BEIJING - China executed a former director of its food and drug agency Tuesday for approving fake medicine in exchange for cash, illustrating how serious Beijing is about tackling product safety

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During Zheng Xiaoyu’s tenure as head of the State Food and Drug Administration from 1997 to 2006, the agency approved six untested drugs that turned out to be fake, and some drug-makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, according to state media reports. One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.

LOS ANGELES - It’s bound to go down the wrong way in Beijing: A U.S. health food company will label its products ”China-Free” to ease concerns about contamination.

Good. China is sucking right now. They should have a notice of the country of origin the product is from, on everything. Fake drugs, tainted petfood, contaminated seafood and shellfish, childrens toy painted with lead paint, poisonous toothpaste, faulty tires, this is a lot of dangerous crap.

damn, it reminds me of that simpsons episode where Homer climbs that giant mountain with those energy bars made from old chinese newspapers.

And steamed buns made of 60% cardboard! http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/1...d.ap/index.html

I was reminded of the "Space Meat" from Invader Zim upon reading the article...

BEIJING - Beijing police have detained a television reporter for fabricating an investigative story about steamed buns stuffed with cardboard at a time when China’s food safety is under intense international scrutiny.

A report directed by Beijing TV and played on state-run national broadcaster China Central Television last Thursday said an unlicensed snack vendor in eastern Beijing was selling steamed dumplings stuffed with cardboard soaked in caustic soda and seasoned with pork flavoring.

Beijing authorities said investigations had found that an employee surnamed Zi had fabricated the report to garner “higher audience ratings,” the China Daily said on Thursday.

Mattel Inc.'s Fisher-Price unit is recalling nearly 1 million Chinese-made toys, including popular licenses Elmo and Dora the Explorer, on concerns they may contain hazardous levels of lead paint, the third recall of toys made in China in recent weeks.

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A Gilroy company's recall of Chinese fresh ginger contaminated with a toxic pesticide is the latest scare involving imported ginger and other food products from China.

No illnesses were reported as of Monday, a day after California officials first issued a public warning to advise consumers against eating fresh Chinese ginger.

State and federal health officials are now working to determine how the ginger got into this country and how widely it has been sold. It's not the first time that contaminated Chinese ginger has been a problem.

U.S. port inspectors in Seattle have turned away shipments of Chinese ginger that contained pesticides in recent months, according to news reports. And Japanese authorities acknowledged this month that they mistakenly allowed 25 tons of Chinese ginger laced with pesticide into their country.