China Honey Latest Food Safety Worry

[Richard]

Date Published: Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Honey is the latest Chinese food import to raise safety worries in the United States, reports the San Francisco Gate.  According to the report, the United States has imported the majority of its honey from China for years, despite concerns that it might be contaminated with a dangerous antibiotic.

Over 10 years ago, in 1997, a contagious bacterial epidemic infected bee larvae in hundreds of thousands of Chinese hives, resulting in the majority of that country’s honey production being cut by two-thirds, said the SF Gate.  The report explains that while Chinese beekeepers could have destroyed the infected hives, they, instead, applied a dangerous, extremely toxic, banned antibiotic.  According to Michael Burkett, professor emeritus at Oregon State University and an international bee and honey expert, this was the wrong choice, “You hear about people shooting themselves in the foot?  Well, the Chinese honey-sellers shot themselves in the head,” he told the SF Gate.

The problem is that China used a cheap, broad-spectrum antibiotic called chloramphenicol, to treat its hives; chloramphenicol is considered so toxic it is only used in the most serious of infectious cases in humans and only when all other alternatives have been exhausted, said the SF Gate.  “That’s on the big no-no list,” Burkett said, adding that, “In the U.S., Canada, and the European Union, chloramphenicol is on everyone’s zero-tolerance list.”  Regardless, the Chinese chose to dose its hives with the dangerous drug and now, those honey buyers who test for it, find the banned antibiotic in the imported honey, said the SF Gate.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says tainted Chinese honey is high on its watch list.  According to the SF Gate report, the FDA considers a food adulterated if it contains an animal drug deemed unsafe for unapproved uses.  Chloramphenicol is such a drug and is illegal in food-producing animals, including bees, in the U.S.

In 2005, China’s Ministry of Agriculture banned the drug in food production; however, it seems that Chinese beekeepers are violating the ban, said the SF Gate. It is impossible to determine safe residue levels for the toxic drug,  Steve Roach, public health director of Keep Antibiotics Working, told SF Gate.  “If the Chinese authorities are unable to keep this drug from being used, then no imports of honey from China should be allowed,” he said..  The FDA says chloramphenicol has been linked to aplastic anemia, a serious blood disorder, said SF Gate.

Meanwhile, Seattle PI wrote about its investigation into the growing trend in honey trafficking.  Because U.S. bee colonies are dying off, import demand has increased, with traders looking to bypass tariffs and health safeguards by diluting honey or tainting the product with pesticides and antibiotics, said Seattle PI.  China is known to “transship,” or launder the honey in other countries to avoid U.S. import fees and tariffs on imports that intentionally lowball domestic prices.  Seattle PI noted that honey from China comes to the U.S. as being falsely labeled as tariff-free from Russia, or from countries that have small bee populations or no known export production.  According to Seattle PI, only a small fraction of honey imported into the U.S. is inspected and the U.S, government has not legally defined honey, posing challenges for enforcement agents working to keep tainted honey out of the country.

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/4453#more-4453

[MC]

Everything coming from China today is toxic,even their tea.
There was an article that came out on how they dry their tea leaves.With car exaustion.

[Richard]

That sounds crazy about tea and car exhaust. It seems like the Chinese aren’t concerned about health at all when they manufacture stuff. All they care about is making things as cheaply as possible. I always make sure not to buy anything made in China.

[MC]

They get their instructions from high up,and their instructions are to poison the Europeans and Americans any way they can.They are even killing our pets.How many pets have died violently do to the poison in their food?Chinese goods are low grade,and they easily break.They have no regard for their own population and poisoned over 300,000 babies with malamine.The large companies utilize their cheap labor and since the owners of these companies are the illuminati they told them to put all this crap in the things they make.They are in every country on this planet,even here where I am where they sell their products.
So many people here cannot make a living because they come here with their cheap products.They destroyed the market here which sold Turkish goods.Turkish goods are excellent.
Turkish clothing is the best.Chinese clothing,especially childrens has been found to have radioactive material.

[BlueMoon]

Richard......I check ingredients also...Even our fruits in jars are from China. ,....I am amazed at how many things are since I started to read labels.....This is not normal....We can grow our own fruit and food products ......Why import from such a distance...Can cheap labor make that big of a difference....Moon Child makes a good point.

[Richard]

It is amazing how much of the products in the US are from China. It makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to find certain things made elsewhere.

Here’s the latest on the milk scandal.

Parents of China milk scandal victims detained

Fri Jan 2, 2009 4:09am EST 

BEIJING, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A group of parents whose children fell ill from drinking tainted Chinese milk have been detained by police apparently trying to block them from holding a news conference, one of the fathers said on Friday.

At least six children have died from kidney stones and more than 290,000 made ill from the melamine-contaminated milk, battering already dented faith in China-made products and prompting massive recalls around the world.

Tian Wenhua, 66-year-old former general manager of the now bankrupt Sanlu Group, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of "producing and selling fake or substandard products". She is expected to be sentenced to life imprisonment, the Beijing News said.

One of the fathers, whose 13-month-old son suffers from severe kidney stones, said some parents, including himself, were taken to a labour camp on the outskirts of Beijing.

"We are under house arrest now, and they did not give us any reasons why they kept us here," the father told Reuters by phone.

Five parents had been been detained, but the rest of the group held a news conference on Friday, calling attention to the plight of the children.

"The government said all the medical care is free, but when it comes to the local level, things change. I have already paid more than 50,000 yuan ($7,300) for the operation and cure," said the father, a migrant worker from Sichuan province.

Melamine, an industrial compound used in plastic and fertiliser, was added to milk to cheat protein tests.

Some 22 dairy firms, led by Sanlu, have apologised and asked forgiveness for the contamination.

"We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to the children and society," they said in a New Year text message to millions of phone subscribers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCri...SPEK327560