China fights back, goes after U.S. meat
7/14/2007, 7:48 a.m. ET
By ANITA CHANG
The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) - China has suspended imports from several major U.S.
meat processors, including the world's largest, in the latest
indication the government may be retaliating as its products are
turned back from overseas because of safety concerns.

Frozen poultry products from Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest
meat processor, were found to be contaminated with salmonella, the
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine said on its Web site late Friday.

Other imports barred by China included frozen chicken feet from
Sanderson Farms, Inc. tainted with residue of an anti-parasite drug,
as well as frozen pork ribs from Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.
containing a leanness-enhancing feed additive, the AQSIQ said.

A spokesman for Cargill denied the agency's claims, while officials at
Tyson and Sanderson Farms were not immediately available to comment.

China's food and drug safety record has come under scrutiny in recent
months following the deaths of cats and dogs in the United States and
Canada blamed on tainted Chinese pet food ingredients. Worries at home
and around the world have heightened as a growing number of Chinese
products are found tainted with dangerous levels of toxins and
chemicals...

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After Silence, China Mounts Product Safety PR Offensive
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, July 14, 2007; A01

BEIJING -- Scanning the headlines in the Chinese press, it's easy to
conclude that the global brouhaha over product safety is not about
China -- but about America.

Investigative reports in the state-run media delve into the case of an
exploding cellphone purportedly made by U.S.-based Motorola that
allegedly killed a young man. They warn consumers not to use contact-
lens solution produced by U.S.-based Advanced Medical Optics, which
has been linked to rare cases of blindness. And they play up recalls
of U.S. beef.

Faced with mounting international concern over the safety of some of
the products it exports, the Chinese government -- often perceived as
defensive and clumsy in how it handles public relations -- is firing
back.

In Washington, China has put together a team of lobbyists who have
been practically living on Capitol Hill for the past few weeks. In
Beijing, the government has taken the unusual step of seeking advice
from outsiders, including public relations powerhouses Ogilvy and
Edelman, about how to get positive messages out to Chinese and
American consumers.

The result has been an aggressive campaign to save the "Made in China"
label by presenting an alternate view on consumer safety and
globalization...

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Warning over toxic fake toothpaste
James Sturcke
Thursday July 12, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today warned that fake
tubes of its Sensodyne toothpaste on sale in the UK contain a chemical
used to thicken anti-freeze.
The counterfeit 50ml tubes of Sensodyne Original and Sensodye Mint
contained diethylene glycol, which is toxic to young children and
anyone with impaired liver or kidney function, the manufacturer
warned.

The alert comes a few days after more than 120,000 tubes of toothpaste
were seized by Italian and Spanish authorities amid fears that the
same chemical was being passed off as glycerine. The Italian and
Spanish tubes were believed to have been imported from China,

.... Late yesterday, China's quality and inspection watchdog banned the
used of diethylene glycol, although it insisted there was no evidence
the chemical was harmful.