Unsafe Foods Threaten Chinese Exports
The FDA has come under fire recently for not regulating and inspecting foreign food imports well enough, most notably those from China. This comes after a recent outbreak where contaminated Chinese pet food ingredients killed or sickened thousands of cats and dogs in the U.S. There have also been reports that China has been exporting counterfeit drug ingredients.
These recent scares have led to consumer groups calling for stricter regulation of imports. One group has called for pet food makers to produce food that does not have any Chinese ingredients.
U.S. food companies such as Kraft and Kellogg have also been lobbying Washington to pressure China to increase its food safety measures.
David Zweig of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology emphasizes the need for better regulation, "This isn't an international crisis yet (speaking of Chinese exports), but if they don't do something about it quickly, it will be." China realizes there is a problem and doesn't want its $30 billion a year food export industry to falter. The former Chinese top drug regulator Zheng Xiaoyu has pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. Also, numerous managers from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. have been detained by the Chinese government in regards to the counterfeit drug ingredients.
But the fault does not just lie with China producing safe products. The FDA must step up where foreign regulations fall short and protect consumers from potential hazards. As we saw from this recent contaminated-pet-food disaster, not enough is being done to protect consumers or their pets.
Another important lesson we can learn from these recent outbreaks is that food borne illness caused by bacteria is not the number-one threat when it comes to foreign food production. Whether it is lethal amounts of pesticides on produce from Spain or rat poison in pet food from China, the FDA needs to be able to prevent contaminated and potentially-fatal food from being sold in the U.S.
Source: David Barboza, Fake goods and unsafe food threaten Chinese exports, Truth About Trade and Technology, 5/21/2007
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