BAD Chinese medicine

Toxic medicine in Panama traced to China
Beijing business sold counterfeit chemical that killed dozens of people
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:21 p.m. ET May 6, 2007

NEW YORK - A Chinese factory was the source of a counterfeit chemical that killed dozens of people in Panama after it was used in human medications, a newspaper reported.

The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions that records and interviews revealed the poison was first sold by Chinese companies that exported it as 99.5 percent pure glycerin. The source of the chemical was then obscured as middlemen in Spain and Panama removed the names of their suppliers from shipping documents — a practice used by distributors to ensure continued business.

Panama’s government health agency used the substance to produce medicines, not realizing that it was diethylene glycol, a chemical cousin of antifreeze that can cause kidney and neurological damage if ingested.

The Times said investigators in four countries identified Taixing Glycerine Factory as the maker of the poison. That company’s certificate of analysis said the shipment was 99.5 percent pure, the Times reported.

The sale of the syrup was brokered by a unit of a state-owned business in Beijing, the article said. From there, it went to a distributor in Barcelona, Spain, and on to a dealer in Panama.

No one in China has been charged with causing the Panamanian deaths. An unidentified Chinese drug official told the Times that investigators tested the Taixing Glycerine Factory’s product and found it contained no glycerine. But a spokeswoman for the drug agency said the company had not broken any laws.

Wan Qigang, the legal representative for the factory, told the Times last year that the company made only industrial-grade glycerin. But more recently it has been advertising 99.5 percent pure glycerine on the Internet, the Times said. Wan declined to answer further questions.

Concerns about the safety of imports from China rose in the U.S. after pet food containing a Chinese ingredient was found to be tainted with another industrial chemical, melamine. The poison has killed or sickened an unknown number of dogs and cats and led to the recall of more than 100 brands of pet food.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Food Safety System ... Absolutely Not Working

Warnings Raise Fears About Cheap Imported Food
Tainted Pet Food, Chickens, Catfish -- 'Food Safety System ... Absolutely Not Working,' Official Says

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2007 —
Twenty million chickens were ordered off the market on Friday, at least temporarily, while U.S. inspectors check to see if the animals were fed an industrial chemical.

It is only the latest in a long string of food alerts.

Alabama and Mississippi have banned the sale of some Chinese catfish after tests showed the presence of the illegal antibiotics ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin in their flesh. And thousands of pet owners say their cats and dogs died after eating tainted pet food, although the official number of pet deaths is still less than 20.

Much of what we eat comes from overseas. Food imports have skyrocketed and inspections are not keeping up. Less than one percent of food coming into the United States is inspected.

Imported Food Safety

Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Lester Spell told ABC News Americans have a right to be worried.

"The food safety system that we have is absolutely not working," he said.

Catfish farmers, who have been undercut by the imports are angry.

"If they had found the same substances in our catfish that they found in the imported catfish, I'm sure that F.D.A. or whatever regulatory agency would have shut us down immediately," said Bill Battle, a catfish farmer.

In the past six months, from China alone, inspectors turned back apple chips with an unsafe color additive, fresh ginger with pesticide, and dried mushrooms listed as filthy.

And China wasn't even the biggest offender. From India, inspectors refused hundreds of items, including spinach with pesticide, ground spice with salmonella and crushed chilies with pesticides.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. wants an overhaul of the food safety system. Last week, he gave the Chinese ambassador an earful.

"They have been reluctant to let our inspectors see their production facilities," said Durbin. "That is unacceptable. If we are going to do trade with them and expand our trade, they have to play by our rules."

Experts Say It's a Simple Choice

Dr. Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, said Americans have to decide just how inexpensive our food should be.

"Are we willing to pay more for our food and ensure safety, or are we just interested in the cheapest food that is available?" he asked.

The Food and Drug Administration appointed David Acheson as the new assistant commissioner for food protection on Tuesday. Acheson will provide guidance on food safety and coordinate defense strategies.
ABC News' David Kerley and Patricia Martell contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

My posted comment on this:

"Are we willing to pay more for our food and ensure safety, or are we just interested in the cheapest food that is available?"

This is the real question, and it applies not only in our personal choices but in the choices we make on how our government operates. Those of us who can afford it are able to choose safety by purchasing higher cost organics and such. Those who can't afford to "step up" to that more regulated level of food must rely on the government agencies charged with their safety to do their job. Unfortunately, a similar choice has been made with respect to the FDA.

The FDA is chronically underfunded. This is by design. The corporate assault on government regulation has always been sold as benefiting "the consumer". The decreased public oversight allows business to "kickback" a bit of the increased profit to consumers. On the surface it looks good. Underneath the "savings" is however, the decreased knowledge of what is going into our foodstuffs and our medications.

As in so many areas of government operations, we have the illusion of safety. Be it FDA, TSA, CIA, DOJ, FEMA, JCS, NSC or GWB, we are presented with earnest declarations of competence, effectiveness and relevance. In fact, we get nothing of the sort.

We get what we pay for.