Tainted Chinese milk

[Riek]

This is just a god damned outrage:

http://www.theage.com.au/world/the-m...0923-4mhq.html

[Jarkis]

I have been following this for more then a month and again I am proven right on the quality of Chinese Made Goods.

This is not the first time.. And its not going to be the last. Chinese (PRC) companies are the most dishonest I have ever seen.

From lead in toys, to cardboard in food, to fake news reports(about the cardboard in food), to fake designer goods, to copied Dell Computers. Chinese companies have only profit in mind.

Right now there are more then 22 companies who have their goods testing positives. And the number is growing.

13000 babies now have kidney stones. When will the Chinese learn profits should never be the first priority. When will the world teach the Chinese a lesson and start boycotting their goods. I know it might sound counter productive, however does cheap labour and minimising production costs give companies the right to add toxic substances into their goods? Chinese Companies have much to learn about ethics. Living in a country whose imports from China is around 30%, we have seen bans of Chinese Goods, from Dieting Pills (caused Liver Failure) to simple electronics (cause house fires).

It was not a surprise to see this happen... again. It was an outrage. Babies die. People die. And they still don't care.

[Rosuav]

Originally posted by Jarkis
Chinese companies have only profit in mind.

Unfortunately the same can be said of many non-Chinese companies, too. This milk fiasco derives, if I've read the article correctly, from attempts to sell a lower-quality product while claiming that it is of higher quality - specifically, that a "magic number" (in this case protein level) is higher. It's the same story that plagued the CPU industry a while ago - look up the "megahertz myth" if you're not familiar with it. If quality is defined in terms of some quantifiable value, someone is going to figure out a way to keep that one value high while cutting costs elsewhere.

[Cais]

Yes, it's completely pathetic. I believe one reason that China's mistakes are so visible is because the majority of their GDP composition is in industry and, comparitively, agriculture: ie, the construction of leaded toys, tainted milk, poisoned pet foods.

I certainly don't think this style of business is entirely limited to China: America is currently in the throes of a blunderbuss service oriented GDP. It's a little easier to temporarily inflate the validity of a company when people's babies, pets, and tots aren't in such a direct path of danger, or death.

I love the college textbooks which contend that business is ethic-oriented; in my opinion, the only drive a business has is revenue and making sure stakeholder's are happy with their dividends. Codes of ethics are a facade, and compliance is a matter of survival. This is especially true in America, atleast to me, when the "public trust" of vast wealth died along with regulation, and the old era trust busting Republicans.

[Tartun]

It's a shame that the various western governments tax their own companies so heavily that the corporations are forced to take their businesses to the most ethically deprived corners of the "civilized" world as long as they are producing their goods anywhere but "home".

It's not just labor. Taxes, exaggerated environmental regulations, 32 hour work week caps, this and that-- that all add up and make it impossible for a company to turn the ideal profit in a civilized country so they pack everything up and take their business to places that allow them more freedom to run a business... Like Cambodia.

I can't look through my home for more than 2 minutes without finding something "Made in China" And the only thing that has kept those products from killing me and my family is probably "luck".

[Malacasta]

Yeah, those poor poor companies who are forced to use child labor or stop workers taking toilet breaks. My heart bleeds for them. My god! What if their directors were forced to use last years bmws? What if they couldn't afford to winter in Lake Como? The horror! Let's hope those 'ideal profits' arent hurt too much by those pesky dead babies.

[Darion]

Originally posted by Malacasta
Yeah, those poor poor companies who are forced to use child labor or stop workers taking toilet breaks. My heart bleeds for them. My god! What if their directors were forced to use last years bmws? What if they couldn't afford to winter in Lake Como? The horror! Let's hope those 'ideal profits' arent hurt too much by those pesky dead babies.

So you're in favor of...?

[Savaric]

Originally posted by Tartun
It's not just labor. Taxes, exaggerated environmental regulations, 32 hour work week caps, this and that-- that all add up and make it impossible for a company to turn the ideal profit in a civilized country so they pack everything up and take their business to places that allow them more freedom to run a business... Like Cambodia.

Low wages and little-to-zero environmental restrictions are why they send the work over there. But it also has a lot to do with one of capitalism's flaws/perks: competition. If they don't outsource they get eaten. And don't bust on environmental restrictions, because they are in the same ballpark with all that shit (goods and bad news) coming out of China. Our health and safety laws are why we do not have thousands of sick babies here in the states.

China is capitalistic communism -- whatever that is. But it is a really bad combination. Why are Chinese goods so cheap/dangerous? Because they will always find a way to put profit before safety, quality, workers and the environment. They're out to make money. And if that means lead in toy paint or antifreeze in toothpaste (both add sweetness!), then that's what they'll do.

[Katidyd]

It reminds me of the time those evil corporations injected cows with hormones to produce more milk and the gullible mass who swallowed the deal as if it'll turn them into mutant heros. Ah good old genetic engineered growth hormones.