”Made in China” Ping.
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Posted on 10/07/2007 2:12:21 AM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
(QINGDAO, China) -- First comes the "wind shower." Employees wearing overalls and rubber boots stand in a narrow room at Fusheng Food Co. as air jets blow off any dust on them. They wade through ankle-deep disinfectant and don caps, gloves and surgical masks.
Only then can they enter the chilly, white-tiled room where they pack Alaska salmon for U.S. dinner tables and Russian cod for McDonald's sandwiches in Japan. The Japanese-owned company says the fish already has been tested for more than 100 banned chemicals.
"I am very confident in saying our food is excellent and the safest in the world," Zhong Yuhua, general manager, told reporters gathered for the government-organized tour of three food exporters in Shandong province, southeast of Beijing.
Fusheng is part of the Chinese food industry elite of export-oriented companies that have stepped up quality to meet import standards in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.
As the government tries to repair the battered "Made in China" brand, it is holding these companies up as models.
The reputation of China's $31 billion-a-year food export industry has taken a beating after incidents with toxic chemicals in Chinese pet food and toothpaste, and banned drugs in seafood. Other exporters have been hammered by recalls or warnings about a variety of Chinese goods, from faulty tires to toys tainted with lead paint.
U.S. authorities restricted imports of Chinese shrimp, eel and three types of fish in July after tests found unapproved drugs in some shipments -- a move Chinese officials criticized as excessive. Last month, U.S. officials cleared one Chinese supplier to resume shipments.
Shandong province is the heart of China's food export industry and has close ties with Japan and South Korea, which lies a short ferry ride away across the Yellow Sea.
Its 2,600 food exporters sell frozen chicken patties, vegetables, fish and dumplings. One-third of their $3.5 billion in exports in the first five months of this year went to Japan, according to the government. Other markets include the United States and Britain.
"Japanese standards for imported food products are high, maybe too high," said Fusheng's Zhong, a three-decade veteran of food processing. "There might be political reasons, such as Japan wanting to protect its farmers. But we have no alternative but to meet those standards if we want to get into the market."
Once a state-owned company, Fusheng was bought in 1994 by Japan's Rinken Vitamin Co., which brought in consultants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and food testing companies to meet Japanese import standards, Zhong said. Last year, the company reported $63 million in exports to the United States, Japan and Europe.
Today, Zhong said, enforcement measures include docking employees' paychecks by as much as 40 percent if inspectors find such errors as bones left in fish.
Longda, which has joint ventures with Japanese partners, says 90 percent of its $203 million in exports last year went to Japan. The third company, Kaijia Food Co., a Chinese-Japanese joint venture, exported $50 million worth of goods, including Japanese-style pickles to the United States and chicken patties to Britain.
Made in China, a globally recongnized warning label.
AP and Reuters have been bribed to write these articles as China starts a PR initiative.
Yes!!!
Good article. Yes, China’s success will depend on their ability to meet the requirement of market forces. And this article is an example of one food processor who is.
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