OT: Amid milk scare, China's elite get special food
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/24/international/i125247D72.DTL&hw=china&sn=011&sc=383
Amid milk scare, China's elite get special food
By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
(09-24) 19:52 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) --
While China grapples with its latest tainted food crisis, the political elite
are served the choicest, safest delicacies. They get hormone-free beef from
the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and
rice watered by melted mountain snow.
And it's all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all-organic
goods from farms working under the strictest guidelines.
That secure food supply stands in stark contrast to the frustrations of
ordinary citizens who have faced recurring food scandals — vegetables with
harmful pesticide residue, fish tainted with a cancer-causing chemical, eggs
colored with industrial dye, fake liquor causing blindness or death, holiday
pastries with bacteria-laden filling.
Now that the country's most reputable dairies have been found selling baby
formula and other milk products tainted with an industrial chemical that can
cause kidney stones and kidney failure, many Chinese don't know what to buy.
Tens of thousands of children have been sickened and four babies have died.
Knowing that their leaders do not face these problems has made some people
angry.
"Food safety is a high priority for children and families of government
officials, so are normal citizens less entitled to safe food?" asked Zhong
Lixun, feeding her 7-month-old grandson baby formula after he got checked for
kidney stones at Beijing Children's Hospital.
The State Council Central Government Offices Special Food Supply Center is
specifically designed to avoid the problems troubling the general population.
"We all know that average production facilities use large quantities of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Antibiotics and hormones are commonly
used in raising livestock and poultry. Farmed aquatic products are
contaminated by various kinds of water pollution," the center's director, Zhu
Yonglan, said in a speech.
"It goes without saying that these are harmful when consumed by humans," Zhu
told executives at supplier Shandong Ke'er Biological Medical Technology
Development Co., which posted it on its Web site earlier this year.
Zhu's speech has been widely circulated by Chinese Internet users on blogs and
forums in recent days, with many expressing outrage that top government
officials have a separate — and safer — food supply than the public.
The special food center enforces strict standards on suppliers like Shandong
Ke'er, which makes health supplements designed to boost immunity and energy.
Foods must be organic, not genetically modified and meet international food
standards, said a manager in the center's product department, who only gave
her surname, Zhang.
The reason: its A-list clientele of government officials and retirees of vice
minister rank or higher.
It's not unusual for China's leadership to have a special food supply; the
practice stretches back thousands of years to farms providing ingredients for
lavish imperial meals or the greasy, spicy dishes favored by Communist Party
Chairman Mao Zedong.
The former Soviet Union's ruling classes also ate food that was unavailable to
the masses. In North Korea, where withering famines have seen tens of
thousands starve over the past 13 years, leader Kim Jong Il is a gourmet known
for his love of lobster, shark's fin soup and sushi. His former private chef
has said Kim keeps an extensive collection of vintage French wines.
Set up in 2004, China's Special Food Supply Center is almost as secretive as
its high-end clientele, whose precise number is unclear, but includes hundreds
of top political leaders, their families and retired cadres. Much of the
information on its Web site was removed after media inquiries and interview
requests this week.
Goods deemed to meet the highest standards are stamped with the label "Nation
A," which stands for "top end, irreplaceable, the best," according to the Web
site. Those products are for senior politicians or government offices and not
released to the general consumer market, said a customer service agent
surnamed Dong.
Rice fed by melted snow from Mt. Changbai, which straddles the China-North
Korean border, gets a "Nation A" rating, according to the Web site.
The center scours the country for purveyors in places famous for a particular
product, said Zhang, the manager.
These include fish from Hubei province — known traditionally as the "land of
fish and rice" — tea from mountainous Yunnan province abutting Tibet, and beef
and mutton from the Inner Mongolian steppes, according to Zhu's speech.
As for rice, some comes from the northeast, grown from seeds specially
cultivated by experts from the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said
sales manager Wu Honghua of Chifeng Heiyupaozi Organic Agropastoral
Development Co.
It "has a very small output. It tastes very good. And it doesn't involve
genetic engineering," said Wu.
Wu said 90 percent of the rice goes to the Beidaihe Sanitorium — a seaside
resort for retired party cadres. The remainder is sold on the market, he said,
at $4 a pound — a price five times higher than regular organic rice and 15
times more than the price of ordinary rice.
A brand of organic tea supplied to the center sells for $187 a pound. "It's
fresh and tender, smells good and has a bright color," said Xia Dan, an
employee of the Huiming Tea Co. in eastern Zhejiang province.
The latest food safety scandal began with tainted baby formula from one
company, but widened to include products from 22 of China's dairies. Countries
as far away as Kenya and Colombia have banned or recalled Chinese dairy
imports, while cakes, candies and other products made with milk products have
come under suspicion.
Since the scandal broke earlier this month, sales of Chinese milk have
plummeted after top dairies Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group
Co. were found to have sold contaminated milk.
Chinese looking for reassurance have turned to one company not named in any
recalls — Sanyuan Foods Ltd.
It proudly advertises that its milk is used for state banquets at the Great
Hall of the People and has seen its sales triple in Beijing, while demand has
outstripped supply in at least one province. And that's despite the fact that
its price — about $1.60 a quart — is 25 percent higher than other brands.
___
Associated Press writer Chi-Chi Zhang and researchers Zhao Liang and Bonnie
Cao contributed to this report.
z1
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> Amid milk scare, China's elite get special food
and why not?
in a way, China is somewhat 'obese'.
yet the brain needs to be kept in good order or otherwise we might
arrive at some vegetative state.
why do you single out China's elite?
all or most countries have a ruling elite or oligarchy.
it's the nature of things.
furthermore, China always has had a ruling elite.
one needs to keep the brain well.