Exactly! United States companies do this corner cutting as much as anybody else. Sure American and European companies have more stringent standards to uphold; neverthless, they cut heedlessly wherever they can.
For anybody who actually believes this is a conspiracy. “This just in, Proven links that connect Saddam with Weapons of Mass Destruction, al-Queda, and 9-11.”
This is libertarian paradise. No rules, no ecology no FDA ,just the relentless pursuit for profit. The wild west days of capitalism are alive and well.; It may kill or poison a few people but it will according to the Libertarians eventually sort itself out. Total power to the corporations. What could be better than that.
shudder I think you are trying to be humorous, and maybe I am just humor impaired today. I couldn’t laugh at this. 
Last year tainted medicines containing diethylene glycol that were ultimately of Chinese origin caused between 50 and 100 deaths in Panama. Incredibly enough, not long ago they found toothpaste here contaminated with the same chemical.
May 30: One Step Forward
Ex-official gets death for graft
May 31: Two steps Back
Chinese agency blames Panamanian businesses for deadly tainted medicine
I don’t think so; however, here is one report on the issue. It could have been much worse–and still could be. The linked article refers to the low compliance with basic sanitary procedures (that, of course, means the “peasants” (the article’s word, not mine) hired aren’t too familiar with the concept of washing their hands after defecating). So, the flap was about parasite eggs but it’s not a stretch to conclude that our old buddy e. coli won’t be absent from the imported foodstuffs.
The ironic part about the whole thing is the factories to blame for the contaminated product were Korean-run. The Chinese-run factories went for quality whereas the Korean-run ones went for cheap labor and cheap cabbage. And, if possible, even more ironic is that the “let’s make it at home” drive died quickly because so few people here even know how to make the stuff anymore!
Maybe a conspiracy, but not by the Chinese government. What would be the point?
The toothpaste was brought here from Panama. Or more accurately, it was smuggled in.
Not a conspiracy, as I said in post three, their disregard for the health and safety of not only their people, but the citizens of other countries (so long as the money rolls in) is deliberate. Not only the companies making the products, but the Government of China as well, because they haven’t put more strict standards in place.
I do not think it is deliberate. I think it is incidental. In the pursuit of money they will take every chance the system allows. If their system is even watchdogging less that ours, “accidents” will happen. They have less protections in place than we do. They import all over. It is not just the pet food poisoning . There will be more.
If profits are high ,all will be forgiven.
There are more:
China asks U.S. to clarify food regulations after catfish ban
I think their indifference is deliberate, because it makes a profit, as you say.
This rang a bell because I read about it in The Economist. I have no idea how accurate this Xinhua-sourced article is, but it seems that once they really started looking, they found poop-sourced contamination all over the place. Which isn’t really that surprising, I guess, if the cabbages are grown in ground pooped on by various animals.
It’s interesting to compare what’s going on in china with some of the stuff that went on in the US and Europe before the advent of modern regulations. Victorian housekeeping manuals had sections on “Adulteration” that would tell you how to check if there was white lead or sawdust in the bread, copper salts in the pickles, and so forth and so on.
And their neighbors said, “Hallelujah!” The stuff’s yummy but I wouldn’t want to be within a block of it’s preparation.
(Bolding mine)
I would amend that to read “patently obvious corruption that can’t be swept under the rug”. Corruption is the norm and is expected. My brother-in-law is a building inspector in China, making sure new construction complies with what minimal safety standards are in place. His wife was complaining that he’s usually not home for dinner, because he gets taken out and wined and dined by developers most evenings. One of his co-workers was killed when the building he was inspecting collapsed during the inspection, despite “passing” all previous inspections with flying colors.
Yeah, but if this was China, the government would start by saying that there was no adulteration, that the company didn’t make feedstock anyway, and in any case the press was just discriminating against Canadians.
Then, if it hurt trade, they’d execute the CEO.
I’d love the see GWB slap the old Embargo on China. 
They’d go down sooooo fast.
Of course, we’d have to wear that same old T-shirt for a while. 
I’m not seeing a problem with this part. Bet the next Ken Lay would be a bit more hesitant about looting a company if they knew they could get shot if they screwed up.