I will never buy a single food product from China until the food industry there stops murdering Chinese people. I can stomach some impurities but not killing babies.

September 14, 2008 @ 9:22 pm | Comment

“non-poisoned condition” that is priceless.

September 14, 2008 @ 9:47 pm | Comment

who is hong xing?

September 14, 2008 @ 10:09 pm | Comment

This is black, but best guess is it’s not a widespread sentiment. Many Chinese are livid about the situation. Chinasmack has several posts including this one that translate some of the fury.

September 14, 2008 @ 10:25 pm | Comment

I will go on faith and hope this really is a joke!

September 14, 2008 @ 11:28 pm | Comment

Most tap water in America is in worse quality than China’s. That is because the number of filtering stages is less than in China. Most filtering techniques are several generations behind than China’s. Around the New Jersey region, the groundwater has been polluted numerous times by the various nuclear power stations, since the early 90’s. THe heavy metal pollution near the great lakes area is about several times more severe than most areas in China. How dares to drink those water?

The tap water in California still has excessive arcenic levels. The smaller cities in America has even worse tap water. At least in China the big cities have safety guarantees on the tap water. The Algae incident in the Wuxi lake happens about once a month in the American city I live in. Yet most American newspapers don’t even report those.

China has different types battery recycling, started about 10 years ago. No such thing in America. America is a country on wheels, the amount of acucumlated battery pollution and motor oil pollution would take China several decades to reach.

Just look at what rich American eat and drink, and you know what I mean. Rich Americans all buy organic foods, whole foods, rare do they visit regular supermarkets. Because they are not stupid.

Average life span of Americans is lower than Hong Kong, lower than Japan, lower than several provinces in China. Cancer incident rates is higher than several provinces in China. Healthcare costs are several hundred times the cost of China, several times the cost of Japan.

Another thing is corn syrup, used in all bakeries, sweets, coca cola. This type of ingredient can only be ingested in the liver, causing obesity. For example HFCS lead to Diabetes, popcorns contain carcinogens. And I won’t even mention the amount of antibiotics in milk, eggs, beef, salmon sold in regular supermarkets. “Sudan Red” is illegal in China, yet completed approved by the FDA to be used in food. The amount of influence and lobbying by American food industry over FDA is beyond your imagination. Just watch “Fast Food Nation” documentary.

My favorite fruits, Liu Lian, Yang Tao, Lichee, Shiu Mi Peach, Shiu Jing Pear, I cannot find any of those in American supermarkets. In China, just water mellon alone I can find 10+ different types on the market. In America, how many types? In China, I can find 100+ types of different fresh vegetables on the market. In America, you walk into a supermarket, and you can count the amount of fresh vegetables with your fingers. And the vegetable counter is like 1/10 the size of the counter of canned goods…. What happend to vegetables in America? What about fresh fish, fresh seafood? When in American supermarkets have you seen live fish being sold?

At least food safety problems in China are exposed by the meida. In Americ, they are completed accepted by FDA, by the society. Why? Food Industry lobbying.

Just answer this question, why is America’s life expectancy lower than most industrial nations????

September 15, 2008 @ 2:22 am | Comment

More Sanlu (the brand of the kidney-stone making milk powder) we have, more people will realize that they have to rise up and defend their rights and interest.

The government needs to catch up the Chinese capitalism with capitalist regularities OR ELSE. Hopefully, they know that and I think they do.

And people should stop defending the government. We as a Chinese nation are great, as great as Russia and pretty much everyone else, including India. We don’t have to defend the government for its incompetence. By criticizing the rulers in China, we can only make our nation better.

And seriously, what’s the point arguing on the internet how awesome our government is? To make us look better? It’s the other way around. Once we all get rid of that inferior complex and openly admit the problems within our country, we can say we are truly an awesome nation, as awesome as the US.

September 15, 2008 @ 4:36 am | Comment

Hey, what happened to Raj’s revised post on the Guardian/US elections? Poof!

September 15, 2008 @ 10:07 am | Comment

Sam, it’s in the “drafts” category. I was not happy about it. Maybe you noticed its header, “Richard has not approved this post.” That was the one thing in the post I agreed with. But let’s stick with infant formula here. More Obama threads and his inevitable victory to follow.

September 15, 2008 @ 10:14 am | Comment

I LOL’ed when I read “More Obama threads and his inevitable victory”.

I think it’s time for me to retire from commenting here. Good times

September 15, 2008 @ 10:28 am | Comment

That’s too bad. I was enjoying repeating the phrase “preening self-importance” over and over.

September 15, 2008 @ 10:29 am | Comment

Sam_s

It’s time for “Guptra Kumra” or whatever to retire, because my screen name was intended to mock Raj. I thought he’s just another obnoxious internet warrior working for the anti-china propaganda department.

It’s of bad taste and maybe borderline racist. My decision to retire Gupta has nothing to do with the fact that I lol’ed on “Obama’s inevitable victory”. They just happened to happen at the same time. And no, I don’t think commenting on a blog makes one self-important.

Peace!

September 15, 2008 @ 10:57 am | Comment

Guilty dog barking? The “self-importance” was directed at Freedland.

September 15, 2008 @ 11:07 am | Comment

As usual, Hong Xing displays his ignorance. Average lifespan in the US continues to increase, while dropping in a few population groups, mainly women in the South and almost entirely due to smoking, obesity and high blood pressure. (Nothing to do with arsenic.) Say what you will about America (God knows I do), but overall its life expectancy rates have been going straight up for the past 4 decades, with a relapse in some population groups over the past few years. Still, overall life expectancy in the US isn’t falling, it’s rising – but not as fast as it’s rising in some other countries. Much of this is attributable to the US’s pathetic lack of universal health care, which sets us apart from nearly every other developed country.

Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.

For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles.

Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands.

“Something’s wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.”

Anyway, I think we all know by now that Hong Xing is a fine researcher and statistical analyst.

September 15, 2008 @ 11:07 am | Comment

They need to compare the compensation given to those whose pets died from melamine poisoning in the US last year to the compensation given to the families whose babies got sick.

It would also be interesting to compare the compensation given to parents whose children were crushed by shoddy school buildings to the compensation that will be given to these families.

I’ve pretty much given up on Chinese politics at this point, because as an American you inevitably get drawn into these Hongxing-like arguments, with one’s faults being pointed out the other and in the end nothing done. However, I think that now that the Olympics are over, the compare-to-misdirect argument has lost some of its power. At least the Chinese netizens are in an uproar over this issue, but it will die like all the others.

On issues relating to the well-being of those who can’t “buy” their way out of problems, the Chinese and American governments find themselves in similar situations, with socially responsible governance being blocked by monied interests that have slowly become ingrained in the policy making process. In the end, China can build bridges and skyscrapers, but can’t keep melamine out of baby food or build a safe school roof over poor childrens’ heads. Similarly, America can destroy and rebuild a country a million miles away, but can’t provide its own citizens with affordable health care or build a levy system that holds up against hurricanes battering the Gulf Coast.

Yet, we both have people in our countries who claim that our respective economic and political systems are “the best in world history”. It’s mind boggling to say the least…

September 15, 2008 @ 12:08 pm | Comment

2007 – Inspectors are now allowed to detain vegetable-protein imports from China because they may contain the chemical melamine. Melamine, used in the manufacture of plastics, was found in the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate that has led to the recall of 5,300 pet food products.

“I don’t believe it has reached such a serious stage that human food is at risk,” Wu Yongning, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, part of China’s Ministry of Health, said in Beijing. “Problems occur in all countries.”

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2007-04-30-chinese-imports-usat_N.htm

September 15, 2008 @ 12:32 pm | Comment

“My favorite fruits, Liu Lian, Yang Tao, Lichee, Shiu Mi Peach, Shiu Jing Pear, I cannot find any of those in American supermarkets. In China, just water mellon alone I can find 10+ different types on the market. In America, how many types? In China, I can find 100+ types of different fresh vegetables on the market. In America, you walk into a supermarket, and you can count the amount of fresh vegetables with your fingers. And the vegetable counter is like 1/10 the size of the counter of canned goods…. What happend to vegetables in America? What about fresh fish, fresh seafood? When in American supermarkets have you seen live fish being sold?”

You don’t actually live in anywhere in the U.S. or at least shop at any supermarkets. The produce sections of the average Safeway, Meijer, Kroger, Jewel, etc. are huge with plenty of variety in regular and organic fruits and vegetable. Asian varieties of fruits and vegetables are available in almost direct proportion to the Asian populations in their respective communities.

As usual Hong Xing throws out his/her BS to cover the sheer incompetence of the Chinese authorities in doing something simple like keeping plastics out of food. Beijing is powerless in enforcing in its will when ever, that’s rights, EVERY official at the provincial level on down is corrupt, ignorant and selfish. It’s a national trait!

September 15, 2008 @ 1:40 pm | Comment

I am from China and living in the US. I don’t buy any thing(food items)that are made in China for last several years. You pay a little more for the things from Taiwan or Korea but they are generally safer overall.
I believe the obesity contributes to the health problems in the US. Part of the reason is that food cost less here . If food prices go up 3 times more you will see less of the obesity problems just like what happen to the big car companies now!
I don’t know about the HONG XING guy. His/Her so called FACTS are not all fact at all. But would be wasting time to argue with him. I still don’t mind reading his/her stuff.

September 15, 2008 @ 2:11 pm | Comment

Richard, you may not know this, but US life-expectancy and infant mortality statistics are like apples to oranges with other countries. It’s because the US is the only country that uses the WHO standard for counting live births. That is, anything with a pulse or a trace of neural activity, no matter how brief is a live birth. Most countries have some restriction like any foetus under 1 kg, or which lives less than one day, is not considered a live birth. If you take away the hundreds of thousands of 1-day lives, US life expectancy is much closer to HK, which if I remember, is the highest.

September 15, 2008 @ 2:41 pm | Comment

Hey Richard!

When this story broke, the first thing I thought of was Guang Ming/”Bright” milk, the ubiquitous brand here in Shanghai.

I had been drinking this brand of milk for years when, starting about three or four months ago, all Guang Ming milk – no matter where I bought it – tasted awful. It didn’t taste sour or old, instead it always had a flavor that reminded me of oats and hot plastic. Not liking either oats or plastic in my morning java, I switched to another brand, “Modern Meadows”, which seems fine.

Then, when this latest melamine story broke, I was reminded that melamine is a product used in *plastics* … Hmm … Anybody know if melamine tastes like oats?

I always chuckle when I open a tamper-proof seal on a Chinese food product. Someone messing with the product after it’s left the factory is the least of a Chinese consumer’s worries. It’s what the *manufacturer* put in it that you need to be concerned about.

So, now I’m trying to figure out if my balcony is large enough to raise a small cow.

September 15, 2008 @ 2:42 pm | Comment

How about a goat, Slim? They’re smaller and the milk is good for you! One of my kids used it because of digestive problems.

September 15, 2008 @ 3:01 pm | Comment

Speaking of tamper-proof seals, I just came home with a brand-new bottle of “1,000 mg. Vitamin C”. It was 50 mg C at best, and the rest chalk. At leat I HOPE chalk was all that’s in it.

September 15, 2008 @ 3:03 pm | Comment

I’ve gotten diarrhoea more the past 3 years in China than the previous 7 or 8. I think the food is certainly getting worse. I hate the big water jugs that get delivered to your home. That water always has a plactic taste. Who knows if it is ‘good’ water anyway?

September 15, 2008 @ 3:16 pm | Comment

Ferin writes: “I will never buy a single food product from China until the food industry there stops murdering Chinese people.”

This is a bit extreme, don’t you think? Some individual Chinese food manufacturers are highly irresponsible and negligent, with their products so poisonous that they have led to consumer deaths. But to label “the” Chinese food industry as a whole of being a bunch of murderders is silly. Stop being so hysterical.

September 15, 2008 @ 3:57 pm | Comment

Red Star at his best. It’s staggering how much non-sens one can put in so few sentences.

Will non-poisoned baby formula solve the health problem for babies?

Well, it would be a start. At least they wouldn’t get poisoned from the milk.

Adults who don’t drink milk powder also have kidney stones.

Ahm, yes. There are other ways to get kidney stones. So what?

Therefore, the western system of non-poisoned baby formula will not solve the problem of kidney stones.

Priceless. Bad bad Westeners. First they come with their stupid human rights thing, and now they want to impose their non-poisoned baby formula bullshit on the Chinese people. F**ing imperialist racists!

September 15, 2008 @ 7:23 pm | Comment

@Shanghai Slim

I had the same problem recently, I think about 1 month ago. I purchased a brand of milk that I’ve never used before (no idea the brand, bland white cardboard with some blue letters in it, 1L). The first thing I noticed was that the milk tasted like GLUE mixed with Chalk!!! You know the white glue we used in school, wood and paper glue I think. I am not even making this up, first I tought it was because of the way I opened the box and I’ve checked the opening, but the taste was clearly coming from the milk itself. it was not the main taste but more of a clearly perceivable after taste. I told my wife about it, but she doesn’t drink milk so she could not taste it.

I drink on avg 1 L of milk every 2 days, so i am very familiar with the “normal” taste. Now Googling the web to see if Melanine tastes like glue, anybody know about that ?

Also, for those being paranoid about the big home water they drink, I recommend them to buy the Nestle ones, joint venture with by Coca Cola, might not be safe 100% but at least I am putting my faith in these big companies. After 4 years here and many tries on other sub par products, I prefer to pay a bit more to feel more safe…

September 15, 2008 @ 7:39 pm | Comment

@Bao – Glue/chalk flavored milk? :-0 Hope you have some alternative brands available where you live.

@Sam_S – A goat! Good suggestion! I could probably fit two on my balcony, raising the prospect of “kids”. Could be the start of something big! 🙂

September 16, 2008 @ 8:07 am | Comment

Just think what the world would be like if people would just trust and do what they’re told. It would be a glorious few years!

September 18, 2008 @ 2:54 am | Comment

Some people have shit pasted over their eyes. They refuse to see the reality of things. All those [deleted – you can’t use words like that in here] are a case in point.

September 18, 2008 @ 8:46 pm | Comment

If Hongxing thinks he’s so smart and patriotic, he should consume Sanlu milk products everyday and make his kids do the same, and never touch any non-Chinese products.

September 18, 2008 @ 8:54 pm | Comment

I remember reading a few months back that the Chinese were trying to get into the aerospace industry and the big Amex and euro plane makers like Boeing and airbus needed to worry about the competition. My initial reaction was to LOL. I couldn’t think of anyone in their right mind buying a Chinese plane. These incidents don’t just affect the problem products, they ruin the Chinese brand name. The guv needs to view regulation not as some kind of hassle, or even as just a way to protect consumers (very important). They also need to look at it as an investment in protecting the brand of china because until they do, the Chinese are going to be locked out of the high end industries that have enriched the us and eu

September 19, 2008 @ 3:37 pm | Comment

So I guess I was right after all… Bright Dairy is the actual brand that tasted like glue. I was wondering when they would found out that liquid milk was contaminated. They did a few days ago. I don’t know what to say, my anger is too much to express on this forum and it’s better I shut up or I’ll start a mega flaming war.

September 20, 2008 @ 8:36 am | Comment

Any good reason why packaged 豆漿 should not also be suspect?

September 20, 2008 @ 9:34 am | Comment