Chinese authorities plead their case in the recent food safety uproar, saying international media have taken a global problem and unfairly laid it on China’s shoulders. From AP via the Washington Post:
“Foreign media are using irrelevant cases or just a few cases to make the safety issue much bigger than it is and have linked this to the success of hosting the Olympics,” [Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan] said.
…Mao said the Health Ministry dealt with 111,226 cases of illegal food production in 2006 while inspecting products including baby food, health supplements and additives. He said 29,571 businesses were shut down and 1,700 tons of goods were destroyed. [Full Text]