The next time you’re looking for a vitamin C tablet, you might want to reconsider. According to recent industry reports, 90% of all vitamin C sold in the US is manufactured in China. China also produces half of all aspirin, 70% of penicillin, 35% of acetaminophen (better known as Tylenol), and most vitamins A, C, E, and B-12.
This is not to say that all products, or even all vitamins, made in China are inferior or unsafe, but in light of past food and toothpaste contamination scandals, and particularly considering the recent gluten scare of wheat, in which thousands of beloved pets became ill or died due to contaminated wheat gluten imported from China; intensive research on the matter may be worthwhile. While residents of Texas and the rest of the US can take it for granted that their processing facilities are more or less properly inspected and that by the time the food product hits the open market in Austin, Dallas, Houston , anywhere else in Texas (or any other part of the country) is relatively safe, we can’t necessarily assume that about foreign facilities. No one finds this reassuring, from health insurance companies to the average citizen trying to recover from the flu.
Consistent application and enforcement of safety standards at Chinese manufacturing facilities is of primary concern. While some food and vitamin processing plants in China are “highly trained and do all the right things… (some) are just sloppy shops,” warns Peter Kovacs, a food industry consultant based in Incline Village, Nevada.
Scandals don’t help the situation either. It is not uncommon for fake Chinese antimalarial drugs to be exported to Southeast Asia, and neither is the distribution of fake drugs to treat impotence. Similar incidences have been reported in the export of powerful Chinese herbs, such as Ma Huang. When used correctly, Ma Huang is an effective treatment for asthma, but since it is more or less natural ephedra, its dosage must be carefully regulated by professionals, it is not used haphazardly as a weight loss aid, and it is placed on every shelf. from supermarkets. Worse yet, the former head of China’s Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was recently sentenced to death after being found guilty of accepting waste worth nearly $1,000,000 in exchange for allowing the release of unsafe drugs.
Chinese inspectors often experience conflicts of interest, which could be a major contributing factor, as in the case of Weisheng Pharmaceutical Company. Weisheng is the world’s largest producer of vitamin C, manufacturing 30,000 tons a year. With such a large facility, any average American would expect a proper inspection and reporting regimen to occur. But the inspectors assigned to the plant are, in fact, workers employed by a city that is part owner of Weisheng’s parent company. For such an inspector, returning a bad report on Weisheng could be a problem indeed.
And, although US industry workers report that, to all appearances, Weisheng’s facilities appear to be clean and well-maintained, the conflict of interest in enforcing any kind of regulation is clear.
We could take a page from the Boston Tea Party, dump the vitamins and drugs overboard, and simply refuse to buy any more… except Americans have no way of knowing where our products come from. Current labeling laws do not require companies to disclose the country they received their ingredients from, let alone which company. While all of this may explain the surprisingly low and suspiciously low prices of certain vitamins in recent years, it doesn’t do much to ensure that our products—products we think will improve our health—are even safe. How could we, when we have no way of knowing if our drugs and vitamins come from “sloppy bucket stores” or clean and maintained facilities? Personally, I’d rather not take the penicillin if I’m not sure if it has mold or not, or worse.
Solutions? Few at the moment, unfortunately. Eat well, for example. The better you maintain your diet, the fewer vitamins you’ll need, and considering recent reports that the nutrient value of our crops is declining, you may want to buy organic. Few Western doctors prescribe penicillin as a first choice, so that’s good news, and natural pain relievers are available for minor pain such as headaches and muscle aches.
In short: take care of yourself and there will be less need for medications or vitamins of any kind. Write to Congress and the Food and Drug Administration and let them know that this situation is unacceptable. This is particularly disconcerting, especially for those who have children or suffer from chronic illnesses. In other words, in the face of foreign exploitation, take the great traditions of America and start applying them. Stop buying products you’re unsure about, at least as much as possible, and start using the democratic process to protest. So many policies become objectionable simply because we don’t object to them.
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