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Posts with tag china

Cadbury recalls chocolates with same poison as pet food

by Carol Vinzant Sep 29th 2008 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Food, Health

If we learned nothing from poisoned pets, will anything positive come of the latest Chinese tainted food scare, which has already killed four babies, sickened 54,000? The latest to fall is the iconic, delightful Cadbury chocolate bar. Cadbury announced today that it's recalling chocolates made in China because tests show they contain melamine, a component of anti-freeze.

USAToday reports that the candy made in China was to be sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. Cadbury emphasized to the BBC that only the chocolates made in Beijing and sold in those countries were tainted.

So that means it probably doesn't impact your Cadbury Dairy Milk at your local Walgreen's. This time. But for me at least having the possibility that my beloved Cadbury bar poisoned was especially scary. Even if the ones sold here don't have the bad ingredient, I would guess that's more a product of shipping arrangements than more care.

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Tags: cadbury, china, chinese, melamine, milk, poison, recall

Continue reading Cadbury recalls chocolates with same poison as pet food

Deadly soccer net sparks recall

by Beth Pinsker Sep 16th 2008 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Recalls, Shopping

This month is the 25th anniversary of Baby Safety Month, and after a quiet run on the recall front (tomatoes/jalepenos notwithstanding), there's a new set of deadly concerns for caregivers. China is in a crisis over baby formula tainted with melamine that has killed several children and sickened scores more. A set of bassinets by Simplicity was recalled at the end of August because of infant deaths. And now there is a recall of a soccer net that can cause strangulation in young children.

The soccer net death story that NPR tells is extremely scary and gets more personal than most recall stories out there, which tend to be publicized through wonky recall reports from the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CSPC). This isn't a story full of statistics or warnings, but the cautionary tale of a mother who lost her son in a horrible way when he got his head stuck in one of these nets (made by Regent Sports Corp.) The nets are made in China, but the defect seems to be that the grid on the net is in a 5-inch pattern, allowing for a small head to poke through, while nets with 4-inch openings are not in question.



Recent Recalls

    Soccer goals under the brand names MacGregor and Mitre that have mesh grids spaced 5 inches apart -- sold in Walmart and Ace hardware stores -- are being recalled because of a toddler death. A small head can slip through the mesh and get caught.

    U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

    Campbell Soup Asia Ltd. recalled 330,000 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and creamy chicken mushroom soup distributed in Hong Kong and Macau after a number of complaints that some cans emitted an "objectionable smell."

    Kin Cheung, AP

    General Motors announced a recall of about 300,000 Chevrolet HHR SUVs from the 2006-2008 model years on Sept. 8 to replace a latch that keeps a glove compartment box closed, in line with a federal safety standard.

    GM / AP

    General Motors recalled nearly 1 million vehicles in August because of a problem with the windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire. The affected vehicles include the 2008 Buick Enclave, 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, 2006-2008 Cadillac DTS, versions of the 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, above, 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, 2007-2008 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL, 2006-2008 Hummer H2 and 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook.

    Cadillac / AP

    Several major retailers have recalled Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible bassinets because the products pose a strangulation hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The recall affects about a million bassinets.

    Consumer Product Safety Commission / AP

    Nestle Prepared Foods Company recalled about 215,660 pounds of frozen stuffed pepperoni pizza sandwich products, known as Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza, because the product might contain small pieces of hard red plastic and other foreign material, which pose a risk of serious injury to consumers.

    Ann Johansson, AP

    BMW recalled the 2006 3 Series, the 2004-2006 5 Series, and the 2004-2006 X3 compact sport utility vehicle over concerns that the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash.

    Steve Cannon, AP

    In early Sept., Sony announced that it was recalling 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide due to a wiring flaw that could cause overheating.

    Koji Sasahara, AP

    On the heels of the huge nationwide salmonella outbreak that caused more than 1,400 illnesses from Mexican peppers, a regional Oregon alfalfa sprout distributor has recalled its product in Oregon and Washington state after the sprouts were linked to 13 cases of salmonellosis.

    Foodcollection



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Tags: china, recalls, toy safety, ToySafety

Continue reading Deadly soccer net sparks recall

Would you pay $1,500 to read this post?

by Jason Cochran Aug 11th 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology

china
With so much sparkly coverage of Beijing inundating our screens this week, you'd be forgiven for feeling a sudden desire to go there to pack a suitcase and check out the city (or what's left of it). What a great modern art scene! What a terrific place to shop!

Allow me to throw a little cold water on your burning travel envy. If you were in Beijing right now, you might have to pay about $1,500 to read this.

Slashdot, the techie blog, is reporting that the Beijing Organizing Committee is charging guests in the Olympic Village between 7713 and 11,700 yuan ($1,125 to $1,708 in our dollars) for a month of Internet access. This in a city where resident businesses pay only about $130 a month.

Well, China, we have to hand it to you. That's a clever way to circumvent the piles of criticism about your Internet censorship: Price the Web so high that no one can even afford to get online to read about the occupation of T-word or Falun G-word. Granted, many of the foreign visitors in the Village will have their tabs paid by corporate sponsors that can afford the gouging.

Complaining about China's censorship seems to assume that the free flow of information is a mark of a modern civilization. Isn't it just as shifty to price the free flow of information beyond the reach of mere mortals? Or is this obvious gouging just a mark of---dare we say it, China?---pure capitalism?


Tags: china, olympics

Animals & Money: China takes dog meat off the Olympic menu

by Carol Vinzant Jul 11th 2008 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Food, Travel

China has ordered the 112 official Olympic restaurants not to serve dog meat during the Beijing Olympics in August so as not to gross out Westerners. They also strongly suggest that all the other eateries in town stop selling dog meat for the month, too. The move is like their orders to shut factories to clear pollution for the month: purely cosmetic. If anything it shows how deeply entrenched dog-eating is. Animal groups say the practice is actually growing into a big business worth about $4 billion a year.

Even the government's Xinhua News Agency announcement shows how dog-eating is almost revered: "Gourmets with a special predilection for dog meat will be disappointed if they come to the Chinese capital in the coming two months." The Beijing Catering Trade Association (BETA) will "blacklist" those who don't cooperate, but they'll make an exception for dog meat "for medicinal purposes." Many Chinese think eating canines lowers blood pressure, the agency says.

According to the Asian Animal Protection Network, eating dog used to be a "cottage industry" where the rural poor would raise puppies to take to market. Now it's become fashionable -- especially in southern China and among Koreans. Dog meat is more expensive than pork. Factory farms with horrific conditions raise the dogs. The Asia Animal Protection Network says the farms are now importing big, docile breeds, especially St. Bernards, known locally as "Big Dumb Dog," as dog livestock. The Filipino organization Dog Meat Trade also reports that the dog meat industry is expanding and is now about $3.8 billion.

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Tags: beijing, canine, china, chinese, dog, dog meat, DogMeat, eating, food, meat, olympics

Continue reading Animals & Money: China takes dog meat off the Olympic menu

Animals & Money: Pet owners worry about Nutro after dog deaths

by Carol Vinzant Jul 7th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Food, Recalls, Shopping, Health, Fraud

Dog owners are facing yet another pet food scare. This one seems so far to be smaller in scale, but six dogs are dead and others sick after eating Nutro, according to this investigation by Consumer Affairs. There isn't a recall. Nutro says there isn't even a problem in this special web page it set up to address the issue.

If you're a dog owner you may not have even heard about the latest scare. It hasn't really been in the news. I only found out when a friend at the dog run starting worrying about her dog after seeing the story in an online newsgroup.

Two Italian Greyhounds from Indiana became dizzy, vomited, urinated incessantly and had a peculiar smell, said their owner, identified only as Theresa C. from Indianapolis in the Consumer Affairs story. Both were euthanized after kidney failure. The vet suspected antifreeze poisoning.

Last year, investigators eventually found that dogs were poisoned because Chinese manufacturers had added melamine, a component of antifreeze, to boost protein readings. The Food and Drug Administration analyzed their Nutro food, looking for melamine and similar chemicals as well as other common food poisoning agents like salmonella. The FDA found nothing wrong with the Nutro food.

"I wonder if there's something in the food they're not testing for," Theresa C. told Consumer Affairs -- echoing the concern of dog owners everywhere.


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Tags: animals, cat, china, dog, dog food, DogFood, eukanuba, fosters and smith, FostersAndSmith, iams, natural balance, NaturalBalance, nutro, pet food, pet food recall, PetFood, PetFoodRecall, veterinarian

Continue reading Animals & Money: Pet owners worry about Nutro after dog deaths

Chinese earthquake relief: America keeps its wallet closed

by Bruce Watson May 23rd 2008 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Charity, Recession

Last week, in the break-room at my wife's office, there was a little jar marked "Chinese Earthquake Relief Fund." While it was there, her coworkers quietly and anonymously filled it with bills and change. At the end of three days, the jar contained $400. Her boss agreed to double all contributions, so the company just sent off a total of $1,200 to help the thousands of Chinese people who are currently homeless and hopeless. While perhaps just a drop in the bucket, these contributions will help somebody, somewhere, in a place that desperately needs every penny that it can get.

Unfortunately, my wife's office is the exception. In the 20 days since a cyclone hit Burma and the 11 days since an earthquake hit China, private individuals in the United States have donated $57 million, which is far below the average response for previous disasters. Traditionally, in fact, Americans are very generous when disaster strikes. For example, in the first five days after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Americans donated $207 million. In the case of hurricane Katrina, the response was even more intense; within the first five days after the hurricane struck, Americans donated $226 million.

News sources have offered a wide array of reasons for the tepid private response. Some blame the recession, which has left many Americans scrounging for cash, unable to send money to charitable causes. Other culprits include concerns about China's human-rights abuses or lingering questions about the corporate honesty of charities. Perhaps the most interesting excuse is so-called "disaster fatigue," or the belief that we've seen it all before.


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Tags: burma, burma cyclone, BurmaCyclone, charity, china, china earthquake, ChinaEarthquake

Continue reading Chinese earthquake relief: America keeps its wallet closed

Outsourcing: South Carolina is someone's China

by Josh Smith May 12th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Entrepreneurship

u.s. and chinese flagsThe circle of outsourcing appears to be coming complete. Ashes to ashes dust to dust, high wages to high real estate values! Several Chinese firms are outsourcing to the U.S. to save money on...wait for it...manufacturing jobs!

Liu Keli, a Chinese businessman from the Shanxi province in China is investing 10 million dollars in South Carolina to open a plate printing factory. The factory will employ approximately 120 American workers who will be paid $12-13 per hour. Liu's reasoning for opening in South Carolina is simple, it is cheaper for his company to operate in the U.S. than it is to operate in China.

One of the areas in which Liu will save the most is in real estate here in the states. The plate making company saved 75% on the cost of land by building in South Carolina. Additionally utility prices in the U.S. are much cheaper than in China and also more reliable in South Carolina than in China. Even though labor costs are higher in the U.S. Liu is taking advantage of a tax credit from South Carolina to make up for some of the increase in labor expenses.

This whole arrangement is interesting to me because it seems to represent the way trade and global business can work out. When there aren't regulations to stop a business from opening a location anywhere on the globe, smart companies will find the areas which make the most business sense to operate in. I'm not a complete optimist when it comes to globalization but stories like these do a lot to re-enforce my opinion that the market can sort out complex issues on its own!

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Tags: china, factory, jobs, outsourcing, south carolina, SouthCarolina

Made in America: The success of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea

by Gary E. Sattler Feb 28th 2008 at 1:15PM

Filed under: Debt, Saving, Shopping, Recession

chess boardIs it any wonder that the economies of the Asian manufacturing behemoths are beginning to wilt? Should we be surprised by the downwardly revised economic outlook for Japan? Does China's burgeoning inflation rate give us pause to ponder the reasons why? Ha! They're getting what they got coming to them. They asked for it and they have done it to themselves.

Since the 1940's the Asian manufacturing block has built its economies upon the backs of hard working Americans, aided mostly by American corporations seeking out their sustenance hungry work forces which were willing to work for just pennies a day. Now, it's coming back to bite them in the rumps. Cry me a river, won't ya?


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Tags: adjustment, China, contraction, Hong Kong, HongKong, income, inflation, Japan, recession, trade

Continue reading Made in America: The success of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea

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