For a long time I think most people have assumed that products from China were not of the highest quality but nobody expected to be poisoned by Chinese products. In Spring 2007, a large number of dogs and cats became very ill with many dying as a result of contaminated pet food. The contamination was traced back to the wheat gluten tat was imported from China. The thing that really bothers me about this is that the U.S. has the ability to feed the entire World with it's own wheat production, so we don't even need to import wheat gluten from China. We import it to help promote trade with China and keep friendly relations alive. It turns out that the person determined to be responsible for allowing the contaminated food product to be sent to the U.S. was arrested by the Chinese government and was executed by hanging.
So a few Americans had some of their pets die, right? Well, wheat gluten is used for human consumption as well. This food product could have been purchased by a restaurant chain or food manufacturer instead of a pet food company! A few thousand pet poisonings could have been a few thousand human poisonings. Obviously, the U.S. government has banned wheat gluten imports from the Chinese company that allowed the contaminated product to be sent to the U.S.
Okay, one Chinese company made a mistake or maybe just didn't know that they had sent bad product. Does that give me the right to complain about all Chinese made products? The answer is "No"! Knowing their quality of product and not understanding the need to import wheat gluten, I just figured that it was a matter of time before something like this happened. What I didn't expect was for another issue to pop up so soon. I figured that they would have learned their lesson and tried to improve their quality control structure.
In the summer of 2007, A very large toy manufacturer was forced to recall million of products made in China. Apparently, China didn't get the memo that lead paint is bad. Lead poisoning causes brain damages and leads to developmental problems in children even at small doses. Maybe the person in charge of product safety eat too many paint chips as a child. Millions of toys sent to the U.S. have been painted with lead paint. These are common toys and it is very likely that they are in many countries around the World. Ultimately, the toy company is responsible for the safety of the final product and should have checked the toys for safety before they were accepted but the problem was missed. So, China was finally informed that lead paint is not safe for children toys.
Alright, two little situations that could have been avoided if the U.S. companies had fully tested the poison content of the products prior to distribution to the public. Should I really get so upset? Well, the story hasn't ended yet. Just a few weeks after the lead poison issue, yet another problem was found!
That's right, last week is was announced that single use toothpaste made in China for hotels is also toxic! Diethylene glycol, a chemical used in automobile antifreeze, may be present in some toothpaste produced in China! This stuff is toxic to humans and animals to the point of death! Most people know that swallowing toothpaste in not good for you and swallowing enough toothpastes can make you sick but that is without a highly toxic chemical like diethylene glycol!
Is China cutting too many corners to be able to afford to get manufacturing contracts with American companies? Will they improve their safety record in the next few years? Is it just a coincidence that there have been three major issues in such a short time and because of the short time they haven't been able to make all of the necessary changes yet? Aside from it's unbelievably large workforce, does China have anything to offer the World if they can't produce safe products?
I ask these questions because they are the questions that everyone that uses products made in China should be asking. If you have never used a product made in China, I'd be surprised. China is quickly becoming on of the wealthiest countries in the World but most of it's citizens will ever benefit from that wealth. Most of the people in China would leave their job if offer just a few more cents per day in pay and many do. I'm not talking about a lot more money, maybe less than one U.S. dollar a week! As a result, a factory may find that none of the employees showed up for work one morning because they took jobs at the factory across town. Or worse yet, the employees show up but the government didn't tell you that it was your day not to have electricity. That's right, not every factory in China can have electricity at once! They have to rotate the electrical usage. Many of the better factories have managed to install their own generators so that they can run the factory as much as they want. That is of course if there isn't a fuel shortage.
So the next time you see a Scion driving down the street and think it is a cute car, remember, the few that were tested were safe but the one you are looking at may not be. I'm not suggesting that be ban all products made in China but I do believe that we need to let China know that they need to ensure that the products they make are safe for everyone. Maybe if China was to care enough about its people to have banned lead paint already, millions of children may not be a a greater risk of developmental problems. After all, how can Chinese companies ensure the safety of the products they export if they don't bother checking the safety of the products they use.
Basically, China is over populated and the government there has finally found a way to cash in on that problem. The only reason that China executed the guy they said was responsible for checking the safety of the wheat gluten is because he embarrassed the country. Instead of executing him, maybe they should have asked him what he needed to be sure it wouldn't happen again. Without the Chinese government implementing strict safety laws for all products manufactured in China and with continued low pay for the workforce, I believe that the problem will only get worse.
Well, at least I have an opinion,
vujsa
but I don't think that is a good reason to buy "some" Chinese foods.
has been contaminated by formalin. Chinese products are becoming more dangerous to be imported here. 
