More Reasons to Boycott Anything Made in China

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Consumers have reported the deaths of as many as 8,500 dogs and cats as a result of tainted pet food, federal officials said Thursday.

More Reasons to Boycott Anything Made In China

An entrepreneur meets resistance in changing unhealthful practices. (Edited for Brevity)

By Don Lee, Times Staff WriterMay 3, 2007

Honey and thousands of other Chinese food products are showing up more and more on dining tables around the world. Last year, China said it exported $3.8 billion worth of food to the U.S., including vast quantities of apple juice, garlic, sausage casings, canned mushrooms and honey.
(The beekeepers are): storing honey in metal containers; those can taint the sweet goo with toxic iron and lead.

(Beekeepers long have used): antibiotics in their colonies; the drugs can make people sick. (They are): storing honey in metal containers; those can taint the sweet goo with toxic iron and lead.(Many beekeepers): are hostile to his efforts, which they see as a threat to their decades-old way of doing business on the cheap and making easy profits.

Short-term profits are so important that farmers, traders and brokers have little incentive to change old practices.The result is a constant stream of tainted and sometimes poisonous food. Last year, duck farmers added cancer-causing Sudan dye to their animal feed to make yolks redder and bring a higher price.

But for many beekeepers, old habits die hard.Earlier this year, Wang (a beekeeper) says, he averted a near-disaster when his bees suddenly became lethargic and their numbers appeared to decline.

Wang went to a local drugstore and bought 10 pinkie-size tubes of penicillin for about $1. He says he mixed the medicine with sugar water and fed it to his bees. It didn't take long before they became active and produced honey.Wang knew that chloramphenicol was illegal, but he said he had no idea that penicillin was another type of antibiotic and that its use also had been restricted. He says he stores the honey he collects in iron and plastic containers.

"The government doesn't care what we do.Li thinks 30% of Chinese honey comes from bees treated with antibiotics, but Sun Baoli believes the figure is as high as 70%.

Some traders and sellers don't care about ensuring quality for the domestic market because prices are so low."

The Chinese life is not valuable," Sun said. "All the food is like junk food."
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