愛污传媒

In the latest crisis over China's health and safety standards, government inspectors have revealed that some children's snacks have been deemed unsafe and hundreds of bottles of fake human blood protein were seized from hospitals.

The findings came from two separate investigations. At this point it is unclear whether any of the affected products were exported to Canada, said CTV's Beijing correspondent Steve Chao.

He said the results of the testing of children's snacks provided some startling results.

"They found that 40 per cent, 40 out of 100 children's snacks, failed food standard tests. Many of them had excessive additives and preservatives. In one case, candy fruit had 63 times the permitted amount of artificial sweetener," Chao told 愛污传媒net.

China's health and safety practices have increasingly come under the international microscope as China's global exports increase, and major customers such as the U.S., Japan and European Union have called for tougher inspections of exported products.

According to a report on China's central government website, inspectors in the southwest Guangxi region identified the high levels of additives and preservatives in snacks during sampling in the second quarter of 2007.

The snacks included soft drinks, candied fruits, gelatin desserts and some types of crackers. They were taken from 70 supermarkets, department stores and markets that sell wholesale products in seven Guangxi cities, according to the government report.

The report did not offer details about whether any of the products had been recalled or whether any of the companies that manufactured them would be disciplined.

Chao said there is widespread fear and anger among Chinese over the lack of standards regulating industry.

"In some cases of friends I've spoken with who were born and live here in China, they say that they won't feed their babies leafy vegetables for fear that the pesticides being used on these vegetables is simply too high. There's a great deal of concern, a great deal of anger as well at the government for what appears to them to be a lack of concern about food and health safety standards -- basic things that for a while, Chinese people took for granted."

Part of the problem, Chao said, is that many of China's food products come from small "mom and pop" manufacturers or farms that sell their goods to larger companies, making it difficult for the government to enforce tough regulations and standards.

However, Chao said, the government seems to be attempting to address the problem.

"And so you've got all these little places throughout the country and only a certain number of inspectors out there. The government has promised to increase food and drug inspections over the next few years. Already, as of June 1, all toys, for example, will need to pass rigid inspection tests."

Bad blood protein

In addition to the recent revelations about food products not meeting regulations, 420 fake bottles of a blood protein product known as albumin were found by inspectors at hospitals in Hubei province. However, none of the products were given to patients, The Associated Press reports.

An investigation was triggered in March after a shortage of albumin prompted worries that fake versions were being sold.

Last month, a state media report shed light on a probe in Jilin province in the northeast, where more than 2,000 bottles of the counterfeit product were sold in 59 hospitals and pharmacies.

According to the report, one person died from using the fake product. Albumin is a primary protein in human plasma which the body uses to maintain blood volume.

It is used to treat patients undergoing heart surgery, and by doctors treating conditions such as shock, burns, liver failure and pancreatitis.

Other recent scandals within China's health industry include recalls after the widespread sale of fake polio vaccines, vitamins and baby formula.

And in May, the former top drug regulator in the nation was sentenced to death for accepting bribes to approve medicines that didn't measure up.

But North American consumers sat up and took notice after Chinese wheat gluten tainted with a chemical form of melamine was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats that ate certain brands of pet food - leading to a massive recall of contaminated pet food.

The U.S. has also rejected or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe colour additives and toy trains coloured with lead paint.

Toothpaste from China containing a toxic ingredient typically found in antifreeze has also been banned by numerous countries in North America and South America after Panama reported the deaths last year of more than 100 people who used the product.

With files from The Associated Press