A Chinese Quick Fix for Tainted Food Products

Market Watch reports that the Chinese government took prompt action following the world-wide problems of anti-freeze in the toothpaste, killer pet food etc. They simply executed the man in charge:

China executed the former chief of its food and drug agency on Tuesday for taking bribes and dereliction of duty, amid increasing pressure on the country to improve the safety of its products after a string of highly publicized incidents have raised serious safety concerns over its products.

The former official, Zheng Xiaoyu, who had been sentenced to death on May 29, was executed Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Zheng was found guilty of taking 6.49 million yuan, or about $850,000, in bribes, including cash and gifts, and dereliction of duty, Xinhua reported.

Hmm…makes you wonder about our feckless Food and Drug Administration. I want to know who is responsible for their abysmal “Food Pyramid.” And who on board does the pushing for milk products? How about the long, costly drug approval process or the arbitrary elimination of products safely available in Europe?

As for taking bribes, Congress ought to clean house - or clean the cash out of the freezer - before the umm…hatchet falls, so to speak.

Meanwhile, I hope Chertoff is down on his knees, reciting long prayers of gratitude that he’s not in charge of anything in China. Prayers that start with “there but for the grace of God…”

Nothing like a few summary executions to bring about a profound change in attitude, hmm? Still, I’m not likely to be buying Chinese food products in the near future. Too bad…their clams were cheap.

But it takes more than one killing to clean up the Chinese bureaucracy. It brings new, surreal shades of meaning to "byzantine."

[ends here]