The reassuring headline of
Nelson Schwartz's story was, "Companies in U.S. Increase Testing of
Chinese Goods." They're almost proactive, "in one case... pulling merchandise
from American shelves at the first hint of a problem." That's a relief.
Why care?
The spate of recalls and the rising volume
of exports have highlighted another worry: the increasing dependence of the
United States’s biggest food manufacturers on China for basic additives like
apple juice [*], a common
sweetener, and preservatives like ascorbic acid.
These little-known additives form the
building blocks of many popular staples in American kitchens, keeping fruit
from turning brown or providing the sweetness in breakfast bars. Food
experts note, for example, that China supplies more than half of all the
apple juice imported to the United States, up from a fraction a decade ago.
Other critical but common additives have
followed an even sharper trajectory... More than 80 percent of ascorbic
acid, better known as vitamin C and also used as a preservative, comes from
China... Chinese imports of xanthan gum, used to thicken dairy products and
salad dressings, account for at least 40 percent of United States
consumption.
“This is a problem for the whole food
chain, but it was a blank spot,” [food industry consultant Peter] Kovacs
said. “They’re doing it now, but companies weren’t testing these additives
before.”
Glad they're on top of things.
And many food makers are nervous to discuss
what is emerging as an issue that could threaten the trust of shoppers in
long-established brands.
No kidding.
For the companies, the problem is two-fold:
figuring out exactly what to test for and maintaining control over their
network of suppliers, even as they turn to China for vast quantities of
imports at lower prices.
Or, how can the brand-destroying appearance
of chiseling be avoided without incurring the cost of not chiseling.
Meanwhile, we're assured that at least one Thomas-compatible train line is
safe:
[A]fter the Thomas recall last month, Toys
“R” Us went back and had its own Imaginarium train line tested by an outside
company. The toys proved to be safe. “In the past we would have just
reviewed prior test results,” Mr. Ruppert said. This time, “we just decided
to take the next step: real-time, real-life review by an outside company.”
In parts of the world, that might be
considered the first step.
That might have helped Foreign Tire Sales,
the seven-person outfit on the U.S. side of the recent
Chinese tire recall story. Their manufacturer had been
contracted to make the tires with a
gum strip that helps keep the tires' plies from separating; the tires
originally passed tests indicating that they met federal safety standards.
However:
In October 2005, the company said it became
concerned because of a sharp increase in customer complaints about the
Hangzhou Zhongce radial tires. In investigating the complaints, Foreign Tire
Sales’ officials became suspicious that Hangzhou Zhongce was manufacturing
the tires without the gum strips or with inadequate gum strips...
Tests of tire segments conducted by an
outside firm were not conclusive but “seemed to indicate that there were no
gum strips or insufficient gum strips in the inspected tires,” Foreign Tire
Sales wrote in its June 11 report to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
Hangzhou Zhongce admitted in September 2006
that it had “unilaterally decided to omit the gum strips” in the tires, the
report says. The Chinese company was “generally unresponsive” when asked how
many tires were involved and what they were going to do to resolve the
problem, the report says...
In May [2007], Foreign Tire Sales conducted
another round of road tests using 2005 Hangzhou Zhongce tires. This time,
the tread separated after just 25,000 miles, the report said.
Mr. Lavigne [the Foreign Tire Sales
attorney] said it appeared that Hangzhou Zhongce at times used no gum strips
on the tires and in other instances, used half the amount of gum strip that
was required by its agreement with the company.
So it took them "just" 19 months from when
they noticed the rash of customer complaints to conduct definitive tests
leading to the recall order. That's something to think about when politicians
say they want government to move at the "speed of business."
A catch is that Foreign Tire Sales can't afford the recall, as it reportedly
has no inventory and apparently no financial reserves to speak of. This
implies one sense in which the cheap Chinese tires may have been too cheap:
the price should have included a product liability insurance premium, in which
case F.T.S. wouldn't be facing extinction (for what that's worth) and taxpayer
wouldn't be facing up to a $90 million bill for the firm's lax oversight of
its suppliers.
