Deadly Products From China

China has become the world's workshop, taking raw materials and creating an avalanche of consumer goods. Daily numerous new factories open across China. A vast number of the Chinese-made products however, are a serious health threat.

From dangerous toys, contaminated pet food, bad toothpaste, poisoned baby milk, to unsafe seafood - the problematic list of Chinese imports continues to increase. The cost of Chinese products are low and the advantage of short production cycles, are a great draw card. After making products that come up to the buyer's specifications, innovations inside the factory turns to cutting costs, in ways that vary from unsavoury, to downright deadly.

As spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, Scott Wolfson said "Chinese-made products account for more than 60% of recalls this year, with a return of 338 products".

Many manufacturers declare their products are safe and disclaim any responsibility. The government of China has published a black list. A few of the manufacturers get caught but the cleverer ones manage to stay in front, through using products that are not yet on the prohibited list.

Many of the large, modern factories outsource their work to smaller, dirtier facilities, even though this means they must forgo the production benefits from economies of scale. The smaller outfits have a greater ability to bypass environmental controls and safety standards, both for the products and the workers.

As a consultant for the growing number of Western companies in China, Mr Midler said, "Many production problems are well-known within local manufacturing circles. However, collusion is rampant and there are no rewards in China for whistle-blowing".

China's food and drug safety inspectors claim in 2008, they closed 180 food factories in the first half of the year. They say they seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with industrial wax, formaldehyde and illegal dyes.

A ban has been placed on five types of Chinese farmed fish and seafood, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They say they have found products containing traces of antifungal and antibiotic drugs that are potentially harmful to people.

When Chinese-made toothpaste was tested it was found to have an ingredient used in antifreeze in the product, in it. A chemical which has been used as a low-cost, though occasionally fatal substitute for glycerin – a sweetener which is readily used in drugs. The same chemical found in the toothpaste was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama, after they drank tainted cough medicine.

Beijing officials banned the use of 10 types of drugs as a result of their makers' exaggerated and false claims, which were not able to be backed up in clinical testing.