Highly Toxic Chinese Foods That You Should Know About

China is  known for its lack of control and supervision of food products. It seems too often that we hear about ongoing food scandals, like the selling of tainted milk, the mixing of rotting meat with fresh meat, the re-use of gutter oil, and the production of toxic dog food… just to mention a few.

The Chinese government made some arrests upon investigating several companies that had illegal practices of food production a few year ago. But that wasn’t enough. China failed to educate employers and employees about safe and ethical business practices in order to become more responsible producers of consumer goods. But the worst part is that these foods are then exported abroad. 

It’s no news that we come into contact with a lot of stuff labeled ‘Made in China’ on a daily basis. As Americans the Food and Drug Administration regulate most of what we consume and all different levels of food productions have to follow strict procedures to ensure the quality of our food. But several Chinese companies don’t follow international standards for safe food production and the U.S. failed to check the quality of these products too, which leaves us consumers at risk. (Come on, U.S., we shouldn’t have to be second-guessing the food at our grocery stores!)

It has even come down to the point where Wang Zhutian from the China National Center For Food Safety Risk Assessment, publicly stated that China should lower the standard and not follow international regulations of quality because China is still a “developing country.” This statement makes me laugh because it is so ridiculous that an entire country should lower their standard of living and put everyone at risk in order to “meet their national standard” of what is permissible. It’s hard to believe that Wang Zhutian is not even a little ashamed of bluntly saying that he doesn’t care about the health and safety of China’s citizens. Honestly, how does this guy sleep at night?

With something like that, how should anyone feel safe consuming products that come from China?

Here are 4 Chinese food products that have been proven to be toxic:

1. Tainted milk

Melamine and “Leather milk“—(chemical scraps left over from the leather softening process at tanneries)—are toxic chemicals that were added to milk products in China.

 

2. Mixing of rotten meat with fresh meat

Five major American fast food retailers—McDonald’s, Yum! Brands (parent company for Kentucky Fried Chicken), Papa John’s, Burger King, and Starbucks—have cancelled all orders from a Chinese supplier after learning from a TV report that the supplier was using rotten meat in fast-food products.

 

3. Re-using gutter oil

Gutter oil is cooking oil recycled from drains, sewers, and restaurant waste that has been refined and resold to restaurants through other companies.

 

4. Tainted dog food

PetCo. and Pet Smart have fallen victims of purchasing dog treats that contained harmful ingredients from China that have poisoned and even killed dogs in the U.S.