China rebuts criticisms of food safety
1 June 2007
China responded to criticism of the
safety of its food supply, saying that its food shipments to the US, are as safe or safer than US shipments into the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The defense came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration cited
a pair of American companies for adding melamine into animal-feed
ingredients, the same ingredient found in tainted wheat flour exported from China that ended up in pet food and caused the death of thousands of dogs and cats. At least 99% of food exported into the US
between 2004 and last year passed inspection, said Li Yuanping, a director general with the Chinese agency that sets
food-safety standards for imports and exports said. China also denied any responsibility for the contamination of cough
syrup that killed more than a hundred people in Panama last year.