At last count,The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled about 234 products this year -- 154 of them carry the "Made In China" label. The Washington Times reports:

The number of Chinese-made product recalls in the United States has doubled in the past five years, according to the nonprofit Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine. Chinese products accounted for 60 percent of the total recalls in the U.S. last year, which numbered 467 — a record.

Writing in Wired, Sonia Zjawinski  asks,

While for decades we've ignored poor work practices and horrendous environmental crimes in the country, we now can't ignore the dangerous products imported from them. How many more recalls need to happen before we realize that the money saved on outsourcing just ain't worth it?

Maureen Keene has already realized it. She's created a blog called Made(Deadly) In China- Stop the tide of dangerous goods imported to the U.S.from China. Be Informed. Take action.

FOOD & DRUG IMPORTS and the FDA:

* The U.S. imported nearly $64 billion in foods in 2006, yet the FDA only inspects 1% of foods entering the U.S. and tests only 0.5%. (1)
* Over the past 25 years, Chinese agricultural exports to the U.S. surged nearly 20-fold to $2.26 billion last year, led by poultry products, sausage casings, shellfish, spices and apple juice. (2)
* Shipments from China were rejected at the rate of about 200 per month this year, the largest from any country. (2)
* In 2001, the U.S. imported about $4.4 billion worth of ingredients processed from plants or animals. By last year that total leaped to $7.6 billion — a 73% increase. Other food and drink imports rose from $38.3 billion to $63 billion — up 65%. (3)
* China is the leading source of many common foods and ingredients imported into the U.S.: (4)
o Apple Juice Concentrate (45%)
o Garlic (50%)
o Honey (19%)
o Ascorbic Acid (80%)
* Funding for the FDA’s Center for Food Safety has dropped from $48 million in 2003 to about to $30 million in 2006, according to the center’s 2006 budget priority statement. Full-time jobs in the Center for Food Safety have also been cut from 950 in 2003 to about 820 in 2006, according to the budget statement. (5)

Keene also offers advice and links to help consumers have voiced their concerns.

Peggy, as she is has been busy researching the Mattel recall and is sharing her information.Mattel is not making it easy.

For ALL of the toys affected by the magnet recall, parents, prepare to jump through the following hoops (From the Mattel Website):

If you own any of the listed Polly Pocket!™, Batman™ Magna, Doggie Daycare™ and Shonen Jump's One Piece™ magnetic playsets, your product may be affected by this recall program.

Please remove these toys from the hands of children, immediately, until you are able to determine if they are affected.

We would like to send you a brochure to assist you in identifying affected product. You will also receive a pre-paid electronic merchandise return label to send back affected product. You will receive these items via email. To ensure accurate and timely delivery, please add service@mattel.com to your allowed sender list on any spam blocking filter you may have in place.

Once you receive your brochure and label, please follow the instructions included. If your product is affected, a remedy in the form of a replacement product voucher will be sent to you within 8 - 12 weeks upon receipt of your return. Vouchers may be used at most national retailers and are good toward any Fisher-Price or Mattel manufactured product.

To proceed in processing your order, click here (Barbie/Tanner Product)
To Proceed in Processing your order, click here (other magnet/paint issues).

Peggy has a list of every product that has been recalled.

If you wonder what it would be like you live without "Made In China" , you can read about it first. Business journalist Sara Bongiorni's account of one year of living without China was just released in June ---A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. In an opinion piece written for the Christian Science Monitor in 2005, Bongiorni previews her book.

Last year, two days after Christmas, we kicked China out of the house. Not the country obviously, but bits of plastic, metal, and wood stamped with the words "Made in China." We kept what we already had, but stopped bringing any more in.The banishment was no fault of China's. It had coated our lives with a cheerful veneer of toys, gadgets, and $10 children's shoes. Sometimes I worried about jobs sent overseas or nasty reports about human rights abuses, but price trumped virtue at our house. We couldn't resist what China was selling.But on that dark Monday last year, a creeping unease washed over me as I sat on the sofa and surveyed the gloomy wreckage of the holiday. It wasn't until then that I noticed an irrefutable fact: China was taking over the place.

Meanwhile, in China, American companies are finding that Chinese consumers are non to happy with American made products.China Business Service.

Kodak is accused of selling defective cameras, and is being taken to court by some of the more than 800 customers, as the People’s Daily reports: “There will be no let-up in Chinese consumers’ battle against international imaging major Eastman Kodak over its “defective” cameras, say aggrieved buyers…Shanghai Pudong New Area District People’s Court held hearings on August 7 and 8, and is expected to pronounce its final judgment later this month or early September.”

Most interesting is the last paragraph of this report which indicates that the Chinese Government is encouraging consumers to fight against faulty American products.

No doubt all companies, in China and elsewhere, will have problems from time to time, but it is especially interesting to note the coverage that these cases get in the Chinese media, and the increasing references to the role of online forums, legal actions, consumer advocacy groups and websites, which are all adding to the pressure.

Image Credit: Flickr member mrbill