Pill consumption may decline in Texas: Industries report most vitamins are made in China
Next time you’re looking for a vitamin C tablet, you might want to reconsider. According to recent industry reports, 90% of all vitamin C sold in the US is made in China. China also produces half of all aspirin, 70% of penicillin, 35% of paracetamol (better known as Tylenol), and most vitamins A, C, E, and B-12.
This is not to say that all products, or even all vitamins, made in China are inferior or unsafe, but in light of past food and toothpaste contamination scandals, and particularly considering the recent gluten scare of wheat, in which thousands of beloved pets became sick or died due to contaminated wheat gluten imported from China; intensive research into the matter may be worthwhile. While residents of Texas and the rest of the US can take it for granted that their processing facilities are more or less properly inspected and that by the time the food product reaches the open market in Austin, Dallas, Houston , anywhere else in Texas (or any other part of the country) is relatively safe, we can’t necessarily assume that about foreign installations. No one finds this reassuring, from health insurance companies to the average citizen trying to recover from the flu.
Consistent application and enforcement of safety regulations at Chinese manufacturing facilities is the number one concern. While some food and vitamin processing plants in China are “highly trained and do everything right… (some) are just sloppy shops,” says Peter Kovacs, a food industry consultant based in Incline Village, Nevada.
Scandals don’t help the situation either. It is not uncommon for fake Chinese antimalarial drugs to be exported to Southeast Asia, nor is the distribution of fake drugs to treat impotence. Similar incidences have been reported in the export of powerful Chinese herbs, such as Ma Huang. When used correctly, Ma Huang is an effective asthma treatment, but since it is more or less natural ephedra, its dosage must be carefully regulated by professionals, it is not used haphazardly as a weight loss aid, and it is thrown all over the shelves. from supermarkets. Worse yet, the former head of China’s Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was recently sentenced to death after being found guilty of accepting bribes equal to nearly $1,000,000 in exchange for allowing the release of unsafe drugs.
Chinese inspectors often experience conflicts of interest, which could be a major contributing factor, as in the case of Weisheng Pharmaceutical Company. Weisheng is the world’s largest producer of vitamin C, manufacturing 30,000 tons a year. With such a large facility, any average American would expect a proper regime of inspections and reporting to occur. But the inspectors assigned to the plant are, in fact, workers employed by a city that is co-owned by Weisheng’s parent company. For such an inspector, returning a bad report on Weisheng could be a problem, indeed.
And while American industry workers report that Weisheng’s facility appears to all appearances to be clean and well-maintained, the conflict of interest in enforcing any kind of regulation is glaring.
We could take a page from the Boston Tea Party, throw the vitamins and drugs overboard, and simply refuse to buy any more… except that Americans have no way of knowing the place of origin of our products. Current labeling laws do not require companies to disclose the country from which they received their ingredients, much less from which company. While all of this may explain the surprisingly low and suspiciously low prices for certain vitamins in recent years, it doesn’t do much to make sure that our products—products that we believe will improve our health—are even safe. How could we, when we have no way of knowing if our medicines and vitamins come from sloppy “bucket shops” or clean, well-maintained facilities? Personally, I’d rather not take the penicillin if I’m not sure if it’s moldy or not, or worse.
Solutions? Few at the moment, unfortunately. Eat well, for example. The better you maintain your diet, the fewer vitamins you’ll need, and given recent reports that the nutrient value of our crops is declining, you may want to buy organic. Few Western doctors prescribe penicillin as a first choice, so that’s good news, and natural pain relievers are available for minor aches such as headaches and muscle aches.
Bottom line: take care of yourself and there will be less need for medication or vitamins of any kind. Write to Congress and the Food and Drug Administration and let them know that this situation is unacceptable. This is particularly disconcerting, especially for those who have children or suffer from chronic illnesses. In other words, in the face of foreign exploitation, take the great traditions of America and start applying them. Stop buying products you are unsure about, at least as much as possible, and start using the democratic process to protest. So many policies become objectionable simply because we don’t object to them.
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