Food watchdog blocks melamine-tainted gluten from entering Canada

[Shallah Kali]

Source: CBC

Canada's food watchdog said Friday it has intercepted one shipment of corn gluten imported from China that tested positive for melamine and cyanuric acid.

Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, was found in more than 100 brands of contaminated pet food that were recalled from the marketplace in Canada and the United States in mid-March. The manufacturers had used tainted wheat flour imported from China.

snip

China's food and drug safety record has come under scrutiny in recent months, with investigators suggesting that Chinese companies are using potentially harmful ingredients in their products.

snip

Health authorities in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday issued a recall of the Chinese-made Excel and Mr. Cool toothpastes after tests showed the products contained diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze and brake fluid. The toothpaste was also sold in Panama and Australia.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/05/25/cfia-melamine.html

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note this is the first contaminated corn gluten shipment from china other than the one sent to South Africa that killed dogs there.

Whoops! Forgot to credit the Pet Connection Food Safety Blog for the link:

Melamine found in corn gluten imported to Canada
http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/05/25/melamine-found-in-corn-gluten-imported-to-canada/

BTW the other day tests of Catfish imported from China showed one batch had Melamine in it:

No traces of antibiotics in catfish, tests find
http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/05/23/News/342138.html

Phillips said U.S. health officials have been working for some time to keep antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, out of the food supply to reduce the chances of bacteria adapting to become resistant to the drugs.

Ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin are in the fluoroquinolones family of antibiotics, which are frequently used to treat human illness, have never been approved for use in aquaculture in the United States.

One sample of catfish, however, did show a positive test for melamine. The level of material, however, does not pose any human health hazards, according to DHHS. Melamine is a chemical used in fertilizers in Asia and has recently been detected in wheat gluten used in the making of some pet foods.

The Health Division sampled catfish taken on May 7, 8, 9 and 14 from Mariner's Seafood, LLC; Chinese catfish, CenSea Chinese catfish, Ocean Park Chinese catfish, Silver Source Chinese catfish, Empire Choice Chinese tilapia fillets, Heartland U.S. catfish and Freshwater Farms U.S. catfish.

[sandnsea]

1. diethylene glycol deaths in Panama

"That same solvent falsely labeled as glycerin was exported to Panama and unwittingly added to cough syrup by pharmacists, killing dozens of children..."

"Meanwhile, the quality of those products gets inadequate attention from both the Chinese government and our own. Less than 1 percent of Chinese food imports are inspected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, yet their rejection rate is 25 times that of Canadian products. The FDA has labeled Chinese fruit as "filthy" and swordfish as "poisonous," and has found carcinogenic ingredients in frozen shrimp, the Washington Post reported.

The situation is likely to get worse. Despite reportedly deplorable conditions on poultry farms in China, the United States is considering lifting a ban on chicken imported from there. This comes as Washington is trying to open the Chinese market to U.S. beef, though agriculture officials deny there is any quid pro quo..."

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/25/Opinion/Chinese_exports_bring.shtml

Print these articles. Take to Store Manager. Insist Chinese products be rejected, or at least labeled clearly.

[napi21]

2. Well, at least the watchdogs in Canada are keeing this stuff OUT!

What are they doing here in the US? I keep hearing about pet food recalls, but I sure havent seen any reports of shipments being stopped and confiscated at the port!

[sandnsea]

3. Opening the poultry market

See my post above. Although Walmart did remove a bunch of catfish imports from the shelves in Alabama. Still not a peep on the evening snooze.

[Shallah Kali]

4. Tainted, Toxic, Bacteria Laden Food is Usually Returned Only to be Imported 2 or 3 more times - arti

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051901273_pf.html

Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.

Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.
snip

These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.

For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught -- many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.

[brentspeak]

6. You can say that again.

The RWers spend a lot of time bashing Canada. Jealousy, maybe?

[BadgerKid]

5. Recall the US ports *Co wanted to sell / mini-rant

Apparently that raised concern for security, whereby terra-ists could sneak into the country, etc. Meanwhile, toxic food (and g*d knows what else) has sneaked into the country. Considering how there are plans for the Superhighway from Mexico to bring imports right into the US heartland, what counterevidence is there to believing *Co is deliberately opening up the country to harm from outside?

That Bushism, "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we", certainly seems true.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. So they are STILL exporting the contaminated stuff!!!!!!!!

So much for the better controls and inspection promises made by the Chinese government.

[lovuian]

8. Bann all food exports medicines Anything that has poison in it

and ban it and fine their butts

[candice]

9. I am not buying anything from China if at all possible...

the grandmother who had a personal lead-detection kit found lead in children's bibs sold at Wal-Mart (and elsewhere). The lead lunch boxes had already been noticed. I am noticing that most of my mugs are Made In China, and wonder about the lead in the glazes. Guess I'll have to order my own kit. Right now I'm using mugs I threw and glazed myself.

[TheMadMonk]

12. Good luck. You'll need it.

Just did a random sample of the pantry.

Made in Australia from local and imported products.

And when you try to ask where those products are imported from, the stock reply is something like "A variety of sources depending on season, and price." They might throw in something about "product quality" as well to make us feel nicely reassured.

What most won't tell you is that a substantial proportion of those ingredients are imported from China.

[candice]

10. Wasn't it just plain bags of wheat that the melamine was added to?

Took the FDA a few months to figure it out, but I read that the labor-intensive part of producing gluten from wheat (removing the starch), which is why companies are importing gluten from China and our own factories have been closed down, was by-passed. Adding melamine to up the protein of plain wheat is what occurred. Much more profitable.

[tom_paine]

11. I love getting news from the Free World

I miss living in it.

[OneBlueSky]

13. here's what I don't understand . . .

the U.S. and Canada have been the "bread basket of the world" for a long time . . . both countries grow immense quantities of wheat, corn, and other grains . . . why are we and they importing wheat and corn products of any kind from China? . . .

banning all such imports would accomplish two important things . . . first, it would protect us from tainted products . . . and second, it would support our own farmers . . .

[Shallah Kali]

14. It's cheaper there. few environmental, labor, etc. laws. Artificial Devaluation of China's Currency

Also US companies want to sell to China. It looks like the US beef industry is putting pressure on our gov. to allow imports of chickens from China so China will allow imports of US beef. Add to that the fact that China is the second largest foreign holder of our National Debt. Additionally US companies have built factories over there. They aren't going to give up their investment just because a few thousand pets died. Oh and look at the states that get all the imports from China. Lots and lots of business they will miss out on there. They too would resist banning Chinese grain products until proven 100% free of toxins.

Rep. Tim Ryan on China's Artificial Devaluation of Their Currency:
http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,oh17_ryan,blog,999,All,Item%20not%20found,ID=070523_0635,TEMPLATE=postingdetail.shtml

One of the reasons we have so many Chinese products here in America is because many times they can produce and ship their products to America for the same price as it costs us to buy the raw materials. The old argument has been, “Well, its because of the cheap labor,” and that has certainly played a part, but that’s not even close to the real reason. You see, China’s currency, the Yuan is artificially kept at a low price in order to create the trade imbalance. This is where things get a little “Economics 101”, so let me explain how this works:



The strength of a currency on the international markets is a reflection of how strong an economy is growing. You can read about it here. Therefore, as an economy grows, the currency of that country should become more valuable thus making it more expensive to export products abroad. China doesn’t allow its currency to get more expensive. Instead, they artificially fix the price of their currency to the U.S. Dollar so that they can take advantage of its relatively weak price and keep the flow of their imports hitting our shores.



The Ryan-Hunter bill which is currently moving through Congress would give the Department of the Treasury the tools they need to act against China and other countries that manipulate currency. It does three things: 1) It defines currency manipulation as a subsidy, which, according to the World Trade Organization, is illegal 2) It directs the Department of the Treasury to act on these illegal subsidies and 3) allows the Treasury to put a “countervailing duty” on imports in a specific sector of the economy from a nation that manipulates its currency.



Basically, its that third part that gives this bill teeth. There are some estimates which say that China’s Yuan is about 40 percent undervalued. What we would do is apply a duty, or a tax of as much as 40 percent on Chinese products in a specific industry in order to force China to revalue it. What would this mean to us?

[Shallah Kali]

15. Economists fear that China among others that hold US Securities could dump 'em and crash our economy

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p16s02-cogn.html

Over the past 15 years, the US has bought $1.1 trillion more in Chinese merchandise than it has sold of American goods to China.

The result is that China, by the end of this year, will have socked away $1 trillion in US Treasury securities in its international reserves as a byproduct of keeping down the value of the yuan. Last year alone, the US had a record trade deficit with China of $202 billion.

Some $47 billion of that deficit, notes Washington economic consultant Charles McMillion, was in "advanced technology products." In other words, China isn't just making sweatshirts, toys, and electronic products for sale to the US.

Many economists worry that China and other Asian nations with huge hoards of US securities could decide to dump them. That could knock the dollar for a loop, raise US interest rates, pop the housing bubble, and cause a recession. Many nations in Europe and elsewhere have been relying considerably on sales to the US for their own prosperity.

MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES
(in billions of dollars)
HOLDINGS 1/ AT END OF PERIOD
http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

Mar
Country 2007

------

Japan 612.3
China, Mainland 420.2
United Kingdom 2/ 145.1
Oil Exporters 3/ 113.0
Carib Bnkng Ctrs 4/ 84.4
Brazil 70.6


Snow Slaps China's Wrist On Yuan
http://www.forbes.com/businessinthebeltway/2006/05/10/china-yuan-treasury-report-cx_jh_0511yuan.html

There is little doubt that China keeps its currency artificially cheap to boost its exports. It has racked up an enormous trade surplus with the world, with the U.S. bearing the brunt of its export-led growth policy: Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China hit a record $202 billion. Meanwhile, the Chinese have accumulated more than $800 billion in foreign reserves, most of them in dollars--glaring evidence of its intervention in the currency markets.

Since the Chinese revalued the yuan by 2.1% against the dollar last July, the currency has barely budged. Some economists point out that the Chinese currency appreciated by 9% against a trade-weighted basket of currencies last year. But that's because it was de-facto pegged to dollar, which appreciated against several major currencies, including the euro and the yen, in 2005, argues Goldstein.

snip

Many economists, including former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, argue that a big rise in the yuan won't help narrow America's gaping trade deficit because U.S. imports will simply shift to other low-cost producers. But there is little doubt that China's resistance on the yuan is having a dramatic impact on global trade: A cheap yuan has spurred other Asian countries to keep their currencies undervalued for fear of loosing market share to China, argues Carliner.

"Everybody is sort of free-riding on China," he says.

[Demeter]

16. So Let Them--It Only Works Once

Then we overthrow the government and return to something resembling the original country.