Feb 09 2008
chinese food safety and no plaintiff’s attorneys
I hadn’t planned on doing a second post in this series about the lack of plaintiff’s attorneys in China, but this one was rather intriguing. Having worked for a firm that defended large companies in law suits internationally involving rather potent chemicals and pesticides that may have caused injuries, cancers, water contamination, etc., I had to admit that plaintiff’s lawyers do one thing well–okay, two things if you count getting rich off of corporate America–they force health and safety standards on businesses. (as do regulatory bodies as the FDA)
China obviously lacks such a well established plaintiff’s bar. And I haven’t yet read of a situation where Chinese plaintiff’s attorneys filed large suits regarding food safety. (but I could always be wrong… please comment if you have information)
So when I read this NY Times article ( h/t to China Digital Times), I was quite intrigued:
When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues.
“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”
In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.
In the past two years, the U.S.O.C. has tried to figure out how to avoid such dangers at the Olympics. It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods, which will ship 25,000 pounds of lean protein to China about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at the Games.
High time for Chinese plaintiff’s attorneys to rally.
