Pig Lunch

Pig Lunch

It’s the Year of the Pig for the Consumer

I opened my local newspaper on Saturday, September 22, 2007 and saw the picture of my wife’s bracelet on the front page. The bracelet, purchased for her birthday by a friend to benefit a local charity, was highlighted in color at the top of the page. The story indicated that the bracelet, made in China, was being recalled due to a high lead content. Her bracelet is just one example of a large number of consumer products that have been recalled from Chinese manufacturers in 2007.

The list of 2007 product recalls from China is not only large in number, but includes a wide variety of consumer products as well. The recall list includes the following items: Toxic lead paint is the problem in products that include jackets and overalls, bracelets, key chains, children’s rings, easels, paint, lunch boxes, necklaces, and wooden toys. However, recalled products extend beyond toxic lead paint to overheating ceramic heaters, flammable lamps and oil heaters, and remote controls. The extensive list of recalled products also includes breakable bike frames, faulty extension cords, poison pet food, hair dryers, faulty wall sconces and candles, flammable baby clothes, cribs, toxic fish, tires, seafood, toothpaste, glassware, hammocks, and even recliners.

The recalled products from China come from many major United States companies; such as, Mattel, Target, Family Dollar Stores, Holmes Group, Best Buy, Currey and Company, Kidsite Jewelry sold at Kmart, Toys R Us, Disney, Sears, Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores and many others.

The stories of tainted Chinese manufactured products are everywhere. Consider the following:

A California official discovered in July that 350,000 lunchboxes distributed as part of a promotion to encourage healthy eating in children contained significant amounts of lead. These lunchboxes were imported from China through a company called T-A Creations.

Earlier this year, more than 100 brands of cat and dog food were pulled from the shelves in the U.S. after pets died from eating food contaminated with the chemical melamine, traced back to wheat gluten from China.

In Panama, the deaths of some 51 people have been blamed on cough syrup tainted with Chinese-made diethylene glycol, commonly used in antifreeze. The same chemical has been found in toothpastes from China sold in the US and Canada.

Mattel has had three recalls of toys made in China in 2007. In total, Mattel has recalled nearly twenty million toys including Chinese-made Sarge die-cast toys from the Pixar film Cars which have lead paint. In fact an executive in charge at one Mattel supplier was reported as having killed himself last month after toys his firm made were among those recalled. Chinese media reported that Zhang Shuhong, co-owner of the Lee Der Toy Company, had been found hanged in one of his factories.

The US imports about one-fifth of its seafood from China. Some shipments were found to have traces of antibiotics and disinfectants that are banned in U.S. fish production. Other inspections uncovered fish products that were tainted with salmonella and pesticides. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently imposed a nationwide hold on the import of five types of farmed fish and seafood from China.

China is taking the problem seriously. Recently, the former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu was executed for corruption. However, China does not appear confident that their drug safety situation will be resolved anytime soon. Here is a recent quote from spokeswomen Yan Jiangying : "As a developing country, China's food and drug supervision work began late and its foundations are weak. Therefore, the food and drug safety situation is not something we can be optimistic about."

With Chinese imports totaling $288 billion per year, President George W. Bush has set up a panel to look at the safety of food and other products imported into the United States. He stated after the first meeting of the panel that, “the American people expect their government to work tirelessly to make sure consumer products are safe." Others in Congress are calling for an “import czar” to oversee all products brought into the United States.

My wife is puzzled in deciding what to do with her colorful bracelet high in lead content. Since the charity is absorbing the cost of the recall, returning the bracelet would only hurt the good work of the charity and its foundation. The bracelet will probably remain in its box for now awaiting an uncertain future.

In China, this is the year of the Pig, which is an appropriate animal to highlight the quality of many of China’s manufactured products. In fact, the large number of Chinese product recalls are making 2007 the Year of the Pig for the consumer as well.

http://www.eworldvu.com

About the Author

James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com