How about controlling food and water safety instead?

Oy, does China have a BIG problem. And it ain't diplomacy or all their secrecy (amazing all the resources they employ to block Web pages and online conversations). Problem is, while they've been protecting their empire from external forces and persuasions, it's imploding at their own hands. Because they forgot failed to control a really important aspect of the country: the safety of their food and water.

Ironic that to eat safe Chinese food, we're likely going to have to eat it in foreign countries, eh? Go read this. Or worse, this (yes, it tastes like cardboard because it is cardboard).

From CNN yesterday: "Eating out in China used to be one of the great experiences of living here. I often thought going out with friends and colleagues for dinner was a bit like the game of "Hungry Hungry Hippos" -- vast quantities of amazing food that made dining a pleasure. Best of all, it was affordable and palatable.

But these days, the joy of anticipation of what the next dish will bring has been replaced with, well, the dread of what the next dish may contain. When ordering at restaurants, I wonder: Is that drug-tainted fish and shrimp? Did that pork come from a pig that was force-fed wastewater? Any melamine added to those noodles?

Those are among some of the recent food scares here. Even drinking a glass of water instills fear: A recent government report found half the bottled watered in this city was counterfeit. The bottom line is: If you're worried about Chinese exports, rest assured the local stuff is without doubt many, many times worse."

China, you've got one big act to clean-up. Wowsa have you got a whopper. Here's an idea, take your control competencies and focus on controlling food and water safety. Instill lots and lots of regulations. Then lots more. And then you need to deliver third-party, objective scorecards benchmarking your progress.

Yes, you'll need marketing but, it's an uphill climb, as your trust is just shot. While right now we're aghast, just wait for the battery of jokes about your food and water that will circulate for months (if not years). But China, please do not focus on how tourism and exports will flatline, focus on ensuring the safety of your own citizens.

PS: last month NYT reported the country needs to invest $100 billion over the next ten years to get standards up to snuff. And that doesn't even include all the marketing they'll need. Oy.

Comments

[Stephen Denny]

The old joke back in the day was that the "Final Test OK" sticker on the PCB's were much cheaper than actually doing the testing.

I guess the practice has moved on to food.

[CK]

Oy.

[Fritz]

One of my former employers had a multi-million dollar problem (and this was a small, 40-person company) when it was discovered that our Chinese vendor had forged the UL and CE safety certifications for an important piece of our product. The problem was discovered by (ironically) a Chinese customer when said product caused a fire that burned down their factory.

"control competencies" -- heh heh. That's one way to put the recent execution of China's food safety chief.