The persistent problem of food and pharmaceutical safety in China

FDA authorities check vaccines against Rabies at Huaibei's Center for Disease Control and Prevention The Chinese authorities are struggling to defuse public opinion over a safety scandal involving rabies vaccines, just one of many scandals related to food and the drugs that have hit the country in recent years

. the country's amazing growth over the last four decades, many consumers in the world secon D-biggest economy still lives in fear of consuming toxic foods or dangerous or ineffective drugs.

Here are some of the biggest scandals that have emerged over the last decade:

July 2018: Chinese drug maker Valsartan, which is widely used in the US and Europe, launches a global recall after the active ingredient has been found to be tainted by a carcinogen.

March 2016: Authorities Arrest 130 People on Inadequate Storage and Transportation of Millions of Dollars of Most Expired Vaccines, Including Vaccines Against Poliomyelitis, Rabies, Hepatitis B and Influenza . More than 350 government officials eventually dismissed or demoted

April 2012: Police in Zhejiang Oriental Province detain 22 people for manufacturing drugs containing chromium, a toxic raw material produced from scrap metal

A carcinogenic toxin from molds are detected in Ava Dairy infant formula. The production of the company is halted and its formula recalled

September 2011: Thirty-two people are arrested for sale of cooking oil made from oil thrown into gutters, which contains carcinogens.

November 2011: Authorities break a ring that made and sold fake drugs – some use feed. More than 65 million medicine tablets are seized and 114 people arrested

March 2011: Carcinogenic chemicals – fed to pigs to produce leaner meat – are found in live pigs. More than 113 people, including 77 government employees, are finally imprisoned in connection with the scandal

December 2010: Shanghai fruit sellers complain about scorched skin after touching oranges tinted with an orange wax toxic. [19659009] December 2010: Six people are detained after vineyards in Hebei Province in the north added sugar, food coloring and artificial flavors to create imitations of famous wines. Several wineries are closed and bottles drawn from shelves

September 2008: In the most explosive incident in China, about 300,000 children fall ill, many with kidney failure, and six are killed by powder of milk mixed with chemical melamine. higher levels of protein. Melamine is usually used to make plastic

No legend

Several senior leaders of the Chinese dairy giant Sanlu are sentenced to long prison terms and two to the death penalty. The case also urges China to adopt a new additives law, strengthen regulatory coordination on food security and restructure the agency in charge of food and drug surveillance

July 2008 : Four children die in vaccines in northern Shanxi province, but reports only came two years later. Local authorities at the time denied the link between sick children and vaccines

June 2007: Several countries remember that the toothpaste made in China contained a chemical used in the antifreeze of automobiles. In addition, this month, US importers of Chinese toys issue recalls after some have been coated with toxic lead paint. Similar products are later banned in several other countries.

March 2007: Pet foods in North America and around the world are recalled after the animals began to die in large numbers. The problem is finally linked to the Chinese wheat and rice derivatives used as ingredients and to which melamine has been added