China’s Food Exports Under New Scrutiny

Two of the largest U.S. food makers are banning ingredients from China.

The ban by Mission Foods Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc. underscores fears about imported food ingredients after contaminated wheat products from China killed and sickened cats and dogs in the United States, the Washington Post reported Friday.

China is the world’s leading supplier of many food flavorings, vitamins and preservatives and its overall food safety record is poor, the Post reported.

A small group of big companies dominate the making of food ingredients in China, but hundreds if not thousands of small companies operate in an industry lacking tough standards and enforcement, the Post said.

Some of them are driven by profits; you can see dollar signs in their eyes, said Jan Willem Roben, head of Vision Ingredients, a Shanghai-based trader of food additives.

Many processed foods contain dozens of ingredients from around the world, acquired through networks of traders and brokers before they arrive at manufacturing plants in the United States, the Post said.