922069

   Posted on 02-Jul-07 at 10:54 am | Permalink

6. Lily wrote:

   That’s horrible. I know that people died, but no one in the US is so accountable for their jobs (they’d just point fingers at everyone else until all blame was diffused). Ever heard of simply firing someone?

   Posted on 04-Jul-07 at 9:56 am | Permalink

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