Digging a Little Deeper into the Arsenic in Apple Juice Scandal

Treehugger digs a little deeper into how the arsenic is actually getting into the apple juice. Here is a hint:

...China's air is awash in arsenic and lead from the profligate use of coal. Heavy metals sent up coal stacks fall onto plants and soil as particulate matter or are dissolved in rain before they precipitate on plants and soil. Plus, there is a chance they are using arsenic as a pesticide - a practice common in the West 30 to 40 years ago but no longer allowed...

Read more at treehugger.com

Read the Consumer Reports Study

Melamine again finds its way into Chinese milk products

Chinese police have seized more than 26 tonnes of milk powder tainted with melamine from a ice cream maker in a southwestern city, state media said, three years after milk tainted with the industrial chemical killed six and made thousands ill.

The food sector has been beset by poisonings and toxin scandals that have shaken consumer confidence. Numerous government crackdowns have apparently had little effect. In 2008, at least six children died and nearly 300,000 fell ill from powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical added to low quality or diluted milk to fool inspectors checking for protein levels. China said in March at least 20 percent of domestic dairy companies would lose their operating licenses following inspections of fresh milk and infant formula producers.

Read the full article at Reuters.com

China to regulate food additives

The Chinese government has ordered food companies to keep clear and intact records of all their production and selling operations as part of the efforts to prevent the illegal use of food additives.

The circular said it was strictly forbidden to produce and sell non-edible materials that are likely to be used in food production without official certificates, and authorized production companies of these materials must adopt a real-name selling system.

Mind Boggling that there needs to be a regulation that prohibits non-food ingredients in food...

Read the full article here

Industrial wax and inks found in Chinese noodle production

The latest food scandal started to come to light on Thursday when more than 5.5 tons of starch noodles that were suspected of being tainted were confiscated and their producer was put under investigation for allegedly having used black ink, industrial dye and paraffin wax to produce them in Gangkou township in the province's Zhongshan city, according to Guangzhou Daily.

This appears to be a domestic Chinese problem but illustrates the all too common problem with corruption in the Chinese food supply. Our own food supply is often made in part with Chinese ingredients. Good thing the FDA is increasing their inspection process for imports.

Read the full article from China Daily

CDC finds no link between deaths, Chinese drywall

But that doens't mean that there wasn't something nasty in that drywall...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it has found no link between tainted Chinese drywall and the deaths of 11 people exposed to the imported drywall in Louisiana, Florida and Virginia homes...

Large quantities of defective Chinese-made drywall were imported during a past housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes five years ago. The drywall has been linked to corrosion in thousands of homes, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana...

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the safety commission, said "hundreds, if not thousands" of homeowners have reported problems with nosebleeds, respiratory problems and other symptoms that could possibly be linked to Chinese drywall.

Read more By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press at The Mercury

Apple Computer secretive about its toxic supply chain

Apple is more secretive about its supply chain in China than almost all of its rivals, according to a new report by anti-pollution activists who accuse the company's products of degrading the environment and poisoning workers.

Despite its claim to be a leading promoter of corporate ethics worldwide, the maker of iPads and iPhones came joint bottom among 29 major IT firms in a transparency study drawn up by a coalition of China's leading environmental groups.

"Behind their stylish image, Apple products have a side many do not know about – pollution and poison. This side is hidden deep within the company's secretive supply chain," claims a statement by the 36 groups involved in the Green Choice Initiative.

Their report – the fourth to look at the impact of global brands on China's environment – considers the openness of IT firms and their responsiveness to reports of environmental violations at suppliers...

...But it is difficult for third parties to hold foreign firms to account because they tend to be secretive about their suppliers, citing corporate confidentiality. This lack of transparency, combined with official corruption and dire political accountability, has made China a haven for polluters...

..."Apple can say it is completely 'green' because it is a brand with no factory, but if it doesn't manage its supply chain, these are just empty words," said Ma Jun of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs. "Far from being the best on planet, it is bottom among 29 IT brands. Apple should be a leader. If it can move on this, it can change the whole industry."

Read the full article by Johnathon Watts in the Guardian UK

Original report by IPE

China arrests 96 in connection with 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal

"Caged" by Dave Nakayama, dnak@flickr.com

China, all too often in the news for toxic food and other products, is certainly taking some of these case seriously. Two people have already been excecuted in connection with the China's tainted milk, two others sentenced to life in prison.

This shocking scandal is particularly heinous because the manufacturers were using melamine, an industrial chemical high in nitrogen, to trick food regulators into thinking that the watered down milk, or milk products, were actually high in protein. Nitrogen is measured as a proxy for protein, which is difficult to quantify.

Read the full article by Sui-Lee Wee and Sabrina Mao at Reuters.com

Also:

A BBC report on "Chinese Fake Milk" from 2004

The New York Times on the ubiquity of melamine in our industrial and food system

Chinese Milk Scandal at Wikipedia