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"Made In China" Means Buyer Beware

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

While China is eager to dominate global trade, "Made in China" gets scarier all the time.

The latest scandal involves contaminated milk products that have killed four babies and sickened more than 50,000 Chinese. The contamination involves the same chemical - melamine, an additive used in plastics and fertilizer - that contaminated pet food sent to the United States last year. A food-quality watchdog says almost 10 percent of Chinese milk samples contain the culprit additive.

Yet the communist government didn't act until New Zealand authorities - a New Zealand company owns a large stake in a Chinese milk supplier called Sanlu - sounded the alarm about babies getting sick.

The World Health Organization is demanding stricter monitoring since learning that Sanlu was given inspection-free status.

Nobody in China, quite literally, was minding the store. The nation has yet to install adequate safety standards, government regulations and a moral code to protect consumers from manufacturers who take short-cuts.

A similar scandal unfolded in 2004 when at least 13 babies in impoverished Anhui province died after consuming fake infant formula with no nutritional value. And Americans shouldn't forget the lead-tainted toys that arrived from Chinese factories last year.

Luckily, China did not export tainted milk products here. And to be fair, U.S. food exports to China have not been free of problems. Last year China suspended shipments of U.S. meat products after finding them contaminated with salmonella, feed additives and veterinary drugs.

Still, American consumers must question a Chinese food-manufacturing system that shows disdain for consumers' lives.

If some Chinese companies are willing to sacrifice babies and pets for profit, who's next?

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