Tainted Pork Poisons Kids in China

Three hundred seven kids in China fell ill after eating tainted buns and porridge. The food poisoning, which strike kindergarten kids from Wuwei city, Gansu province, was apparently caused by pork infected with diarrhea-inducing bacteria.

Philippines Bans Chinese Food Products from Schools

The Philippine government has banned the sale of four Chinese-made foodstuff in schools due to formaldehyde content. The banned products include White Rabbit and Milk Candy brand, Bairong Grape Biscuits and the Yong Kang Foods Grape Biscuit.

The foodstuff were found to contain high levels of formaldehyde, a chemical used for embalming.

Interesting Tidbit

As of mid-August, 95% -- or 38 out of 40 -- of toys recalled by CPSC this year were made in China, according to report from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. That rate is up from 41% in 1997, when China made nine of the 22 toys recalled.

Made in China Cribs Recalled

One million cribs that were made in China are being recalled for design flaws. The recall, which involve Simplicity and Graco cribs, follows reports that three infants died because of incorrectly installed drop sides on the cribs.




CSPC announcement

Simplicity announcement

Mattel's Apology to China

Mattel apparently apologized to China over its recall of 21 million toys. According to the company, it's design flaws were to blame for the debacle. Mattel probably were arm-twisted felt compelled to apologize to preserve its good working relationship with China.

Leukemia Drugs, this time

The parade goes on. China is recalling two types of leukemia drugs which it says were tainted and could cause complications to patients who took them. The drugs,produced by a pharmaceutical company in Shanghai, include methotrexate and cytarabin hydrochloride.

The health ministry and the State Food and Drug Administration said the drugs were mistakenly blended with an anti-cancer medicine during production.

China the Bully

China is hitting back at its trading partners that complained about unsafe and shoddy products, according to this report.

Indonesia was asked to lower its product standards after Indonesian authorities found mercury-laced make-up, carcinogen-laden candy and industrial chemicals-infused dried fruit.

China recalled Philippine-made banana chips, ostensibly because of quality issues, after the country's food safety agency banned Chinese candies found to contain formaldehyde.

China also hit back at Malaysia after the latter found fungus on nuts and died fruit containing carcinogenic sweeteners imported from the country by recalling Malaysian-made yogurt.

Walt Disney to Check Toys for Lead

Walt Disney announced that it will conduct independent testing on toys bearing the characters of the company. The testing - which will look for excessive lead in paint on toys - will be conducted in random, and will include toys already in the shelves.

Choking Chicken and Mineral Water

In the wires today: a family in Hainan, China used a chicken to test the quality of mineral water they bought. The hapless chicken died vomiting blood a minute after drinking the water.

Nissan's Lead-laced Mugs

Nissan is recalling 87,000 mugs it gave away for free because of excessive lead the freebies contain. The China-made mugs were given to people who test-drove Nissan cars in Japan starting August 16.

One unlucky driver already fell ill after using the mug for drinking. It was found out that the paint on the mug contains about 30% more lead than what is permissible.

Lead Leads Mattel to 3rd Toy Recall

Mattel will recall 800,000 China-made toys over excessive amounts of lead that they contain. The recall is the third for the company still reeling from its previous recalls announced last August 1 and 14.

The new recall covers 675,000 Barbie accessories sold between October 2006 and August 2007. It also includes 90,000 units of Mattel's GeoTrax locomotive line and about 8,900 Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys, both Fisher-Price brand. The Big Big World products were sold nationwide from July through August of this year, while the GeoTrax toys were sold from September 2006 through August of this year.

Mattel's recall site is here

Australian State Bans Chinese Toothpastes

Australian state Victoria will ban the importation of Chinese-made toothpastes. The decision follows the series of scandals in which a toxic chemical from China - diethylene glycol (DEG) - was used as a substitute for a sweetener.

DEG is usually used as an industrial solvent and antifreeze, but found its way in Chinese-made toothpastes in countries such as Panama and the United States.

The recalled toothpaste include Tri Leaf Spearmint, Cool Mate and Hei, which were found to contain up to 16 per cent DEG, compared with an acceptable level of 0.25 per cent, according to the Victoria Department of Consumer Affairs on its Web site.

More here

No Pork from China for Me

I think I won't have any pork and pork-related products from China for me in the time being. News wires are reporting that a mysterious pig disease - called blue-eared pig disease - is spreading in China. It has affected 257,000 pigs so far by late August, and the disease has killed 68,000 pigs during that period.

Toys R Us Recalls Crayons

Toys R Us chain is recalling 27,000 sets of China-made crayon and paint sets. The 213-piece Imaginarium sets were recalled after the wooden cases were discovered to contain high levels of lead.

"Lead" Pencils from China

Canada is recalling imported pencils from China due to excessive lead content. So far, 140,000 units (with around 16 models) of Favor Set brand of pencils were recalled, which were found to have high levels of lead in their coatings.

The pencils recalled are: Prehistoric Party Favor Set, Keep on Truckin Favor Set, Championship Baseball Favor Set, Championship Soccer Favor Set, Championship Basketball Favor Set, Championship Football Favor Set, Camouflage Favor Set, Pirate Party Favor Set, Hearts & Flowers Favor Set, Unicorn Magic Favor Set, Frogs & Lizards Favor Set, Princess Favor Set, Shimmering Butterfly Favor Set, Underwater Friends Favor Set, Safari Party Favor Set and Glitzy Girl Favor Set.

The pencils should be taken from children and returned to: Amscan Canada 60 Lindsay Avenue, Dorval, Que. H9P 2T8 Phone 1-800-363-6662 . For further information, contact Health Canada at 1-888-662-0666 (toll-free) or email at cps-spc@hc-sc.gc.ca .