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Posts Tagged “

China

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deceptive packaging

Winco Frozen Fish: The Big U.S. Flag Tells You It's Made In China!

A reader in Redding, California was shopping at the local Winco and saw this ultra-patriotic bag of frozen tilapia—if it were any prouder to be an American it would have to start singing country music. But when glugory turned the bag over, the phrase "Product of China" was stamped across the bottom. "So now these bastards are lulling you into a false sense of patriotism in order to sell their commie fish," writes glugory. That might be overstating it a bit, but we're fans of overstating things here at Consumerist, so... yeah! Damned commie fish! Remember: never trust packaging. It's just marketing you can hold. More »

4:53 PM on Sun Jun 15 2008
By Chris Walters
3,342 views, 35 comments

Latest by n/a: @Angryrider: "Our "patriotic" items are made in other countries because apparently we won't make 'em here..." for slave wages in sweatshop conditions. Fixed that for you. There's no jobs that American's "won't" do. There's only jobs that American companies don't want more »

ghoulish

NYC 'Bodies' Exhibit Must Refund Tickets For Using Undocumented Corpses

If you've seen the "Bodies" exhibit at the South Street Seaport in New York City, you're entitled to a refund (click here for info) according to a new agreement between New York's Attorney General's office and Premier Exhibitions, Inc. When "Bodies" first opened here over two years ago, some opponents questioned whether the Chinese cadavers were legally obtained—or whether they were Chinese political prisoners who hadn't consented to being plastinated, flayed, and displayed by a private for-profit company. At the time, Premier Exhibitions' president said all the bodies were documented: "Although he said he was not allowed to keep copies of documents, officials at Dalian University in northern China showed him papers attesting to the origin of the remains," wrote the New York Times in 2005. Then ABC's news show "20/20" aired an investigative report this past February that showed otherwise. More »

9:02 PM on Fri May 30 2008
By Chris Walters
10,226 views, 60 comments

Latest by Victo: @DoktorGoku: That's not the same ;) Professional interest is one thing, Outright morbid curiosity is another. more »

settlements

Pet Food Companies Agree To $24 Million Settlement Over Killer Pet Food

After a two-week delay to make sure the language of the settlement met U.S. and Canadian law, about 30 pet food makers have agreed to pay out $24 million to customers whose pets were killed or injured in the tainted food fiasco a year ago. Victims will be reimbursed for expenses, including vet and burial/cremation bills. Additionally, "pet owners can request reimbursement for the cost or fair-market value—whichever is higher—of a deceased pet or one purchased in replacement. Owners who don't have documentation of expenses can get as much as $900 each. All claims are subject to review." More »

12:43 PM on Tue May 27 2008
By Chris Walters
2,286 views, 28 comments

Latest by n/a: @ConsumerAdvocacy1010: PETA?? gods you do NOT want them involved. they do more harm than good. more »

tainted

FDA Believes Heparin Contamination Was Intentional

The New York Times reports that the FDA is now working under the assumption that the deadly contamination of heparin was intentional. In her prepared testimony before a congressional subcommittee, Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation said,
FDA's working hypothesis is that this was intentional contamination, but this has not been proven.
More details, inside... More »

9:49 PM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Jay Slatkin
5,345 views, 33 comments

whoops

Disney Upset About Risque Hannah Montana Pics, Underaged Girls On Their Billboards In China

So Disney is all upset over some slightly saucy photographs of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, but it seems in their haste to toss out accusations (Disney spokeswoman Patti McTeague told the New York Times that "a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines"), the company neglected to consider the appropriateness of using obviously under-aged girls on their underwear billboards in China. More »

9:42 PM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Meg Marco
37,387 views, 75 comments

food safety

Food Companies Threaten Higher Prices If FDA Increases Safety Oversight

Last week, the Grocery Manufacturers Association told lawmakers that if the FDA doubled its safety oversight budget by increasing fees from food companies, they'd have to raise prices to make up the cost. That's right: affordable food or safe food. Choose one! More »

10:20 AM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Chris Walters
2,499 views, 36 comments

health

Recalled Heparin Contaminant Confirmed, And Congress Grills FDA On Inspections

Researchers have identified the chemical in the contaminated blood thinner Heparin that killed 81 people in the U.S. and made patients here and in Europe sick:
The researchers freeze-dried the heparin and used a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze its structure. In addition to a known impurity of heparin called dermatan sulfate, they found that contaminated lots contain a molecule that looks similar to heparin and showed it was almost certainly oversulfated chondroitin sulfate.

More »

10:07 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Chris Walters
2,461 views, 22 comments

Latest by n/a: Ironically, Heparin hasn't been recalled from human hospitals, but has been pulled from veterinary hospitals. I haven't even really heard of adverse reactions in animals. more »

knock-offs

$25 Million Counterfeit Goods Ring Busted In NY-NJ

If you live in the NYC area, one thing you probably won't be spending your stimulus check on now is a pair of shiny new fake Nikes—or ersatz Louis Vuittons, packs of imitation Duracell batteries, or faux-Timberland boots. Police raided three warehouses in Long Island, Queens, and New Jersey yesterday and seized $25 million worth of counterfeit goods (including 20,000 Nike knock-offs) that they suspect were imported from China, as well as "printing and other equipment used to make and stamp fake logos on the items."
More »

1:16 PM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Chris Walters
4,163 views, 44 comments

Latest by lethaltoothpaste: Fake purses are NOT made with the same material. Its as if some of you people have never seen a fake purse before. The lettering is always off, especially for Coach, Louis Vuitton and Gucci bags. Colors are usually a shade more »

The US Isn't the only wacky lawsuit country. In China, KFC won a defamation lawsuit filed by an elderly gentleman who accused the fast food chain of damaging his social standing, because he felt their "teadog set meal" implied that he and his grandson had become "dog friends." [China Daily]

20 comments

A group of seven advertising companies successfully txt spammed half of China. [Forbes]

9 comments

law

Charges Filed Against Importers Of Toxic Toothpaste

On Tuesday, the city of Los Angeles and the FDA charged the heads of two U.S. importing companies with 14 counts each of "receiving, selling and delivering an adulterated drug," for their roles in importing and distributing over 70,000 tubes of toothpaste containing diethylene glycol (DEG) instead of glycerin. "Each count carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine." More »

12:04 PM on Fri Mar 7 2008
By Chris Walters
1,546 views, 16 comments

safety

Lead Found In Dental Appliance

Finally! It's been so long since we've posted about anything tainted with lead that we were starting to wonder if all the world's trade problems had been resolved—but now comes a new study that found 210 parts per million (ppm) of lead in the porcelain veneer of a dental crown ordered from China. That's a lot less than the CPSC's current 600 ppm threshold, but a lot more than the international standard of only 90 ppm. The good news is it's highly unlikely developing children will need a mouth full of crowns and bridges. The bad news is it's yet another example of how hazardous material can slip undiscovered into the marketplace—and your mouth. More »

4:27 PM on Fri Feb 29 2008
By Chris Walters
2,429 views, 14 comments

Latest by n/a: Thank goodness that the major damages connected with lead poisoning have to do with killing nerves. So there is little discomfort as the number of brain cells is reduced-if fact there is progressive numbness. However Boomer's, Millenial's, Gen-Xer's, and Gen-Yer's more »

labels

"Made In Italy" Is Italian For "Made In Sweatshops"

That $1,500 Prada bag may have been stitched by an illegal Chinese immigrant slaving away in a Tuscan factory. The tentacles of globalization are starting to snake dirt-cheap foreign laborers into once-protected enclaves known for their quality swag. More »

10:23 AM on Sat Feb 23 2008
By Carey
5,165 views, 35 comments

backlash

Trader Joe's Will Remove All Single-Ingredient Food From China From Their Stores By April 1

Trader Joe's says consumers have demanded that they no longer carry single-ingredient food items from China and so that's exactly what they're going to do:
"Our customers have voiced concerns about products from this region and we have listened," Trader Joe's spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said in a statement.
More »

12:15 PM on Wed Feb 13 2008
By Meg Marco
5,503 views, 57 comments

government

FDA Wants To Open A Field Office In China

The FDA tells Reuters that it wants permission to open a field office on China so it has some "boots on the ground." Rather than inspecting food, this proposed FDA expansion team's main function would be to lobby the Chinese government for more stringent regulations. Be still our beating heart. More »

10:59 AM on Wed Feb 6 2008
By Meg Marco
590 views, 12 comments

inflation

Stuff From China Could Cost 10% More

Long the land of low low prices, the prices on consumer goods imported from China could rise by as much as 10 percent this year. What's changed in China?

  • Supply chains being scrutinized closer for lead, poison, other deadly defects
  • Government removing lucrative tax rebates for many exports
  • Rising wages
  • Plastic costs more because oil/petroleum costs more
  • New labor law
  • Ignored environmental laws now being enforced
  • Yuan's value rising against the dollar

    • Uhoh, WallyWorld is going to be pissed.

    China's Inflation Hits American Price Tags [NYT]
    (Photo: DCvision2006)

    9:00 AM on Fri Feb 1 2008
    By Ben Popken
    917 views, 18 comments

    chinese poison train

    Chinese Exporters Use Kosher Certification To Quell Food Safety Concerns

    Kosher certification is the new darling of health-conscious consumers who misguidedly believe that biblically blessed health standards can reign in the excesses of commercial food production. Even Chinese exporters are betting that kosher certification can convince foreign consumers that their wares are safe. To companies, certification is just a marketing tool: it lends the aura of safety without offering any actual food safety benefits.
    Many Chinese companies were unfamiliar with the concept: One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff. Another facility asked to get certified as kosher even though it was smoking eel on site, a kosher no-no. The company was turned down; it is now building a separate, kosher-only facility.
    More »

    9:30 AM on Sat Jan 19 2008
    By Carey
    3,422 views, 36 comments

    Latest by Greasy Thumb Guzik: @asherchang2: It's the Jewel on Howard St. @Erwos: You're joking aren't you? The Chinese fake everything. They won't care about a legit certificate, they'll just ship the stuff to the US in a container with other foods & then have a distributor more »

    manufacturing

    Poison: The High Cost Of Cheap Batteries

    Cadmium batteries are cheap and safe to use, but hazardous to manufacture. They'll save you money—about $1.50 for the average cadmium-powered toy, says the Wall Street Journal. More »

    1:19 PM on Tue Jan 15 2008
    By Meg Marco
    3,236 views, 24 comments

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