Massive US Company Lies About China

Posted on September 21, 2007
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US Toy Executives Say China Not Responsible for Most Recalls

By Alex Villareal
Washington
21 September 2007

The largest U.S. toy company says design flaws are mostly to blame for the recall of more than 20 million toys over the past three months — and not Chinese manufacturers. VOA’s Alex Villarreal reports from Washington.

The world’s largest toy company, Mattel, says it bears primary responsibility for three recent safety scares which prompted the removal of more than 20 million Chinese-made toys from store shelves.

During talks in Beijing on Friday, the U.S. company’s executive vice president for worldwide operations, Thomas Debrowski, says the recalls should not be blamed on China.

“The vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel’s design not through a manufacturing flaw in China-run factories,” said Debrowski.

Until now, China has borne the brunt of the blame for the recalls, issued after several products — including Barbie doll accessories and toy cars — were found to contain small magnets which can cause severe health problems when swallowed or lead paint, which can cause brain damage.

The problems with the toys outraged U.S. consumers and lawmakers and dealt another blow to the already-damaged image of Chinese exports following a slew of other Chinese product recalls around the world.

Mattel’s Debrowski apologized for this effect on China’s reputation.

“Mattel takes full responsibility for those recalls, and apologizes to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys that were manufactured,” he said.

Head of China’s product quality watchdog, Li Changjiang, welcomed the apology. Last month, he said flawed U.S. designs were responsible for 85 percent of the toys recalled and urged Mattel to take responsibility.

“I really hope that Mattel can learn from its mistakes through this experience and continue to improve,” he said.

Despite Mattel’s admission, China is likely to face continued criticism in Congress. In a statement Friday, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer responded to the company’s apology, saying China should also apologize for exporting what he called “shoddy products.”

Earlier this month, Beijing signed an agreement with Washington to ban the use of lead paint on toys exported to the United States.

China accounts for about 70 percent of worldwide toy exports and 80 percent of all toys sold in the United States.

It says most of its products are safe, accusing the media of exaggerating the problem.

Credit: VOANews.com

Lucky nobody died through those lies. Oh, but they did, didn’t they? The factory owner committed suicide, although it was not his fault.

Check your Mattel toys to see if they have blood on their hands.


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Share This Tags: america | corporatism | fiasco | product scares | lies | money

Food Glorious (Chemically Adulterated) Food

Posted on September 19, 2007
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Just to continue with the theme of poisonous food in Britain being given the all-clear by dodgy government agencies which clearly like taking the money, but hate doing any work if it interferes with their cosy relationship with the food industry.

The clue here is that these agencies are funded by taxpayers and are there to protect and support the case of the citizens of this country. They are not supposed to be the PR arm and mouthpiece of major companies within the food industry.

If you are alarmed that parts of your government are simply the puppets of the businesses which they are supposed to investigate and regulate, start doing something about it.

This from Dr Briffa’s blog after noting that the FSA advice to parents on dangerous food colourings and additives is a very bland:

“…if a child shows signs of hyperactivity or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) then eliminating the colours used in the Southampton study from their diet might have some beneficial effects.”

And then, ever so helpfully, the FSA adds: “If parents are concerned about any additives they should remember that, by law, food additives must be listed on the label so they can make the choice to avoid the product if they want to.”

No talk of a ban then? Nope. Or even some restriction on the addition of these chemicals in the food supply. ‘Fraid not. No doubt the reasons for the FSA’s decision to shift the onus of responsibility away from food manufacturers and on to parents are complex. However, perhaps this tack have something to do with the seemingly cosy relationship the FSA has with the food industry.

The FSA’s statement includes this rather telling passage: “The FSA has held an initial meeting with the UK food industry to discuss the research findings and its implications. Representatives from manufacturing and retail organisations told the Agency there was already a trend within industry towards finding alternatives to the colours used in the study. Some technical challenges in developing these alternatives were also highlighted.”

How does that read to you? To me, it suggests that the food industry has spouted the usual rhetoric about taking positive steps, but that for reasons that relate primarily their bottom line (profit, not public health), nothing much is going to happen any time soon.

As I have pointed out before, those responsible for advising the FSA can have close ties with the food industry. The FSA is advised on policy by a committee called the Advisory Committee on Research (ACR). For a list of the members of this committee and their ‘interests’ click here. Many members of the committee benefit financially directly from the food industry. Note also that one member is a full time employee of the food conglomerate Unilever.

Would it be too much to ask of the body responsible for setting food policy in the UK to find advisors that are not full-time employees of food companies and are not so financially intertwined with the food industry? Apparently so. And while such a potentially unwholesome relationship exists, my belief is that the FSA has a serious credibility issue.

Feel safe about the way your government keeps your health interests protected? Think that it is good when governments are in thrall to industrial paymasters?

Feel safe when you eat that you are not going to be poisoned?


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Share This Tags: britain | corruption | fiasco | food | health | hypocrisy | product scares

UK Government To Sell Your Personal Data On Ebay

Posted on September 17, 2007
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When any bureaucracy or business makes grand claims about its ability to do anything, you should always first think of the weakest link in the chain.

The men at the top and the managers in the middle might, if you are lucky, stick to the letter of the deal. The spotty youth on less than minimum wage, picking his nose and struggling to read and understand his job description probably won’t.

Alternatively, the youth training “apprentice” might be your unsung saviour and it might be the manager with a hidden drug habit who sells your details to fund his craving for smack who is the weakest link.

In any event, when half the country with half an excuse has access to your personal details, as will be the case with the compulsory UK ID cards, you can bet that very soon the claimed and hyped security of your personal data which you have paid so dearly for will be about as effective as a chocolate fire-guard.

Here is a sneak preview of the delights you can expect when this get going, from vnunet.com:

An NHS hard drive that turned up on eBay was found to contain patient data despite having supposedly been wiped.

The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust claimed that it was unaware of how the hard drive containing details of cancer patients found its way onto the auction website, as it was supposed to have been overwritten by private contractors.

“There is an ongoing investigation into this incident involving very senior people and we are looking at possible loopholes in the system,” said the trust in a statement.

“There is no record of this machine going through the systems that Siemens has in place for disposing of equipment. We cannot have something like this happening again.”

A spokesman for the Trust said that it is trying to trace the route the drive took to eBay, which includes “the possibility of theft”.

If you thought that ID cards would be safe, you must also have thought that your NHS records would be safe. You are about to pay for the biggest open display to the world of all your personal data you could possibly imagine.

Feel secure?


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Share This Tags: britain | corporatism | delusions | failure | fiasco | product scares
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