Why Regulations Matter

repugicans take note - this is why regulations matter:

Gary Leong knew things weren’t right during a recent tour of a Chinese plant when he witnessed workers manufacturing glucosamine sulfate to relieve joint discomfort in the morning and fertilizer to help plants grow in the afternoon - using the same equipment.

“Cross-contamination issues are huge,” says the head of scientific and technical affairs at Jamieson laboratories, Canada’s largest manufacturer of natural health products.

Charged with guaranteeing the purity and safety of the company’s vitamins, but also facing competitors that offer them at a lower price thanks to cheaper raw materials, Leong brought Jamieson auditors to China to see if sourcing directly from China was a viable option.

...after observing the operations at the glucosamine sulfate/fertilizer factory, the Jamieson executive visited an ascorbic acid plant, one of four in China responsible for 90 per cent of the world’s supply of vitamin C found in processed foods and natural-health products.

“They had a purified water system that they claimed they were using to manufacture their ascorbic acid with. Well, the night I was going through the plant, that purified water system was turned off and they were still operating,” says Leong.

“Basically, they’re letting economic choices rather than quality or integrity factors determine when they use it. And that’s a minor indication, but it’s indicative of the whole problem over there.”

Read the rest in the Edmonton Journal