According to the New York Times, Chinese regulators have announced that rainbow trout can be sold as salmon within the country. Rainbow trout and salmon are closely related, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance found, and the breeds have apparently been sold interchangeably for several years. Because rainbow trout is cultivated in freshwater, consumers reportedly worry about the threat of parasites, which salmon cultivated in saltwater is less likely to carry. The regulators noted that markets and restaurants must list the species of fish and its origin on the label, such as “salmon (Atlantic salmon)” or “salmon (rainbow trout).”
Tag Archives China
China’s Ministry of Commerce has reportedly announced that it will require importers of U.S.-grown sorghum to pay a 178.6 percent deposit in anticipation of anti-dumping tariffs, which may discourage imports and directly affect American growers. A Chinese investigation apparently concluded that U.S. sorghum is being dumped on the Chinese market, despite denials from U.S. officials. “This approach is in line with Chinese law and [World Trade Organization] rules; it aims at correcting unfair trade practices, maintaining normal trade and competition order,” Wang Hejun, director of the ministry’s trade remedy and investigation bureau, reportedly said in a statement.
China has reportedly imposed tariffs on imports of U.S.-made agricultural products, including pork, soybeans, wheat, beef, orange juice, whiskey and corn, following the United States' imposition of tariffs on Chinese steel and other products. Several agriculture advocacy groups have expressed serious concerns about the projected effects of the tariffs. Max Baucus, former U.S. senator for Montana and chair of Farmers for Free Trade, reportedly told the New York Times, “American farmers appear to be the first casualties of an escalating trade war . . . [w]ith farm incomes already declining, farmers rely on export markets to stay above water.” "We regret that the administration has been unable to counter China’s policies on intellectual property and information technology in a way that does not require the use of tariffs," an April 4, 2018, press release from the American Soybean Association stated. "We still have not heard a response from the administration to our March…
A Shanghai court has reportedly fined three Chinese technology companies for their part in spreading rumors that KFC fare is produced with “mutant chickens” with eight legs and six wings. KFC filed a lawsuit in June 2015 seeking damages for economic losses and damage to its reputation. The court reportedly ordered the companies to make an official apology and pay a total of $91,191 (600,000 yuan) to KFC. Additional details about the lawsuit appear in Issue 567 of this Update. See Reuters, February 2, 2016. Issue 593
A study examining table salts sold in China has purportedly found that many brands contain microscopic plastic particles such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and cellophane. Dongqi Yang, et al., “Microplastic Pollution in Table Salts from China,” Environmental Science & Technology, October 2015. Relying on samples obtained from Chinese supermarkets, researchers report that microplastic content was highest in sea salts at 550–681 particles per kilogram, followed by lake salts at 43–364 particles/kg and rock salts at 7–204 particles/kg. The authors link this contamination to the pollution of coastal and estuary waters with water bottles, cellophane wrappers and the microbead exfoliates found in cosmetics. They also raise questions about the salt processing, drying and packaging process. Based on World Health Organization guidelines for salt intake, the study estimates that adults who maximize their sea salt consumption will ingest approximately 1,000 microplastic particles each year from table salt alone, in addition to the…
Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC has announced on its Chinese-language website that it has filed lawsuits against three Chinese media companies for allegedly spreading rumors that the company has bred its chickens to have eight legs and six wings. The complaint, filed in Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court, reportedly alleges that the media companies disseminated false information on social media about KFC’s food quality, including digitally altered photos of deformed chickens and rumors of maggots in a delivery order. KFC has more than 4,600 restaurants in China, accounting for about one-half of its revenue. The company reportedly alleges that 4,000 defamatory messages were viewed more than 100,000 times and seeks 1.5 million yuan, or about US$242,000, from each media company as well as an apology. See The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, June 1, 2015. Issue 567
The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Agriculture has reportedly failed to renew the biosafety permits for two research programs growing genetically modified (GM) corn and rice, raising concerns about the future of GMO production in China. According to media sources, the Agriculture Ministry has not yet authorized any GMOs for public consumption and decided to discontinue further research after a state TV report allegedly identified illegal GM rice varieties in markets located near Huazhong Agricultural University, which was developing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice. Although Greenpeace representatives and other stakeholders apparently cited public opinion as the motivation behind the announcement, Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy Director Huang Jikun suggested that the self-sufficiency of the domestic rice market has made the commercialization of Bt rice unnecessary. In addition, critics of the ministry’s decision have questioned whether the debate over GMO safety has taken a political bent. As…
Despite its seven-year investigation into jerky pet treats that may have killed more than 1,000 dogs and left thousands more ill, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “has still not been able to identify a specific cause for the reported illnesses or deaths.” According to an FDA news release, as of May 1, 2014, the agency had received more than 4,800 complaints of illness in pets that ate jerky treats made of chicken, duck or sweet potato. In its ongoing efforts to find a cause for the illnesses, FDA has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a study to determine whether sick dogs eat more jerky treats than healthy dogs do. Studies of the jerky treats revealed the presence of the antiviral drug amantadine, but “FDA does not believe that amantadine contributed to the illnesses because the known side effects or adverse effects associated…
Finding significant differences among the state laws applicable to a putative nationwide class action alleging injury to pets and economic damages from the purchase of dog treats containing chicken jerky from China, a federal court in California has denied the plaintiff’s request for class certification. Holt v. Globalinx Pet LLC, No. 13-0041 (C.D. Cal., S. Div., order entered January 30, 2014). According to the court, “[w]hile the Plaintiff maintains that the laws of California should apply to the proposed nationwide classes, the Defendants have catalogued a series of material differences between the consumer protection laws of several states and those of California, and crucially, this Court has already performed a case-specific conflict of law analysis and determined that Texas law would govern four of the named Plaintiff’s causes of action.” Agreeing that these differences were material, the court concluded that the proposed classes “do not meet the predominance and superiority…
The Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has announced a public consultation on a draft regulation, “Provisions on the Administration of the ‘Black List’ System for Food and Drug Safety,” that would give regulators the authority to blacklist companies that violate food safety laws. The regulation would allow information on manufacturers that violate laws and regulations concerning food, drugs, medical appliances, and cosmetics management, and receive administrative penalties, to be made public through government Websites. Producers and operators included on the “blacklist” would apparently face increased regulatory supervision. The draft regulation reportedly also covers food and beverage producers that fail to comply with production license requirements, mislabel products and do not respond appropriately to food safety incident cases. Companies using fallacious, unsubstantiated or misleading marketing would be ordered to suspend production and, in the case of serious breaches of regulations, have their business licenses revoked. Additions to the “blacklist” would…
