Beware of tainted cough mixtures from China
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"THE health authorities in Singapore are advising local manufacturers to be extra vigilant in the wake of reports that 365 people in Panama died after drinking contaminated cough syrup manufactured in China.
According to a recent report in The New York Times newspaper, a Chinese company called Taixing Glycerine Factory substituted glycerine, a safe liquid having medicinal uses, with diethylene glycol in the production of cough syrup.
Diethylene glycol is an industrial solvent and a principal ingredient in antifreeze, which is used in petrol and diesel engines.
The syrup passed from a distributor in Beijing to another in Barcelona, Spain. The name of the manufacturer was altered during the translation of the analysis certificate.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) here said there have been no cases detected of diethylene glycol being used in cough syrup instead of glycerin.
'We have assessed that the risk of such a mix-up or incident happening in Singapore is very low,' said an HSA spokesman.
'However, we will be advising our local manufacturers to exercise additional caution when purchasing raw materials, especially glycerin, for pharmaceutical production.'
Manufacturers in Singapore are required to comply with the Good Manufacturing Practice standards (GMP) and be licensed by the respective regulatory authority.
They then test the identity and quality of raw materials before using them to manufacture finished products.
GMP is a set of standards designed to ensure the quality of medicinal products.
But banned substances have slipped through before.
In 2002, Slim 10 pills - a China-made slimming product that contained the banned substance fenfluramine - caused the death of one woman and forced another to undergo a life-saving liver transplant.
In 1995, the Ministry of Health banned the sale of three brands of a Chinese herbal root lingzhi after samples were found to contain excessive amounts of arsenic or mercury."
(Straits Times 12 May)
Diethylene glycol poisoning can be fatal. Crystals of oxalate precipitates out of solution and blocks renal tubules in the kidneys, resulting in acute renal failure. It is odourless and tasteless, so detection is not easy for the lay person. -
I dun think Chinaman will feel sorry about it, see what hellomotosxq said....
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frankly, i never touch any edible tin can/packaged/snacks, thats got a label made in China from some xxxxxx chinese company name..
call me bias or anything.. but recent media from last year on their way of handling hygiene and procedures in some of this dubious companies located in the provincial areas is really putting me off.. i dun think i wanna risk blowing a hole in my kidney for something thats worth 2 dollars.. -
very hard, though, i check food labels from time to time, and notice a lot of food from packed mushrooms to luncheon meat are all made in ChinaOriginally posted by 4getmenot:frankly, i never touch any edible tin can/packaged/snacks, thats got a label made in China from some xxxxxx chinese company name..
call me bias or anything.. but recent media from last year on their way of handling hygiene and procedures in some of this dubious companies located in the provincial areas is really putting me off.. i dun think i wanna risk blowing a hole in my kidney for something thats worth 2 dollars..
i can only pray HSA and other agencies have been quite alert, so for big problems as of yet -
Originally posted by oxford mushroom:"THE health authorities in Singapore are advising local manufacturers to be extra vigilant in the wake of reports that 365 people in Panama died after drinking contaminated cough syrup manufactured in China.
According to a recent report in The New York Times newspaper, a Chinese company called Taixing Glycerine Factory substituted glycerine, a safe liquid having medicinal uses, with diethylene glycol in the production of cough syrup.
Diethylene glycol is an industrial solvent and a principal ingredient in antifreeze, which is used in petrol and diesel engines.
The syrup passed from a distributor in Beijing to another in Barcelona, Spain. The name of the manufacturer was altered during the translation of the analysis certificate.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) here said there have been no cases detected of diethylene glycol being used in cough syrup instead of glycerin.
'We have assessed that the risk of such a mix-up or incident happening in Singapore is very low,' said an HSA spokesman.
'However, we will be advising our local manufacturers to exercise additional caution when purchasing raw materials, especially glycerin, for pharmaceutical production.'
Manufacturers in Singapore are required to comply with the Good Manufacturing Practice standards (GMP) and be licensed by the respective regulatory authority.
They then test the identity and quality of raw materials before using them to manufacture finished products.
GMP is a set of standards designed to ensure the quality of medicinal products.
But banned substances have slipped through before.
In 2002, Slim 10 pills - a China-made slimming product that contained the banned substance fenfluramine - caused the death of one woman and forced another to undergo a life-saving liver transplant.
In 1995, the Ministry of Health banned the sale of three brands of a Chinese herbal root lingzhi after samples were found to contain excessive amounts of arsenic or mercury."
(Straits Times 12 May)
Diethylene glycol poisoning can be fatal. Crystals of oxalate precipitates out of solution and blocks renal tubules in the kidneys, resulting in acute renal failure. It is odourless and tasteless, so detection is not easy for the lay person.
A long history of problems, and somemay still be under wraps. -
what is wrong with the pic . death penalty/ of cos should be dead . u stupid guy .Originally posted by silvercap:I dun think Chinaman will feel sorry about it, see what hellomotosxq said.... -
u nvr see ur name ahOriginally posted by hellomotosxq:what is wrong with the pic . death penalty/ of cos should be dead . u stupid guy . -
Very unethical of them. I wonder if they have any conscience? Or has it been eaten by dogs?
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another case of piracy -
OH China again? When will the chinaman stop causing harm to the whole world? They are worse than JI and other terrorists. At least terrorists bomb one place at a time. Chinaman scam and pollute many places all at the same time.
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Items that lined the supermarket shelves are often manufactured in China even those that are considered branded like Nivea, Loreal, Dove, Neutrogena. At the moment these products are still of quality standard due to the stringent check by their respective representive from the origin country but I wouldn't be surprise as time goes by the quality will start to go down hill if the personnel in charge of QC changed to that of a Chi_ _ Chi_ _ _ _
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hello....q country kill many people.