China pulls licenses over tainted exports

China’s product safety watchdog said today that it had revoked the business licenses of several firms that had exported products tainted with diethylene glycol or melamine.

The General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the business license had been pulled for Taixing Glycerin Factory, accused of exporting diethylene glycol and passing it off as 99.5% pure glycerin. It went into Panamanian medicines that killed at least 51 people.

It also revoked the licenses for Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co., which added melamine to their wheat gluten exports. The gluten was used in pet food in North America that is blamed for sickening dogs and cats, killing some.

China is struggling to contain growing allegations about product quality that have hammered its reputation as a food and drug exporter and spread alarm in the country. In the latest development, a Chinese candy maker denied Philippine assertions that one of its products was tainted with formaldehyde.

In a statement Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Washington moved to calm fears about the safety of China’s exports, saying the government takes the issue seriously and is working to address the problem.

It also cautioned against impugning the country’s entire food industry based on individual lapses in safety.