China warns of more health scares amid slowdown

[thundley4]

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese food and drug makers struggling in a declining economy could be tempted to cut corners and ignore quality standards, a senior Chinese official warned as the country awaits court verdicts in a tainted milk scandal.

China has been rocked by a number of scandals in recent years involving unsafe food and drugs which have sometimes killed people and prompted global recalls of Chinese-made goods.

At least six children last year died from drinking milk formula adulterated with melamine, an industrial compound used to cheat nutrition tests, and more than 290,000 fell ill with kidney stones. China has put on trial a number of company officials and farmers accused of producing and selling the toxic milk.

Shao Mingli, a senior official from China's food and drug safety watchdog, said that the country was on "high alert" as the impact of the financial crisis began to hit home, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying late on Tuesday.

"Some enterprises might conduct production in violation of standards and regulations in an attempt to ease their financial burdens," Shao said.

reuters

What? They don't have any room to lower their standards of production. 

[Eupher]

From someone who works in regulated industry, vis a vis pharmaceuticals and medical devices:

Do. Not. Trust. Anything. That. Comes. Out. Of. China. Period.