US-China Food Safety Tit-for-Tat

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/10/2007 12:04:00 AM
China was not very pleased when the US and other countries highlighted the relatively lax food safety standards in China that have resulted in products of questionable safety being exported. As is China's habit, it has returned fire by alleging that American food products sent to China are not all that great on the safety front, either. I call it the pot-kettle-black strategy. Somehow, I am not exactly convinced by China's arguments, but anyway, here is the story:

Beijing said some health supplements, raisins and pistachios imported from the US failed to meet China's safety standards and have been returned or destroyed.

China said Friday that inspectors in the ports of Ningbo and Shenzen found bacteria and sulfur dioxide in products shipped by three American companies.

"The products failed to meet the sanitary standards of China," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a notice posted on its Web site.

The companies were identified as K-Max Health Products Co., CMO Distribution Center of America, Inc., and Supervalu International Division.

On Saturday, state television showed inspectors in the southern province of Guangdong rejecting a two-ton shipment of pistachios because they contained what the report called "milky white ants," which looked similar to termites.

China Central Television said the ants could "cause a serious threat to trees and to the ecological environment." Part of the batch will be destroyed and the rest will be returned, the report said.

Footage showed safety certificates from the US issued to Cal-Pure Pistachios Inc., based in Bakersfield, California.

The state quality agency said K-Max and CMO exported health capsules, including bee pollen and bacteria-fighting supplements. Supervalu exported Sun-Maid Golden Raisins, it said. The shipments from K-Max and Supervalu have been destroyed and CMO's capsules were returned, the notice said.

In the past, China has not taken kindly either to US criticism of its human rights practices. If the subject matter weren't so dire, it would be almost hilarious as China has compiled its own list for several years of US human rights abuses.