There is no denying that China is pumping out tons of interesting gadgets, toys, cars, food and every other product inbetween to the international market at very low-cost. China’s market is the epitome of mass production. For the small/medium/large business, this is great. Goods can be made and purchased at a fraction of the cost it would take to manufacture anywhere else. Businesses are seeing huge profits thanks to China; good for them.
There’s just one problem: quality control. Toys are being painted with lead paint, tires explode randomly, extremely unsafe Chinese branded cars and everyday items are showing up in our homes and lives that can have problematic and sometimes life-threatening consequences. But what can be done? Can we impose upon China to institute higher standards as it relates to overall testing and quality assurance of goods manufactured? Maybe, but the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t want to wait for China to get it’s act together.
The FDA recently stepped in and limited the food additives imported from China. The reason?
…after weeks of investigation, (the FDA) still does not know what regions of China are affected or what firms there are major manufacturers of vegetable proteins.
Food is being exported and no one knows exactly where it is coming from; all we know is that it’s bad, makes us sick and our pets die. That is disturbing news.
China is also slowly making strides of its own to repair its tainted image. It recently had 180 plants closed for using toxins in food such as formaldehyde, illegal wax and dyes in candy and recycling old food back into production. The article makes note that some of the foods were only intended for the Chinese market, but one can suspect those products would have ended up in a Chinese food store here in the states (if it hasn’t already).
While closing 180 plants seems like a giant leap forward, the reality is that these were very small shops compared to the hundreds of thousands that are operating, manufacturing and distributing tainted foods or flawed products to the globe. But a step forward is a step forward.
I hope the mounting international pressure is enough to push China to get its act together before we end up with a global incident.