It seems a day doesn't go by when on the news we hear of yet another recall of some product that has it's origins from China. We were first perhaps made aware of the recalls during the month of March of this year. Back then we heard of the massive recall of pet foods that were all manufactured by the one major pet food industry, Menu Foods. Scores of various pet food labels came from this one company, including the very expensive IAMS pet food. The problem as many are now all to aware of, was the fact that the one ingredients, known as "wheat gluten" was processed from wheat imported from China, and of which later on, when tested, proved to contain rat poison. We may never know the devastating exact numbers of pets who died as a result from this horrific event. Here you had trusting pet owners, who were giving what they thought was the best pet food money could buy, not realizing that they were actually poisoning their pets. Many pets suffered the horrendous effects from this food, and had to be put down to end their misery.
Then not long afterwards, we heard of recalls of toothpaste that was made in China and most often sold under brand named labels, though bogus and a counterfeit version of brands like Colgate, and were usually sold in those inexpensive dollar stores. In this case the contamination involved diethylene glycol, which is an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze.
Yes, it seems in the news one recall after another after another is taking place in so many areas, and granted not all are related to inferior, contaminated or just plain dangerous items that are on the market, and not all are in relation to products from China that are sold worldwide, but most are. The latest recall of course, is the massive recall of toys, manufactured by one of the largest toy companies in the world: Mattel. These toys, while under the Mattel label are predominately made in China, and of which contain lead paint which if a small child ingests will cause lead poisoning, which has a variety of symptoms, such as I quote from this article.
......"The symptoms of chronic lead poisoning include neurological problems, such as reduced cognitive abilities, or nausea, abdominal pain, irritability, insomnia, metal taste in oral cavity, excess lethargy or hyperactivity, headache and, in extreme cases, seizure and coma. There are also associated gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite, weight loss, which are common in acute poisoning. Other associated effects are anemia, kidney problems, and reproductive problems. In humans, lead toxicity sometimes causes the formation of a bluish line along the gums, which is known as the "Burton's line", although this is very uncommon in young children. Blood film examination may reveal "basophilic stippling" of red blood cells, as well as the changes normally associated with iron deficiency anemia (microcytosis and hypochromia). A direct link between early lead exposure and extreme learning disability has been confirmed by multiple researchers and child advocacy groups....."
From this statement above, especially the last sentence, it makes one wonder, if very young children, who have been playing and been in contact with toys in the past, may have indeed been exposed to lead paint in their toys that were manufactured in China, and may even perhaps explain the rise of children with diagnosed autism and even ADHD itself. It also makes one wonder just how long such toy items have been in the market. It is estimated that about eighty percent of all toys sold worldwide are made in China, and have been for many, many years, and not just recently.
In my viewpoint, it's unfortunate that almost anything and everything is made in China these days. Take a look at just about any item sold, not only here in the United States, but worldwide, and there is a sure bet, it's made in China. All products from China are made inexpensively for the most part, and are sole to the consumer at a far less expensive price tag than items made here. However, the real irony is that even if any item or product is made elsewhere, including the United States, it will most likely have some of its component parts assembled and made in China as well. And what about our food products? How safe are they? How much of say the ingredient wheat gluten found in any of our foods, has it's origins from wheat from China. Wheat gluten shows up in all kinds of foods. If you look at the labels of any food, including frozen veggie burgers, you see the ingredient wheat gluten...It truly makes one hesitant in purchasing the food item...how do we know where that wheat came from, and why oh, why, since America is one of the richest countries in the world, why are we relying so much on any kind of foreign products and resources when we have our own resources here? Why? Because unfortunately, all companies whether here in America or elsewhere are looking for the most inexpensive means of creating the product, and where one can fulfill the least expensive means of doing so is the reason why we're all importing items from China.
To my mind, I think a general boycott of anything produced, manufactured and made in China should ensue, and this boycott should continue until China sets up stricter guidelines, inspections, safety measures and practices in anything and everything it produces for worldwide distribution.
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