BBC: Fifth of China goods sub-standard
Nearly a fifth of goods made and sold in China have been found to be sub-standard, Beijing has revealed.
The worst problems were found in canned fruit, dried fish and fruit drinks, a food inspectors' report said.
China has pledged to take action to improve its food and drug industry after a series of safety scares aroused domestic and global concern.
The US has already banned or issued warnings over several goods from China, including seafood and toothpaste.
This same message is being screamed, with varying levels of hysteria, all over the media now.
In my inbox this morning from one of my contacts at a major japanese CE brand:
Nearly a fifth of goods made and sold in China have been found to be sub-standard, Beijing has revealed.
The worst problems were found in canned fruit, dried fish and fruit drinks, a food inspectors' report said.
China has pledged to take action to improve its food and drug industry after a series of safety scares aroused domestic and global concern.
The US has already banned or issued warnings over several goods from China, including seafood and toothpaste.
This same message is being screamed, with varying levels of hysteria, all over the media now.
In my inbox this morning from one of my contacts at a major japanese CE brand:
Lee,
That's a news flash. Think not. Anyone in the CE industry could have told the BEEB that ages ago. Think that they would have paid us for that info?
I'm thinking of making up t-shirts that say "I was hating on Chinese consumer goods before it was trendy!"
Where do you suppose I can get them made cheaply?
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2 comments:
Wonderful kicker in your last sentence. While China does not seem to mind harming its own people with uninspected products, where would it be without our eagerness to get the very cheapest of everything, without concern for its quality or the conditions under which it was produced? Whatever happens there, can we learn to care about quality?
Timely or what Lee!
I just Emailed a company - Mrs. May's - because we love their Almond Crunch which we buy at Costco, but I was concerned because the dreaded "Made in China" disclaimer appeared on the packaging. My Email made my concerns known in clear but professional terms and I am happy to report I received a clear, professional, non-defensive response the very next day.
The upshot being that the plant was built by the company 5 years ago and has passed stringent international guidelines. So at least some companies are making sure that quality and customer safety is an uppermost priority. Thus Mrs. May's products will remain on our buy list unless and until the company loses our trust in some way.
Having said all that, I am understandably suspicious of products made in China, and will remain so even beyond whatever may be done by the Chinese government and others to demonstrate their commitment to protecting consumers and delivering quality goods. There is no substitute for taking seriously the implications of "Caveat Emptor".
I also suggest we try to recover some belief in the axiom that "Quality doesn't cost; it pays!"
If more people were so inclined there would be much less for Western Civilization to answer for in the area of exploitation of the developing world. And you know I believe in reckonings.
Shalom
*A life of peace is a life of true quality.*
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