CHINA / National |
China: US media exaggerating food woes(AP)Updated: 2007-07-16 16:51 China's top quality control official accused foreign media of raising unnecessary alarm about the safety of the country's food and drug exports. "Some foreign media, especially those based in the US, have wantonly reported on so called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black," said Li Changjiang, minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The agency is China's quality control watchdog and has some responsibility in overseeing the safety of Chinese products. Li said more than 99 percent of Chinese food exports to the US in the past three years had met quality standards, the same or better than the amount of US food exports to China. The top Communist Party official in the northeastern port city of Tianjin, Li Chuanqing, said international media were "arousing unnecessary fears." Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned the media against exaggerating China's food safety problems and stirring consumer panic. On Friday, the administration posted a list on its website detailing imported American meat that it said had contaminants, including feed additives and veterinary drugs. The Chinese agency said frozen poultry from Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor, was contaminated with salmonella. Tyson Foods said it was unaware of any tainted product. In the latest move against suspect US products, the quality watchdog said on its website Monday that protein powder imported from Los Angeles-based Jarrow Formulas Inc. contained too much selenium, an element that can be toxic in large doses. The statement said all of the powder has been returned, but gave no other details. Jarrow Formulas did not immediately return a phone message left Sunday evening seeking comment. |
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