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"To Outsourcing Corporate America: It's On!"
Chinese track how date-rape drug got on toys
Safety watchdog confirms factory that made beads that sickened children
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Toys tied to date-rape drug recalled Nov. 8: The U.S. recalls Chinese-made Aqua Dots, which contain a chemical that converts into a "date rape" drug when ingested. Today show |
BEIJING - China's safety watchdog confirmed Saturday that toy beads recalled in the United States and Australia after sickening children contain a substance that can turn into the "date-rape" drug after ingested.
The toys, coated with the industrial chemical 1,4-butanediol, were made by the Wangqi Product Factory in Shenzhen, a city just over the border from Hong Kong, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine said in a statement.
When ingested, the chemical metabolizes into the "date-rape" drug gamma hydroxy butyrate, also known as GHB, which can cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
Millions of units of the popular toys, which are sold as Aqua Dots in the United States and as Bindeez in Australia, were recalled in those countries as well as Britain, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere this past week after children began falling sick from swallowing the toy's bead-like parts.
The recall is the latest in a slew of product quality scandals that has tarnished China's image as an exporter of reliable goods. The government has tried to shore up the country's reputation by increasing inspections, selectively punishing companies and launching a publicity campaign to boost quality.
The toys are manufactured for Australia-based Moose Enterprises, and production was outsourced to Wangqi by a Hong Kong agent, the safety watchdog said. It did not identify the Hong Kong company.
"The Shenzhen factory started to produce the bead toys after its trial products provided to the agent received no objection," the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
At least nine children in the U.S. and three in Australia have fallen sick.
A man identifying himself as Mr. Liang who answered the phone at Wangqi confirmed the company made toys but said he did not know if the toys were the same ones in the recalls. Liang said the company's managers were not available to comment.
The Chinese government has already suspended exports of the toys, the safety watchdog said.
The watchdog said it asked the United States for information on the medical problems the children suffered because of the toys so that it can carry out more tests.
Companies worldwide have increasingly outsourced manufacturing, often choosing Chinese factories for their cost and quality. But heated competition among factories and the rising cost of labor, land and fuel have sometimes put pressure on profits, causing some producers to cut corners.
In the latest case, the Aqua Dots or Bindeez were supposed to have been coated with nontoxic 1,5-pentanediol, a chemical commonly used in computer printer ink. But that chemical generally sells for three or four times the price of the toxic compound found on the tainted toys, 1,4-butanediol.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21739144/
MADE IN USA - Time To Tell Outsourcing Corporate America To Take Their Goods and Shove ‘Em.
The holiday season is upon us and this is the time of year to support those companies that support our American way of life. Too many American Corporations have decided to take our jobs overseas so they can capitalize on the cheaper labor, less regulations for safety and environment, and most importantly, the larger profit margins.
The importance of doing this at this time of year was addressed in an entry http://thecapt.blog-city.com/americans_time_of_power_is_now__the_power_of_your_dollar_can_15.htm
They took our jobs over to Asia on our tax dollar, and now want to sell these goods back to us at a prices no lower than when Americans were doing the job. Are we stupid enough to let corporate America get away with sending us dangerous and inferior goods to our families? Our own government seems to be working against us when it comes to these imports. The Food And Drug Administration, the Consumer Protection Agency, and Homeland Security have been ravaged budget and staff wise to leave them impotent in protecting Americans.
This calls for taking action, getting Corporate America to understand we will not be taken for granted for their greater profits. Where are they spending these profits? Fewer taxes come back to this nation from this corporate outsourcing. This money is going into off-shore accounts and hedge funds. This Holiday Season let’s make a difference in the United States by buying MADE IN THE USA.
This is a starter list of American businesses producing their wares in the United States. These are companies circulating their money back into our economic system, and providing jobs for Americans. These folks deserve our business!
Feel free to add more companies and links to the list so Americans can have a choice to buy goods made in this country produced by U.S. citizens. These lists are not perfect, so any problems or good points about the links and companies would graciously be appreciated to keep us all abreast of how to buy American. So we will be adding and subtracting information as we become more aware of the reality of BUYING MADE IN THE USA.
http://yedies.blogspot.com/2007/07/made-in-usa.html
http://toysmadeinamerica.com/ 120 AMERICAN COMPANIES
NEIL CAVUTO OF FOX BUSINESS SAYS: Battleship• Bicycle Playing Cards• Boggle Jr.• Candyland• Chutes and Ladders• Clue• Connect Four• Crayola Crayons *• Life• Louisville Slugger• Monopoly• Mouse Trap• Operation• Parcheesi• Play-Doh *• Pop-O-Matic Trouble• Radio Flyer Discovery Wagon• Scrabble• Sorry• Stratego• Tri-ominos• Trivial Pursuit• Yahtzee• Melissa and Doug U.S.A. Floor Puzzle (Most puzzles are made in the USA!)
* Note: Not all packages of Crayola Crayons and Play-Doh are made in the USA -- please check the label.
As more and more information becomes available from you, we will add this information to this list. Please feel free to contribute. You will be doing yourself and fellow citizens a tremendous favor. Let’s all get together and help each other to help ourselves. This is America. Let’s show a little pride!
QUESTION EVERYTHING! THAT'S WHERE THE TRUTH RESIDES. USE YOUR PERSONAL POWER.