The FDA detains Chinese Products with Milk now…!?
It’s actually probably the closest the United States will ever come to putting economic sanctions on China. For other nations we force out dictators and engage in lengthy cold wars. However, because capitalist China holds a special place in our hearts with it’s cheap, manufactured goods, we are forever silent about the authoritarian government’s encroachments on civil liberty. It certainly doesn’t help that by now China holds about 20% of our debt. As of August 2008, China holds the second highest amount of our treasury securities at $541 billion (right behind Japan’s $585 billion). In point of contrast, Russia has only $74 billion, less than Brazil and Luxembourg.
Still, the import detainment is a great leap forward. MSNBC says, “it’s unusual for the FDA to put such a broad hold on goods from an entire country, not just a few rogue manufacturers.” The Food and Drug Administration has had an import alert in place since Oct. 10 for specific products found contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine and melamine-related compounds. Now though, the FDA is detaining all products from China that are made with a milk ingredient or milk derivative. The FDA order widens a directive from last month, which authorized inspectors to detain goods from only 10 Chinese companies. With the new directive, the FDA makes a bold statement–it is not only the melamine incident and some unscrupulous companies that needs to be straightened out, but China’s whole food inspection system.
While it is obvious that China’s food safety inspections do not have enough red tape, I think that the US’s recall and detainment system has too much. There should be standards of evidence required before a recall or ban on a food product, however, for the FDA this process seems to be fraught with technical loopholes and small print. Indeed, even though we have known about the melamine scandal for weeks, it took FDA officials that long to comply with legal requirements that detention orders be scrupulously backed by evidence. Importers must pay to have their products tested by an independent laboratory that meets FDA standards, but how long does it take to get something analyzed at a lab? How much evidence is required that it took weeks to support a ban? Regardless, the suspicious products should be placed under immediate moratorium until they are proven to be toxic-free.
It should be noted that most American consumers should not be affected, since major US food manufacturers get their milk ingredients from the US. MSNBC also notes, “the US does not import milk or infant formula from China, and no illnesses have been reported here. But authorities from California to Connecticut have found melamine-contaminated candies and drinks during inspections at Asian groceries.”
An uncle of one of the Chinese children lost to contaminated formula angrily admonishes his nation’s government. He said, “the government should shoulder its responsibility. This was a national brand, inspection-exempt products.” He is alluding to a shocking national policy that exempts certain food companies from being inspected by the government. Companies are very proud of this distinction and proclaim “Inspection-Free!” on all their products. Thankfully, since the melamine scandal, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has cancelled “various inspection exemptions.” Though, that seems to imply that some exemptions still hold. Is China even trying?
The levels of melamine found in contaminated infant formula were extraordinarily high and could have been detected with even a cursory sampling. One infant formula sample was sent by an effected parent to a government laboratory in September. The Xi’an Product Quality Supervision Institute’s report, dated Oct. 8, found melamine levels of 1,748 milligrams per kilogram, more than 800 times the government-set limit.
November 17, 2008
Tags: China, food event, melamine, policy Posted in: Health, Politics
2 Responses
Congrats on your CNN link! I’m happy to find a new blog to follow.
I was horrified when this story first broke, yet it didn’t seem to raise much concern… I suppose because it happened to Chinese babies and not American children… Everyone was up in arms when it was American pets. Either way isn’t it nice that profit appears to trump life?
Death Sentences Handed Out for the Melamine Crisis | Food Bubbles - January 23, 2009
[...] quickly followed by global recalls and global criticism for China’s cover-up (note that they had known about it even during the Olympics). Â Why did it take so long to investigate and prosecute those [...]
Leave a Reply