BUYER BEWARE: Product researcher for Health and Life Magazine Xiao Jing discusses precautions buyers should take when shopping at Chinese markets. One-third of Chinese-imported food does not meet FDA standards, he said. (Christine Lin/Epoch Times)
It drew a connection between the launch of Shenzhou VII, China's much-talked about space mission and the cover-up of what's come to be called the Sanlu milk scandal, named after one of over 20 manufacturers that use melamine in their dairy products and infant formulas. Melamine is an ingredient in plastics and flame-retardants.
The discussion began with the reading of a long list of contaminated foods from China, ranging from artificially dyed sausages to imitation beef to mushrooms darkened with ink. Panelists from media and health circles called on the U.S. Government to step up their regulations of products imported from China.
The issue was brewing under wraps for weeks during the Olympics, during which Chinese officials promised parents free examinations of their ailing infants. On the close of the Olympics, Sept. 14, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark opened the lid on the scandal by calling for investigations. The promises of free exams were forsaken as parents were turned away from hospitals.
New Tang Dynasty Television news director Pang Zhong spoke about the Chinese media's role in deceiving and distracting the public. On Sept. 15, a prewritten news report from Chinese regime mouthpiece Xinhua was accidentally published on their website, almost two weeks before the spacecraft's scheduled launch on the 27th. At the time of the accidental publication, Shenzhou VII was still sitting on the launchpad, but the headline read, “An Exciting Night on the Pacific: Shenzhou VII Orbits 30 Times.”
“The article had names, descriptions, dialogue...it's all for the purpose of distracting people from the Sanlu scandal,” said Pang. The footage from the so-called launch featured the astronauts walking, hands clinging to the pipe of the spacecraft. The mission director later implied that the footage was filmed in an aquatic practice tank, according to Pang.
While infants all across the country were being shuttled to hospitals for kidney stones, media reports from China insisted that the products are safe for moderate consumption. Government officials took to the streets downing glasses of milk to convince the public that there's nothing wrong with the milk.
Panelist Xiao Jing, product researcher with Chinese-language Health and Life Magazine, reported about melamine in milk in a November 2007 issue. Because Chinese people overseas tend to go to Chinese markets, Xiao warned that many of the foodstuffs from China do not meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, and just because the product might be distributed by a U.S. company, it may still be a product of China. One-third of Chinese products do not meet FDA regulations, according to Xiao.
“Products must have English translations of the nutritional facts and an expiration date label—that's very basic,” Xiao said. “If you see sausages from China, beware.” The FDA rejects a large portion of meat imports from China.
