http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/14/2091162.htm?section=world

Australian Broadcasting Company November 14, 2007

Deaths Spark Fresh Criticism of China Food Standards

There has been renewed criticism of food standards in China after six people died when they ate the same soup earlier this week.

In the central province of Hubei, eight people collapsed with cramps and vomiting after eating soup for lunch. Two of them died on the spot and four died later.

Amongst the dead were a 13-year old girl and a 10-year old boy.

The food poisoning occurred at a scrap collection business.

The Chinese Government recently launched a national food quality campaign to counter growing concerns over hygiene standards.

The lax monitoring of food production safety has been blamed for a string of scandals which have damaged China's export reputation.


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http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSPEK94740

Six Chinese Die After Eating Poison Soup

BEIJING, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Six Chinese people, including two children, died from food poisoning after eating dumpling soup and two more remained seriously ill, local media reported on Monday, the latest example of food safety risks facing domestic consumers.

Four males and four females collapsed on Sunday with severe cramps and vomiting after eating the soup for lunch in the central province of Hubei, the Changjiang Times reported. Two died on the spot.

The dead included a 13-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, the report said. It said the poisoning occurred at a scrap collection business but did not given any details of the cause, which officials were investigating.

In Hefei, capital of the neighbouring province of Anhui, 74 people were taken to hospital on Sunday after a birthday banquet, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

"The patients suffered vomiting, twitching and diarrhoea," Xinhua quoted the provincial health bureau as saying.

Samples of food had been collected for investigation and preliminary analysis showed the poisoning was caused by "nitrite", it said without explanation.

China is in the middle of a nationwide campaign to improve food and product safety after a string of international scares that have tainted its export reputation.

But the government is also worried about lax safety endangering the country's own citizens. Reports of usually non-fatal food poisoning at school canteens and restaurants, especially in the countryside, are common.


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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/12/content_6247926.htm

WUHAN - Six people were confirmed dead and two others were hospitalized in a food poisoning case on Sunday in central China's Hubei Province, local government sources said on Monday.

On Sunday noon, eight people, including six adults and two children, had serious symptoms of being poisoned after having some traditional Chinese food - "tangyuan" (stuffed dumpling made partly or wholly of glutinous rice flour served in soup) as their lunch at a waste recycling center.

The six adults are employees of the center and the two children are from their families. However detailed information on them is still unknown.

Two elderly people died on the spot and the rest were sent to the nearby Ganjiachang Hospital, with four others failing to survive after emergency treatment.

The public security officials from Hubei provincial government are investigating the case, and "tangyuan" samples  have been collected for investigation.


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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/12/content_7056534.htm

Food poisoning hits 74 in E China city
 
HEFEI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) --A total of 74 people have been hospitalized after eating at a birthday banquet in Hefei, capital of eastern China's Anhui Province.
 
The patients suffered vomiting, twitching, diarrhea during the banquet at the Congyang Hotel on Sunday noon, according to Anhui provincial health bureau.

There were a total of 160 people eating at the same restaurant, the bureau official said.

Thus far, 39 of the poisoned, all in a stable condition and not in danger of losing their lives, are still receiving treatment.

Samples of food used at the feast has been collected for investigation, and preliminary analysis showed the food poisoning case was caused by nitrite.

Local public health and security officials are conducting further investigations into the case.


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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/12/content_6248728.htm

NANJING -- Suspected cases of food poisoning affected 157 people in two eastern Chinese provinces over the weekend.

In Jintan City in Jiangsu Province, 83 students were hospitalized after having lunch on Friday at the Hebin Primary School. The city government announced on Monday that the pupils were taken for treatment after incidents of vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Ten students were still in hospital on Monday, none in serious condition.

Jintan has ordered an immediate overhaul of school mess halls to prevent such incidents from happening again.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

In neighboring Anhui Province, 74 people were hospitalized in Hefei on Sunday after a birthday banquet. As of Monday, 39 were still in hospital.

Samples of food from the lunch have been collected for testing. A preliminary analysis revealed that the poisoning was caused by nitrite, most commonly used as the essential agent in preserving meat by pickling.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=172182

Quote from Nancy Cook,vice-president, PFI:

"We can't insult them. They're our largest growing supplier of ingredients in the world."

They can't even keep from killing themselves, so why allow them to "practice" on anyone or anything here?

Quote from Nancy Cook,vice-president, PFI:

"We can't insult them. They're our largest growing supplier of ingredients in the world."

Pets, children, seniors and adults are okay to insult?

Somebody needs to ask the PFI and the Pet Food Industry where they're going to go to work and how they anticipate making a living for themselves after their market dares to abandon them in search of truth and health....

It just doesn't seem to make sense to continue to buy their commercial pet foods...we're enabling them to continue the bs. by funding the bs.

This weekend is it for me. I am over the bs, platitudes and danger hanging over my pets heads from my acts of feeding them commercial foods...

I just wonder if without these disgusting food imports there will be enough food for everyone now that the number of family farms has greatly diminished and so many are turning to biofuel crops rather than food crops.  (don't know the correct terms, but you get my drift, I hope).

All I can do and my relatives are doing right now is avoiding prepared foods as much as possible; i.e., frozen meals, boxed mixes, fast foods and restaurants.   This crap is everywhere.

If we would grow more of our own food at home, along the general idea of the Victory Gardens during WWII, and/or support the local growers that still do exist it would be a strong statement about how we will not tolerate anything but clean, nutritious food.  That means fast food and boxed food is out, and for some that is an unthinkable way of life.  I suppose those people wouldn't even know how to go about it.  But when any nation is so careless with their food and produces it in such dirty conditions, I have a problem being careful not to "insult" them.  We have become way to dependant on other countries for essentials.  We're spoiled.  We want everything.  We want it now.  We want it cheap.  

So we don't really have to "insult" the Chinese.  Actions speak louder than words.  We can simply eat food grown at home or as close to home as possible.  As for the other things we consumers buy, that becomes a bit harder.  Not much is made in this country any longer.  It's either Asia or Latin America or India.  But that's another topic for another day.

carolo,

Excellent post.  Through members' posts, I've located CSAs in my area.  Never even knew there was such a thing. 

Someone commented the other day, that the govt pays farmers NOT to farm?
If true, please tell me it's not so we are forced to import cr*p from other countries???

The square foot gardening concept makes a heck of a lot of produce in a small amount of space. I didn't have to hire a plow except to start the project. After that, weeding was easy and the whole process was more productive. 

One enemy, fire ants, mine were so bad it ran me out of my 6 beds..

Just a caution to everyone who is starting seedlings under grow lights. The electric companies monitor electric usage and the DEA monitors that. If you have a huge increase over last year they MAY come to your home to see if you are growing pot. That is one of the ways they catch the indoor pot growers.

REMEMBER, they don't need a warrant for this, the increased electric usage is PROBABLE CAUSE, and they can and have entered homes to look for illegal drugs.

db