In recent months, the number of unsafe products imported to the United States from China — ranging from seafood and pet food to toys and toothpaste — has grown steadily.
Chinese-made products have accounted for more than 60 percent of recalls this year, said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. So far they have recalled 338 products overall this year, Wolfson said.
For the most part, the businesses responsible for the faulty products and bad food have denied the problems, saying their products are safe.
After initally guaranteeing the safety of the country's products, Chinese officials admitted Tuesday, after much international pressure, that "as a developing country, China's current food and drug safety situation is not very satisfactory." They had hoped to downplay the safety and health problems before the 2008 summer Olympics, to be held in Beijing.
At the same time, officials in Beijing are attempting to clean up the problems. In early July, inspectors announced they had closed 180 food factories in China in the first half of this year, and that they seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax.
Here is a rundown of the items that have been found hazardous since the massive recall of pet foods in early March:
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
