Salmonella poisoning blamed on Chinese-made ingredients
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 4, 2007

WASHINGTON: A seasoning made with Chinese ingredients and used in
recalled snacks was contaminated with salmonella, the head of a U.S.
company said. The snacks sickened dozens of people.

The seasoning, used on Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and
Veggie Booty snacks, tested positive for the bacteria, Robert Ehrlich,
president and chief executive of Robert's American Gourmet, said
Tuesday. The seasoning's ingredients came primarily from China, the
company said.

Separately, nearly one-fifth of products made in China for domestic
consumption failed quality and safety standards, the Chinese
government said Tuesday, while on Wednesday a Chinese state-run
newspaper stressed the need to raise quality guidelines to meet
international levels.

The dismal safety record of products made in China, within and outside
its borders, has increasingly come under the spotlight in Chinese and
foreign media as its goods make their way through global markets.
Major buyers, like those in the United States, Japan, and the European
Union, have pushed Beijing to improve inspections.

In the first half of 2007, 19.1 percent of products made for domestic
consumption were found to be substandard, the Chinese General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said
in a statement posted on its Web site.

Canned and preserved fruit and dried fish were the most problematic,
primarily because of excessive bacteria and additives, the agency
said.

Though the survey covered many different products, it focused on food,
common consumer goods, farming machinery and fertilizers.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that it had found
a strain of the bacteria, called salmonella wandsworth, in a Veggie
Booty sample. The rare strain matched the genetic fingerprint of the
type that made consumers ill in multiple states, Minnesota officials
said in a statement

Robert's American Gourmet, based in New York State, recalled its
Veggie Booty snacks last week after it was associated with 54 cases of
salmonella poisoning in 17 states. Many of those infected reported
eating Veggie Booty.

The company expanded the recall Monday to include Super Veggie Tings
Crunchy Corn Sticks, since it uses the same seasoning. Both products
were sold in the United States and Canada.

No other company product uses the spray-on seasoning.

The recall is the latest in a growing series of problems involving
Chinese-made products found to be tainted, defective or otherwise
dangerous. In recent weeks, there have been recalls of Chinese tires,
toy trains and toothpaste. The U.S. government is blocking some
Chinese farmed seafood imports because of widespread contamination by
antibiotics and other drugs.

Ehrlich said he had been unaware of where the ingredients used in the
seasoning originated. The products are made under contract. Ehrlich
declined to identify the manufacturer.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections,
especially in young children, frail or elderly people.