China bans toxic chemical used in toothpaste

China has repeatedly asked exporters to ensure the quality of their products, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

“After the recent spate of product quality or safety problems, the Chinese government has attached great importance to this issue,” Wang Xinpei said, according to a transcript posted online. However, he added, “problems in individual products should not be extended to the overall quality of China’s exported products.”

The quality administration did not specify how it defines small-scale producers in its crackdown, or give other details. But it has said that about 350,000, or 78 percent, of China’s food processing operations employ 10 people or less.

The agency also said about half — or 223,297 — of the factories it inspected nationwide were not completely certified. Another 164,149 had no certificate at all, it said.

Ng Han Guan / AP A Chinese woman fills up a plastic bottle with soya sauce at a family shop in Xiamen, China. The world's most populous country is awash in such tiny mom-and pop-operations.

Most manufactured commonly consumed food like rice, wheat powder, soybeans, wine and cooking oil.

Determined to improve
Last month, Chinese authorities said that they had closed 180 food factories since December after inspectors found formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax being used to make candy, pickles, crackers and seafood. All had fewer than 10 employees.

Another regulating agency said it shut 152,000 unlicensed food producers and retailers last year for making and selling fake and low-quality products.

Meanwhile, the State Food and Drug Administration said the 2008 Beijing Olympics — a source of national pride — would give China a chance to prove to the world that it was capable of setting a new standard for food safety and raise awareness domestically about the issue.

The Beijing Games would serve as a “model for food safety work in China” and for future Olympic events, director Shao Mingli was quoted Wednesday as saying in a news conference broadcast on the Internet.

Amid such concerns, the execution of Zheng Xiaoyu, who headed the State Food and Drug Administration from 1997 to 2005, was another strong indication of Beijing’s determination to improve product safety.

In a commentary, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily newspaper said Zheng’s execution was warranted because of the serious consequences of approving untested medicine in return for millions of dollars in cash and gifts.

“He damaged the interests of the country and the people to a large extent,” the newspaper said Wednesday.

Bogus drugs approved by Zheng included an antibiotic blamed in the deaths of at least 10 people.

MORE FROM MORE HEALTH NEWS

More Health News Section Front

U.S. expands efforts to regulate meds in water Virtual alert texts kin if you're sent to a hospital Largest-ever kidney swap donors, patients meet Study: 15,000 will die from CT scans done in 1 year New VA patients younger, more often women Wireless devices may read words in the brain Pregnant woman claims hospital ignored her U.S. needs to address vaccine safety, report says Power line pollutants pose health risks Promising treatment for adults with sickle cell More Health News Section Front   Add More Health News headlines to your news reader: