Chinese "fake" water
Another report on endemic Chinese fakery. This time, in China, upwards to 80% of barrels containing "pure" water for water coolers are actually filled with tap water. With the Beijing Olympics coming up fast, I wonder if national teams will be making a show of their athletes avoiding all things Chinese.
The newswires are carrying a story reporting on the widespread Chinese practise of using tap water or recovered bottled water in what is supposed to be water coolers with fresh pure water:
Up to half of the water used in water coolers across China's capital could be "fake", or not as pure as its manufacturers claim, state media said on Tuesday of the latest in a series of health scares.
The bogus water was either tap water or purified water of miscellaneous small brands poured into empty barrels sealed with quality standard marks, the China Daily said, quoting Liu Xiaoyun, the Beijing sales manager of a bottled water brand.
Liu said the counterfeits began to appear in Beijing in 2002, five years after barrelled, as opposed to bottled, water emerged as an industry.
In some provinces, 80% of the barrelled water was fake.
This is a Chinese problem. Canadians don't drink water imported from China. But the Beijing Olympics are just around the corner. It will be interesting to see just what the national teams do. Will wealthier Western countries ship in their own water and other consumables? Will the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese allow that? I'm not sure that it is against the rules, but even if the rules allow it, the Chinese might perceive it as an affront. They might be quite eager for international audiences to know that Chinese products are safe, not just for the regular consumer but for athletes at the highest levels of competition.
If everyone at the Olympics avoids Chinese products, and worse, makes a showing of avoiding them, the Chinese public relation nightmare will only get worse.
I have no doubt that every drop of water provided by the Chinese government for the Olympics will be the real thing, even if everyone else in the egalitarian paradise that is Communist China is forced to drink bacteria-laden tap water.
But even if that's true, I can imagine one or more governments making it clear that their people will not be consuming Chinese water and other products, especially if the stories of unsafe Chinese products continue to be published into next year.
Update: In fact, the Chinese are working hard on making sure the athletes are given top-notch Chinese-sourced food and drink:
China, under scrutiny following a series of health scares, has vowed to closely monitor the quality of food served to athletes during next year's Olympics, state media reported on Tuesday.
The government has set up a rigorous system to control the quality of everything from milk to seafood, Xinhua news agency said.
A series of health scandals have stained the "made in China" brand this year. There have been breaches and deaths involving toxins in food, medicines and other products.
"All the procedures involving Olympic food, including production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting, will be closely monitored," Xinhua quoted Sun Wenxu, an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, as saying.
Athletes, coaches, officials and journalists will probably consume more than 75,000 litres of milk, 330 tons of fruit and vegetables and 750 litres of ketchup during the Olympics, Xinhua cited experts as predicting.
So all that has to happen is for one country to very publicly say "No" to Chinese food and drink for all this public relations effort to be flushed down the loo.
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Comments
HAW HAW HAW...they do that here already, like since FOREVER. The Chinamen GAROTTED their FOOD SAFETY MINISTER for corruption. I wonder how the CHINESE MODEL of JUSTICE could be applied in Ottawa...on Zackerdeli or Gene Crouton, being the first of many examples that start flooding thru my overloading mind, in an almost insane rush?????
Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 10, 2007 10:21 AM
...reminds me of an urban legend about Glacier fed spring water was really from Saskatoon.
Silly question. How do we know that the Chinese water hasn't hit over here?
Well that would be silly, because of all the fresh water we have in Canada and the US, why bother?
Ok, tell that rational to the Kansas wheat growers and pet owners.
Posted by: tomax7 at July 10, 2007 11:03 AM
I have friends who have worked in China; they always took their empty (usually imported) water bottles and cut them in half to prevent the bottles refilling with iffy tap water and resale.
Posted by: Imethisguy at July 10, 2007 11:21 AM
Side note: Conditions at restaurant 'appalling'
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/07/10/4328114-sun.html
EDMONTON (Sun Media) - An "appalling" city restaurant and the two men who run it were fined nearly $20,000 yesterday after pleading guilty to a smorgasbord of public health charges.
David Mah, 60, was dinged $11,500, David Wong, 46, was slapped with a $6,900 penalty and the numbered company behind the China Palace Seafood Restaurant, 9605 82 Ave., took a $1,150 hit.
"The conditions were appalling and these two should have been ashamed of themselves," said assistant chief Judge Allan Lefever, criticizing the pair for both their "lack of care" and for ignoring Capital Health orders.
- the part I loved was their plea:
The lawyer representing Wong and Mah told court that some of the violations were a result of cooks working in the restaurant who had recently come from China.
Posted by: tomax7 at July 10, 2007 11:43 AM
One more:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/07/10/4328102.html
China executes former food and drug safety chief over tainted products
BEIJING (AP) — China executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog on Tuesday for approving untested medicine in exchange for cash, the strongest signal yet from Beijing that it is serious about tackling its product safety crisis.
During Zheng’s tenure from 1998 to 2005, his agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fake, and the drug-makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, according to previous state media reports. One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.
- wonder if things will change over here as a result of this.
Naw, too many hands in the pocket.
Posted by: tomax7 at July 10, 2007 11:49 AM
Steve ya gotta back off the China product bashing ;-)
...I think you may have been responsible for an execution over there as these schmucks scramble to throw sacrifices to the public in hopes of placating market fears:
http://tinyurl.com/2hgdaw
"CHINA EX-FOOD AND DRUG CHIEF EXECUTED"
"By ALEXA OLESEN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 10, 2007; 2:24 AM
BEIJING -- China on Tuesday executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog who had become a symbol of the country's wide-ranging problems on product safety.
Zheng Xiaoyu's execution was confirmed by state television and the official Xinhua News Agency.
"The few corrupt officials of the (State Food and Drug Administration) are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems," SFDA spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a news conference held to highlight efforts to improve China's track record on food and drug safety."
Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at July 10, 2007 12:27 PM
Going after Coke next?
After all fair is fair and Coke uses tap water for Dasani bottled water.
Posted by: Ted at July 10, 2007 12:33 PM
...oh great, now Coke.
I wonder what water goes into make the actual soft drink.
Posted by: tomax7 at July 10, 2007 01:16 PM
SODA?
Retch...puke....ACTUALLY PAYING FOR SUGARWATER?
I bet SUGAR is far worse for you, physically, than CANNABIS. But there's legions of paid mouthpieces out there, lying constantly to counter my supposition.
Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 11, 2007 11:28 AM
...and the beat goes on:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289312,00.html
FDA Confirms Salmonella Strain in Veggie Booty Responsible for Outbreak
Veggie Booty is marketed by Robert's American Gourmet Inc. of Sea Cliff, N.Y. The company says that seasoning, believed made with Chinese ingredients, contained the salmonella and that it had purchased the seasoning from Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings of Edison, N.J
Posted by: tomax7 at July 14, 2007 11:47 AM
 
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