Melamine: poisoned pets In recent months, multiple deaths of people and pets have been blamed on Chinese ingredients. At least 51 people in Panama died after taking medicine containing diethylene glycol falsely labeled as glycerin from China. The same poisonous ingredient was found in toothpaste traced back to China. China was also blamed for 14,000 reports of sickened pets due to tainted pet food.
In recent years, for instance, China’s food safety scandals have involved everything from fake baby milk formulas and soy sauce made from human hair to instances where cuttlefish were soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color and eels were fed contraceptive pills to make them grow long and slim. New York Times
Melamine, a cheap plastic made from oil, and when added to animal feed, looks like protein in tests.
“It just saves money if you add melamine scrap,” says a manager of an animal feed factory in China.
Melanine in food is illegal in the United States. Sixteen pet deaths linked to melanine led to the recall of 60 million packages of pet food.
China's former top drug regulator was sentenced to death today for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths.
Zheng's acts "greatly undermined ... the efficiency of China's drug monitoring and supervision, endangered public life and health and had a very negative social impact," the court said.
Under a nationwide safety campaign launched Monday, 90 administration inspectors will be sent to 15 provinces over the next two weeks. The government also announced plans for its first recall system for unsafe products. Hopefully China will learn that regulating food and drug safety is worth while.
In the news story I heard about this on the BBC last night they said that the sentence would likely be reduced in an appeal. As much I agree that regulation needs to be beefed up and that this guy committed some heinous crimes, I don't think the death penalty is appropriate.
Associated Press via Yahoo News
....Golly! That poor fellow. If he was a goverment official in this country. he could: retire early, collect a solid gold pension, run the talk show circuit and write a book ( usualy titled along the lines, "Screw You, Look at Me"! or, "It Was Just a Dog".).......All the while raising our costs for food and drugs to finance his defense.
cool that is very educational
do you like china and its futures? if so what of them do u like
Public office is (or should be) different to other employment. The higher the station, the more influence there is and the more responsibility. Likewise, the punishments should be commensurate.
If a disaffected worker in Taco Bell starts to put a little extra 'something' in the tacos he makes, then he should be punished as befits the crime by some formula based on the number of people affected, the damage done to those people and the reputation of the food vendor tempered by other factors such as his reason for his actions and his
At the other end of the scale, a president who knowing sends 3,000 soldiers to war on false premises, resulting in the deaths of countless other civilians should also be held accountable using the same criteria.
.... so maybe the death penalty isn't such a bad idea after all?
yikes!!! I'll make sure to check where my food comes from next time!
I wonder if he had any helper(s) in his crime. If so, I hope the police catch them.
China tainted milk results in more executions.
Click on links to learn more.
Two Are Executed for Roles in China Milk Scandal New York Times
China executes 2 for role in tainted milk scanda Yahoo News
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