0 comment Friday, August 15, 2014 | admin
One of the stories that is not getting anywhere near the coverage it should be receiving is the toxic Chinese import story. From my reader and fellow blogger known here as 'Call Me Mom' comes this World Net Daily story:
Is China trying to poison Americans and their pets?
(We might well wonder, considering the sheer number of toxins and harmful additives being found in many Chinese products exported to our country and many other countries):
WASHINGTON � While Americans are still recovering from a scandal over poison pet foods imported from China, FDA inspectors report tainted food imports intended for American humans are being rejected with increasing frequency because they are filthy, are contaminated with pesticides and tainted with carcinogens, bacteria and banned drugs.
Last month, like most months, China topped the list of countries whose products were refused by the FDA � and that list includes many countries, including Mexico and Canada, who export far more food products to the U.S. than China.
Some 257 refusals of Chinese products were recorded in April. By comparison, only 140 were from Mexico and only 23 from Canada.
Refused by the FDA in April because they were "filthy":
* salted bean curd cubes in brine with chili and sesame oil
* dried apple
* dried peach
* dried pear
* dried round bean curd
* dried mushroom
* olives
* frozen bay scallops
* frozen Pacific cod
* sardines
* frozen seafood mix
* fermented bean curd
[...]
China has also attempted to export hundreds of thousands of pounds of chickens and poultry products to the U.S., even though it is not yet certified to do so. Chinese exporters disguise the meat by labeling crates "dried lily flower" or "prune slices" or "vegetables."
Despite the deliberate deception, the U.S. government is about to certify the Chinese to export poultry legally. ''
That last paragraph should be disturbing: China wants to export poultry products, including chickens to us. Why on earth we would want to import chicken or other meat from the other side of the world, especially from a country which has a long and blemished record of selling tainted and filthy foods is beyond me.
This news story tells us about the Chinese record of overusing pesticides.
Pesticides next frontier in China food safety
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's farmers overuse pesticides, skip protective clothing and have at their fingertips an array of banned and counterfeit products, raising another area of concern in the country's fragile food chain.
Spraying chemicals on crops improperly or using products that may be fake or banned risks the health of China's hundreds of millions of farmers and could lead to unsafe levels of residues in fruits and vegetables, experts say.''
And then there are the toxic toothpaste and cough syrup problems:
China admits producing toxic toothpaste for kids
Panama and the Dominican Republic report tainted toothpaste imported from China containing diethylene glycol. Importing countries now demand transparency; Beijing pledges inquiries and greater controls. Toothpaste makers object that they have been making the same products for years without causing death.
China announced yesterday an "inquiry" into the origin of toothpaste containing potentially lethal poison exported to Central America. It also tried to reassure importing countries that Chinese products are safe. However, many buyers want Chinese companies and government agencies to show greater transparency and co-operation.
Chen Yaozu, general manager of Danyang Chengshi Household Chemical Co, said his company had exported to Panama toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a chemical blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people in that country last year after it was mixed into cough syrup.''
There is also the issue of food that may be produced at home, but sent to Third World countries -- including China -- for processing, and such food may not be labeled as such.
British prawns go to China to be shelled
Supermarkets and food producers are taking their products on huge globetrotting journeys, despite pledging to cut their carbon emissions.
The Sunday Times has found that home-grown products are being transported thousands of miles overseas for processing before being put on sale back in Britain.
Scottish prawns are being hand-shelled in China, Atlantic haddock caught off Scotland is being prepared in Poland and Welsh cockles are being sent to Holland to be put in jars before going on sale in Britain.
Meanwhile, products grown overseas are taking circuitous routes to Britain. African-grown coffee is being packed 3,500 miles away in India, Canadian prawns are processed in Iceland, and Bolivian nuts are being packed in Italy.
While ethical consumers have long opted for organic and fair trade products, there is now an increasing focus on cutting "food miles", which generate unnecessary carbon emissions, contributing to global warming. ''
Does this make the least bit of sense, to send shellfish and other seafood off to the other side of the world to be processed, then shipped back home to the place of origin? In what kind of insane world is this the accepted practice? Simply from a freshness standpoint, even if we knew that the country doing the processing was a country with safe practices and clean conditions, which is not true of much of the Third World, it still makes no sense to send foods to faraway places for processing. Surely this lunacy is all about money; do the businesses save so much by sending the food to be processed in Third World countries that it makes up for the shipping charges?
And I wonder what American foods are treated similarly?
The Washington Post also gives us a partial list of the many tainted products coming from China:
Tainted Chinese Imports Common
Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.
Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.
Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.
Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.''
Some articles also mentioned products like lotions, hand cleaners, soaps, etc. which contained a toxic substitute for glycerine. Since reading that article, I have since noticed that a distressingly large percentage of skin products on our local shelves are 'Made in China.' I'll pass, thank you; I won't knowingly buy or use them, and I encourage everybody out there to shun the "Made in China" items. If I have to pay more for something that is made here in the U.S.A., or in another somewhat trustworthy country, then I'm happy to pay more.
The Washington Post article continues:
It's not just about cheap imports, added Carol Tucker Foreman, a former assistant secretary of agriculture now at the Consumer Federation of America.
"Our farmers and food processors have drooled for years to be able to sell their food to that massive market," Foreman said. "The Chinese counterfeit. They have a serious piracy problem. But we put up with it because we want to sell to them."
There is the problem: greedy American exporters. We have to buy Chinese garbage in order for some of our farmers and processors to have access to that prized 'Chinese market.' Why so many in this country are stuck on the idea of 'opening up new markets' and having limitless growth is beyond me. Nothing is limitless, and the idea that these people are willing to risk the lives of American consumers so they can sell more to the Chinese is disgraceful. It's the same people and the same mentality that gives us the idea that we can accept limitless numbers of immigrants so that the same greedheads can have millions of new customers here at home.
And the toxic Chinese products are not limited to food and personal care products like toothpaste and skin care. Now we read about toxic blankets:
Tainted blankets still on shelves
BLANKETS contaminated with dangerously high levels of a toxic chemical remained on the shelves of Sydney stores yesterday, despite claims by the importer, Sheridan, that the products had never been available to retail customers.
Dozens of the "Indulgence" blankets imported from China were on display at Sheridan's factory outlet in Homebush.
At the company's Arncliffe outlet, a sales assistant said the store had sold out of the blankets just days before.
Responding to the Herald's claims that independent tests on the blankets had revealed levels of the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde almost 10 times higher than permissible under international standards, a Sheridan spokesman said on Sunday: "The blanket is sold to commercial customers, such as hotels, and is not available to the broader retail consumer market."
Some bloggers have written about the problem. The Town Crier recommends
Victory Gardens! Kill 2 'birds' with one stone...GROW something
...GROW SOMETHING! If you can keep a house plant alive, you can grow something to eat!
Worried about the food supply? GROW something to eat! One tomato plant or one pot full of lettuce - GROW something.
You'll dispense with part of the 'need' for 'guest workers' and you'll know it's safe. Most of your tomatoes at the store are grown in Mexico, where they have no restrictions on the chemicals or cleanliness. Check the boxes if you don't believe it. Besides, don't you think you're supplying Mexico with enough of your dollars?
During World War 2, our parents and grandparents did it. It made a difference of 85 Million 1945 dollars. Don't we have any of the 'stuff' left that those good people had to do the same?''
Good commonsense advice; I agree, and that was one of the suggestions I made in my earlier blog entries on this problem. We can't grow everything we need, but we should be as self-sufficient as possible, and of course by growing our own produce, we can exercise some control over what we are exposed to.
And Mike Tuggle at the Rebellion blog discusses the globalist connection:
Ah, globalism. We don�t have to go to the trouble of manufacturing anything in this country anymore. We let other countries go to all the muss and fuss of making things, and let them send their products over here. That includes cars, food, and even people.
But there seem to be some problems with outsourcing everything:
Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical. Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics. Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria. Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
[...]
So why not simply stop this flow of substandard, unfit Chinese imports? The answer is a combination of greed and induced helplessness:
"So many U.S. companies are directly or indirectly involved in China now, the commercial interest of the United States these days has become to allow imports to come in as quickly and smoothly as possible," said Robert B. Cassidy, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China and now director of international trade and services for Kelley Drye Collier Shannon, a Washington law firm.
As a result, the United States finds itself "kowtowing to China," Cassidy said, even as that country keeps sending American consumers adulterated and mislabeled foods.
Ok, so declaring ourselves borderless has created some problems, from residents still loyal to their home countries and peoples, to contaminated food. But as long as the globalist elite makes a killing, it�s our duty to accept it. Objecting the globalist agenda could get you labeled as "protectionist" or, God help you, "xenophobic." So to avoid having anyone calling us a bad name, we�ll put up with these threats to our families. ''
Really, this insane policy of openness which our government and elites have committed us to is a source of danger to us in many ways, the obvious one here being the exposure to unfit and unsafe foods, all considered part of the 'cost of doing business' and expanding our exports to China. Likewise, we are all at the mercy of the 'open borders' mania of the globalizing elites, as in their lust for cheap labor and 'expanding markets' they are willing to let millions of illegal and legal immigrants overrun us, along with many atavistic diseases which our forefathers toiled so long and hard to eradicate from among us -- and now, all their heroic work is being undone by our elites 'open borders' and 'free trade' obsessions.
We can easily protect ourselves from these maladies. That most of our political leaders and cultural elites are opposed to doing so--or even entertaining the possibility of doing so--illustrates a malevolent hositility toward the average native.''
Who will speak up for the American people? Our leaders and politicians evidently don't care about our lives, our health, or our safety, considering that they seem to be willing to do nothing to remove or at least minimize the threats to the American citizenry. Profits seem to be the only concern. The block quote above, from blogger the Audacious Epigone, expresses what had also occurred to me: 'malevolent hostility' is a strong phrase, but if our leaders show no signs of taking any positive measures to protect the lives of citizens, what other conclusion can we come to? We are faced with deciding whether our leadership is hopelessly, shamefully inept, or whether they are just guilty of cold indifference when it comes to our lives and safety.
The WorldNet Daily article with which I opened this piece asks whether China is intentionally trying to poison us. The fact is they have already caused the deaths of a number of people in other countries with toxic cough syrup and toothpaste, as well as causing the deaths of a number of pets in our country. It seems pointless to speculate about their motives, but at the very least we can be sure they are inept and indifferent to human life and safety. Maybe in an overpopulated country such as China, human life is held much more cheaply than it is here, and maybe they simply don't care whether they harm us barbarians here in America. One would think common sense would dictate that it isn't good business practice to sicken or kill your customers, but since we go on merrily importing more of their unfit-for-consumption products, apparently we don't have any problem with buying their deadly wares.
And as I write this, there are many Americans around this country buying more cheap shoddy Chinese goods at their local Wal-Mart or Dollar Stores, willing to risk health and life to save a buck.
As far as our government's silence on this issue, I will be far less inclined to listen when some nannystate government official tells us about the dangers of trans-fats. Please, you government nannies and busybodies: stop obsessing about things like trans-fats while there are much more worrisome substances in all this Chinese garbage our government welcomes. The hypocrisy is staggering. Your credibility is nil when you refuse to deal with the Chinese threat.
Is China trying to poison Americans and their pets?
(We might well wonder, considering the sheer number of toxins and harmful additives being found in many Chinese products exported to our country and many other countries):
WASHINGTON � While Americans are still recovering from a scandal over poison pet foods imported from China, FDA inspectors report tainted food imports intended for American humans are being rejected with increasing frequency because they are filthy, are contaminated with pesticides and tainted with carcinogens, bacteria and banned drugs.
Last month, like most months, China topped the list of countries whose products were refused by the FDA � and that list includes many countries, including Mexico and Canada, who export far more food products to the U.S. than China.
Some 257 refusals of Chinese products were recorded in April. By comparison, only 140 were from Mexico and only 23 from Canada.
Refused by the FDA in April because they were "filthy":
* salted bean curd cubes in brine with chili and sesame oil
* dried apple
* dried peach
* dried pear
* dried round bean curd
* dried mushroom
* olives
* frozen bay scallops
* frozen Pacific cod
* sardines
* frozen seafood mix
* fermented bean curd
[...]
China has also attempted to export hundreds of thousands of pounds of chickens and poultry products to the U.S., even though it is not yet certified to do so. Chinese exporters disguise the meat by labeling crates "dried lily flower" or "prune slices" or "vegetables."
Despite the deliberate deception, the U.S. government is about to certify the Chinese to export poultry legally. ''
That last paragraph should be disturbing: China wants to export poultry products, including chickens to us. Why on earth we would want to import chicken or other meat from the other side of the world, especially from a country which has a long and blemished record of selling tainted and filthy foods is beyond me.
This news story tells us about the Chinese record of overusing pesticides.
Pesticides next frontier in China food safety
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's farmers overuse pesticides, skip protective clothing and have at their fingertips an array of banned and counterfeit products, raising another area of concern in the country's fragile food chain.
Spraying chemicals on crops improperly or using products that may be fake or banned risks the health of China's hundreds of millions of farmers and could lead to unsafe levels of residues in fruits and vegetables, experts say.''
And then there are the toxic toothpaste and cough syrup problems:
China admits producing toxic toothpaste for kids
Panama and the Dominican Republic report tainted toothpaste imported from China containing diethylene glycol. Importing countries now demand transparency; Beijing pledges inquiries and greater controls. Toothpaste makers object that they have been making the same products for years without causing death.
China announced yesterday an "inquiry" into the origin of toothpaste containing potentially lethal poison exported to Central America. It also tried to reassure importing countries that Chinese products are safe. However, many buyers want Chinese companies and government agencies to show greater transparency and co-operation.
Chen Yaozu, general manager of Danyang Chengshi Household Chemical Co, said his company had exported to Panama toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a chemical blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people in that country last year after it was mixed into cough syrup.''
There is also the issue of food that may be produced at home, but sent to Third World countries -- including China -- for processing, and such food may not be labeled as such.
British prawns go to China to be shelled
Supermarkets and food producers are taking their products on huge globetrotting journeys, despite pledging to cut their carbon emissions.
The Sunday Times has found that home-grown products are being transported thousands of miles overseas for processing before being put on sale back in Britain.
Scottish prawns are being hand-shelled in China, Atlantic haddock caught off Scotland is being prepared in Poland and Welsh cockles are being sent to Holland to be put in jars before going on sale in Britain.
Meanwhile, products grown overseas are taking circuitous routes to Britain. African-grown coffee is being packed 3,500 miles away in India, Canadian prawns are processed in Iceland, and Bolivian nuts are being packed in Italy.
While ethical consumers have long opted for organic and fair trade products, there is now an increasing focus on cutting "food miles", which generate unnecessary carbon emissions, contributing to global warming. ''
Does this make the least bit of sense, to send shellfish and other seafood off to the other side of the world to be processed, then shipped back home to the place of origin? In what kind of insane world is this the accepted practice? Simply from a freshness standpoint, even if we knew that the country doing the processing was a country with safe practices and clean conditions, which is not true of much of the Third World, it still makes no sense to send foods to faraway places for processing. Surely this lunacy is all about money; do the businesses save so much by sending the food to be processed in Third World countries that it makes up for the shipping charges?
And I wonder what American foods are treated similarly?
The Washington Post also gives us a partial list of the many tainted products coming from China:
Tainted Chinese Imports Common
Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.
Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.
Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.
Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.''
Some articles also mentioned products like lotions, hand cleaners, soaps, etc. which contained a toxic substitute for glycerine. Since reading that article, I have since noticed that a distressingly large percentage of skin products on our local shelves are 'Made in China.' I'll pass, thank you; I won't knowingly buy or use them, and I encourage everybody out there to shun the "Made in China" items. If I have to pay more for something that is made here in the U.S.A., or in another somewhat trustworthy country, then I'm happy to pay more.
The Washington Post article continues:
It's not just about cheap imports, added Carol Tucker Foreman, a former assistant secretary of agriculture now at the Consumer Federation of America.
"Our farmers and food processors have drooled for years to be able to sell their food to that massive market," Foreman said. "The Chinese counterfeit. They have a serious piracy problem. But we put up with it because we want to sell to them."
There is the problem: greedy American exporters. We have to buy Chinese garbage in order for some of our farmers and processors to have access to that prized 'Chinese market.' Why so many in this country are stuck on the idea of 'opening up new markets' and having limitless growth is beyond me. Nothing is limitless, and the idea that these people are willing to risk the lives of American consumers so they can sell more to the Chinese is disgraceful. It's the same people and the same mentality that gives us the idea that we can accept limitless numbers of immigrants so that the same greedheads can have millions of new customers here at home.
And the toxic Chinese products are not limited to food and personal care products like toothpaste and skin care. Now we read about toxic blankets:
Tainted blankets still on shelves
BLANKETS contaminated with dangerously high levels of a toxic chemical remained on the shelves of Sydney stores yesterday, despite claims by the importer, Sheridan, that the products had never been available to retail customers.
Dozens of the "Indulgence" blankets imported from China were on display at Sheridan's factory outlet in Homebush.
At the company's Arncliffe outlet, a sales assistant said the store had sold out of the blankets just days before.
Responding to the Herald's claims that independent tests on the blankets had revealed levels of the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde almost 10 times higher than permissible under international standards, a Sheridan spokesman said on Sunday: "The blanket is sold to commercial customers, such as hotels, and is not available to the broader retail consumer market."
Some bloggers have written about the problem. The Town Crier recommends
Victory Gardens! Kill 2 'birds' with one stone...GROW something
...GROW SOMETHING! If you can keep a house plant alive, you can grow something to eat!
Worried about the food supply? GROW something to eat! One tomato plant or one pot full of lettuce - GROW something.
You'll dispense with part of the 'need' for 'guest workers' and you'll know it's safe. Most of your tomatoes at the store are grown in Mexico, where they have no restrictions on the chemicals or cleanliness. Check the boxes if you don't believe it. Besides, don't you think you're supplying Mexico with enough of your dollars?
During World War 2, our parents and grandparents did it. It made a difference of 85 Million 1945 dollars. Don't we have any of the 'stuff' left that those good people had to do the same?''
Good commonsense advice; I agree, and that was one of the suggestions I made in my earlier blog entries on this problem. We can't grow everything we need, but we should be as self-sufficient as possible, and of course by growing our own produce, we can exercise some control over what we are exposed to.
And Mike Tuggle at the Rebellion blog discusses the globalist connection:
Ah, globalism. We don�t have to go to the trouble of manufacturing anything in this country anymore. We let other countries go to all the muss and fuss of making things, and let them send their products over here. That includes cars, food, and even people.
But there seem to be some problems with outsourcing everything:
Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical. Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics. Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria. Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
[...]
So why not simply stop this flow of substandard, unfit Chinese imports? The answer is a combination of greed and induced helplessness:
"So many U.S. companies are directly or indirectly involved in China now, the commercial interest of the United States these days has become to allow imports to come in as quickly and smoothly as possible," said Robert B. Cassidy, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China and now director of international trade and services for Kelley Drye Collier Shannon, a Washington law firm.
As a result, the United States finds itself "kowtowing to China," Cassidy said, even as that country keeps sending American consumers adulterated and mislabeled foods.
Ok, so declaring ourselves borderless has created some problems, from residents still loyal to their home countries and peoples, to contaminated food. But as long as the globalist elite makes a killing, it�s our duty to accept it. Objecting the globalist agenda could get you labeled as "protectionist" or, God help you, "xenophobic." So to avoid having anyone calling us a bad name, we�ll put up with these threats to our families. ''
Really, this insane policy of openness which our government and elites have committed us to is a source of danger to us in many ways, the obvious one here being the exposure to unfit and unsafe foods, all considered part of the 'cost of doing business' and expanding our exports to China. Likewise, we are all at the mercy of the 'open borders' mania of the globalizing elites, as in their lust for cheap labor and 'expanding markets' they are willing to let millions of illegal and legal immigrants overrun us, along with many atavistic diseases which our forefathers toiled so long and hard to eradicate from among us -- and now, all their heroic work is being undone by our elites 'open borders' and 'free trade' obsessions.
We can easily protect ourselves from these maladies. That most of our political leaders and cultural elites are opposed to doing so--or even entertaining the possibility of doing so--illustrates a malevolent hositility toward the average native.''
Who will speak up for the American people? Our leaders and politicians evidently don't care about our lives, our health, or our safety, considering that they seem to be willing to do nothing to remove or at least minimize the threats to the American citizenry. Profits seem to be the only concern. The block quote above, from blogger the Audacious Epigone, expresses what had also occurred to me: 'malevolent hostility' is a strong phrase, but if our leaders show no signs of taking any positive measures to protect the lives of citizens, what other conclusion can we come to? We are faced with deciding whether our leadership is hopelessly, shamefully inept, or whether they are just guilty of cold indifference when it comes to our lives and safety.
The WorldNet Daily article with which I opened this piece asks whether China is intentionally trying to poison us. The fact is they have already caused the deaths of a number of people in other countries with toxic cough syrup and toothpaste, as well as causing the deaths of a number of pets in our country. It seems pointless to speculate about their motives, but at the very least we can be sure they are inept and indifferent to human life and safety. Maybe in an overpopulated country such as China, human life is held much more cheaply than it is here, and maybe they simply don't care whether they harm us barbarians here in America. One would think common sense would dictate that it isn't good business practice to sicken or kill your customers, but since we go on merrily importing more of their unfit-for-consumption products, apparently we don't have any problem with buying their deadly wares.
And as I write this, there are many Americans around this country buying more cheap shoddy Chinese goods at their local Wal-Mart or Dollar Stores, willing to risk health and life to save a buck.
As far as our government's silence on this issue, I will be far less inclined to listen when some nannystate government official tells us about the dangers of trans-fats. Please, you government nannies and busybodies: stop obsessing about things like trans-fats while there are much more worrisome substances in all this Chinese garbage our government welcomes. The hypocrisy is staggering. Your credibility is nil when you refuse to deal with the Chinese threat.
Labels: Business Lobby, Chinese Imports, Free Trade, Globalism, Toxic Food