How to tell if food is made in China: Read the barcode! – The FDA is finally acting! They have started blocking milk products from China that may be contaminated with melamine.

In BBC News, Jonathan Beale reports that the FDA has not only banned milk imports, it has issued a nationwide “import alert,” since this has to do with more than just milk. The list of foods they plan to inspect include cereals, snack foods, cheese, ice cream, carbonated drinks, candy, puddings and pet foods, all of which may contain melamine, which is used in the manufacture of plastics and fertilizer.

The FDA is planning to open offices in China to inspect these products before they are exported to the US.
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Is it dangerous? – We are all afraid of products from China (and rightfully so!), but is the FDA doing anything about this problem? It turns out that some popular drug and food items, such as generic aspirin, are not manufactured in the US anymore, so they can ONLY be imported from China.

In Star News.com, Gardiner Harris writes: “China now produces about two-thirds of all aspirin and is poised to become the world?s sole global supplier in the not-too-distant future. But are the Chinese factories safe? Who knows? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and other competent government regulators rarely, if ever, inspect them.”
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China’s Shenzhou 7 spacecraft, carrying a 3-man crew, lifted off on September 25th and is now orbiting the earth on a 3-day mission. Chinese astronauts, called taikonauts, will launch a small satellite and do a space walk. Next stop? the moon?
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