Noon International: Food Trading Import Export http://www.noon-intl.com/blog Food Trading and Import and Export Company for China and Japan Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:12:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 en Ministry Of Health Takes Over State Food And Drug Administration http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/09/04/ministry-of-health-takes-over-state-food-and-drug-administration/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/09/04/ministry-of-health-takes-over-state-food-and-drug-administration/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:12:11 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/09/04/ministry-of-health-takes-over-state-food-and-drug-administration/ The China State Council has approved the implementation of the Ministry of Health to take over all the duties of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the South China Morning Post reported on Monday. The Ministry of Health will now become the sole supervisor for food, public health and pharmaceuticals.

The move supposedly is to bolster safety and eliminate corruption and bribery (former head of SFDA Zheng XiaoYu was executed last July 2007 for taking bribes).

It is not clear at this time what implications, if any, this will have on Chinese exporters of frozen foods. Will the MOH have the staff to monitor and regulate food safety? Will it lead to more corruption? Time will tell.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/09/04/ministry-of-health-takes-over-state-food-and-drug-administration/feed/ U.S., China Set Up Food Safety Mechanisms http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/06/26/us-china-set-up-food-safety-mechanisms/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/06/26/us-china-set-up-food-safety-mechanisms/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:10:12 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/06/26/us-china-set-up-food-safety-mechanisms/ The United States and China are making progress on cooperation on food and feed import safety, according to a joint update by both nations following economic talks in Annapolis, Md., last week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine have set up designated points of contact, emergency contacts, thresholds for notification, enhanced information exchange and studied each other’s regulatory system to better react to health dangers in Chinese supplied food products.

Last December, the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to provide greater information and quality assurances to improve the safety of food traded between the two countries.

Work is continuing on development of a system under which AQSIQ will electronically certify to FDA that specific products sent for export to the United States meet FDA standards for safety and manufacturing quality.

The FDA has also agreed to train Chinese officials on U.S. regulatory standards and requirements.

The governments have also agreed to share information to assist investigations of fraud or deception by food suppliers.

contributed by Alan Davis, adavis@sspllc.com

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/06/26/us-china-set-up-food-safety-mechanisms/feed/ Beware of “Product of Canada” http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/08/beware-of-product-of-canada/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/08/beware-of-product-of-canada/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 03:21:06 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/08/beware-of-product-of-canada/ Is product labeled “Product of Canada” really from Canada?? The Canadian label laws are somewhat lax and allow product that has at least 51% of the production costs of a food item added in Canada and some transformation has taken place, then it can be labeled as “Product of Canada”.

What does it mean? It means apple juice maybe product of China, or olives from Spain can be product of Canada, or frozen carrots mixed with Canadian peas can be product of Canada, and peanut butter and coffee beans bear the product of Canada label yet neither are grown in Canada.

Let the consumer beware.

Read the article here from Globe and Mail.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/08/beware-of-product-of-canada/feed/ China Food Safety Draft Law Peoples Comments http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/01/china-food-safety-draft-law-peoples-comments/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/01/china-food-safety-draft-law-peoples-comments/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 22:27:00 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/01/china-food-safety-draft-law-peoples-comments/ Nearly 5000 comments have been received on the China food safety draft law.

Some of the key comments:

  • Citizens in favor and feel this is a “putting people first” law.
  • Tighter controls of procedures recommended.
  • Clarifying food safety responsibilities.
  • Establish uniform standards.
  • Improve monitoring of small food processors.
  • Food definition should include water, edible oils, beverages, produce and meat.
  • Designate a single entity or department instead of many to monitor food safety regulations.

Read the full article from China View here.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/05/01/china-food-safety-draft-law-peoples-comments/feed/ China Food Safety Draft http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/22/china-food-safety-draft/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/22/china-food-safety-draft/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:37:42 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/22/china-food-safety-draft/ China is getting serious about food safety. A new draft law released by the
China government will impose severe penalties, including jail time and possibly life imprisonment.

China is going all out to improve substandard food and penalize manufactures that are not up to par. They will be fined according to the severity of the offense or possibly jailed. The new initiative will implement new traceback systems to monitor food safety.

Some food companies (Nestle, Mars, and Coca-Cola to name a few) are complaining that the new standards will not change anything, but will just increase production cost.

Other countries are setting up their own systems to protect the imported product from China. The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) is planning on opening a office in Beijing next month just to take such action.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/22/china-food-safety-draft/feed/ Food Safety Poll http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/13/food-safety-poll/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/13/food-safety-poll/#comments Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:56:34 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/13/food-safety-poll/ I found the following poll conducted by the Japan Youth Research Institute very intriguing. The poll indicates the following percent check for food safety:

  • Chinese 41.6 percent
  • South Koreans 19.9 percent
  • Americans 17.5 percent
  • Japanese 13.0 percent

My question is how do they check for food safety? I have never seen a sticker or other marking indicating the food is safe. Or does it mean that some societies just expect the food to be safe and there is no need to check for food safety. In Noon International dealings with frozen food exports we find that the Japanese border on fanaticism when it comes to food safety, why the disparity with the poll? Perhaps because we at Noon are not dealing with the end user.

The survey also asked if they bought food based on the health benefits, such as organic food. Again the results are interesting:

  • Chinese 75.6 percent answered yes.
  • Japanese 34.2 percent answered yes.

I know that through the centuries the Chinese have been conscious of health benefits. If you have ever been entertained by the Chinese, then you know how they will always tell you this food is good for such and such and this is good for that. So their response is normal. However seeing the Japanese response of only 34.2 percent seems strange. They always seem to go overboard if there are certain benefits derived from a food. If you tell them broccoli is good for cancer then they all run to the stores to buy broccoli. Fanatical.

What does it all mean?? It is just one of those mysteries.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/13/food-safety-poll/feed/ Rat Found In South Korean Food From COSTCO http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/07/rat-found-in-south-korean-food-from-costco/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/07/rat-found-in-south-korean-food-from-costco/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:30:27 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/07/rat-found-in-south-korean-food-from-costco/ Here is an interesting email I received from a China colleague:

South Korea’s food safety authority said Friday that it is probing how a rat was found in a U.S.-made frozen vegetable products and demanded an immediate recall of the products.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration ordered the local unit of the U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp., which was selling the products made by the U.S.-based Columbia Foods Inc., to immediately recall and destroy the product named “Willow Wind Organic Mixed Vegetables,” South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.

The investigation was carried out after a local consumer complained to Costco’s Korean unit on Monday that a substance suspected to be a rat was found in the product, the food safety agency said at a statement.

“After initially checking the foreign substance, it was believed to be a 4-centimeter-long rat,” the statement said.

The agency said it is probing how the foreign substance was included in the product.

The product was imported into South Korea as of March 5 and sold in only six outlets of Costco’s Korean unit, according to the statement.

“We would like to express our deepest apologies for causing inconvenience to our customers,” Costco’s Korean said at a statement.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/04/07/rat-found-in-south-korean-food-from-costco/feed/ Life Expectancy http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/26/151/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/26/151/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:07:52 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/26/151/ I am intrigued to discover that on the latest CIA Life Expectancy (LE) tables the USA is ranked 45th (or 29th on the UN country list of LE). Here in the USA, the high tech medical country, yet we only rank 45th. I have to ask myself why only 45th if we are so advanced in our state of the art of medicine? The only answer I can come up with is that nutrition must be a key factor in LE. Nutrition is an area were the USA falls down, junk food, prepared foods, and rich desserts are the eating habits of today. With our fast food diets our medical industry is left to combat our ill eating habits. Obesity and diabetes are becoming bigger daily. The health industry can only do so much and at some point we the individual have to take charge of our own eating habits and nutritional intake.

Perhaps we should look at the leaders Andorra, Macau, Japan, San Marino, Singapore and Hong Kong (4 of the 6 from Asia with 3 from S.E. Asia). What do they eat? We should start looking at their eating habits and model our own habits after them.

If we look further at the table you will see that at the bottom of the list are African countries that have LEs of only 40+ years. Can you imagine an LE of 40? This is no better than it was in the USA back in the 19th century. Why is it that in this prosperous world we can’t improve the LE in Africa? Why can’t we teach them and give them technology to improve their food delivery?

Food safety is an issue that can help to improve our lives and particularly in the African countries. However food safety cannot counter the effects of junk food. It is time for us as a nation to raise the bar and become aware of our health habits and eat proper nutritional foods. Let’s reach for a new level of excellence.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/26/151/feed/ China’s Environment http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/20/chinas-environment/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/20/chinas-environment/#comments Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:55:53 +0000 JAC http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/20/chinas-environment/ Environmental issues are the second most frequent subject of public protest in China after disputes over land. Wonder why?

Some of the actual facts are:

80% of China’s electricity comes from coal; the sulfur that spews from the smokestacks of coal-fired power stations causes acid rain and the soot generates smog.

The OECD cites a finding that air pollution alone reduces China’s output by between 3% and 7% a year, mainly because of respiratory ailments that keep workers at home.

The amount of water available per head of population is only a quarter of the global average. In the arid North and West of China the figure is only one tenth of the global average.

Two in three cities already suffer from water shortages of some sort.

Groundwater in China is being pumped out much faster than is being replenished.

Most cities don’t treat sewage water at all; Beijing the hosting city for the 2008 Olympics doesn’t treat 100% of their sewage water.

Over half the water in the seven biggest river basins is unfit for consumption, according to a recent report from the World Bank. The resulting health problems reduce rural output by 2%, the World Bank found. The cost to industry and agriculture of dirty and scarce water sap GDP by another percentage point.

The World Bank put the price tag for China’s air and water pollution at $100 billion a year, or about 5.8% of GDP.

China’s paramount environmental regulator estimates the annual cost of environmental damage at 8 - 13% of GDP - much the same as the overall economic growth rate.

These are really scary numbers which make me think about Thomas Friedman, NY Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author, quote on climate change: “Don’t change your light bulbs; change your leaders.” Bono from U2 during the recent Davos Forum suggested changing both, I concur.

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/20/chinas-environment/feed/ China To Enact New Food Safety http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/07/china-to-enact-new-food-safety/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/07/china-to-enact-new-food-safety/#comments Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:14:02 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/03/07/china-to-enact-new-food-safety/ China states it will be enacting 7700 new or update national safety rules, see the article from the UK Guardian here.

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