After getting a couple of emails about products manufactured in China, I wanted to take the time to write about this hot topic a little bit. In our industry the simple truth is that some of our products can’t be sourced from anywhere else, in fact in every industry there is likely to be an element of Chinese manufacturing involved.

Unlike our biggest competitor who will adamantly avoid this topic , I have long taken the stance that honesty is the best policy.

We do openly state where our products are sourced from, and we have no problem sharing the truth. Each of our ingredient-products comes with a COA (certificate of analysis) that clearly states where the source materials came from, and what percentages of materials make up the finished ingredient product.

Even with that though, let’s take a little time to get to the heart of the matter. Whether you support China as a country or not, the simple fact remains that it isn’t likely that you can live without Chinese-manufactured goods in your home. Even the products that don’t state “Made in China”, very likely do contain Chinese-made ingredients or parts.

China as an Exporter

The first thing that we should note is that China is one of the world’s largest exporters. According to the US-China Business Council (USCBC), in 2007 China exported 1.218 trillion dollars worth of goods to the world[i]. Think about that number for a moment – that’s trillions of dollars!

According to the World Trade organization that number puts China in second place for international exports. They have an 8.8% share of the total export business in the world, and they are now second only to Germany with the US following closely behind as the 3rd largest exporter[ii].

In other words, China has taken its foothold in the world as an exporter, and no matter where you live; there are Chinese-manufactured goods in a store near you.

Food and Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Where things begin to get interesting is when you look at the types of products that China exports. Of course their biggest exports are machinery, power generation equipment, medical equipment, and other completely-manufactured goods. Ranking 8th on the list of exports though is inorganic and organic chemicals.

Let’s look closer at this one area, since the biggest controversy surrounding China’s exports at the moment was due to a case of adding melamine to milk powder and pet foods to increase the apparent protein content in those products.

It should be noted that those responsible for these scandals have been sentenced to death[iii], the Chinese government does not easily accept anything that might damage its image as a reliable source of manufacturing and export.

However, it should also be taken note of that similar types of scandals happen all over the world.

If you want a recent example of problems like this occurring within other countries, see the current Peanut recall in the US [iv]

On Monday February 9th, FBI agents raided The Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia. This US company is accused of knowingly shipping salmonella tainted products now linked to nearly 600 illnesses, including eight deaths, in 43 US states. The Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations launched a probe of the company on January 30. [v]

Getting back to it, when it comes to food and pharmaceuticals, China is the largest manufacturer of chemical ingredients in the world. They produce more ingredient products than any other country in the world.

Even if that drug or food manufacturer is based in the US or in Europe, the ingredients that go into those products very likely came from China. This is especially true when it comes to vitamins that are put into the foods we eat and products we use.

To provide an example, according to a study done by the company Beijing Orientbit Technology Co., Ltd: “every year about 90 per cent of vitamin C used by US pharmaceutical, supplement and drink manufacturers is sourced from China”[vi]

Since vitamin C is a common ingredient in many food and pharmaceutical products, if you eat, or take medicines or supplements, it’s very likely that you’re ingesting Chinese-manufactured products. I could further this example if I wanted to get into vitamins like vitamin: A, E, B2, B5, B12, etc.

The point is that it isn’t very likely that you can go through your day without ingesting something that was manufactured in China. This brings us to the topic I want to discuss, China and the beauty industry.

China and the Beauty Industry

We already know that China is one of the leading manufacturers for chemical and organic ingredients. In our industry specifically, these ingredients make up the larger portion of what is used to make skin care and other beauty-related products.

It isn’t just the ingredients that you purchase to make your own products (those which we sell), it’s the products that go into your favorite skin cream, that makeup you bought last week, and even that shampoo that you use to wash your hair.

Yes, that bottle may state “Made in the USA”, but that label just refers to the manufacturing process, not to the ingredients that went into the product.

The only way to find out where the ingredients came from is to phone the manufacturer and ask them.

In other words, for every item of makeup in your make-up-kit, for every facial cleanser, cream, or body wash you buy, if you want to know where the source ingredients came from you better get on the phone. Here’s the other part:

They aren’t required to tell you where they get the ingredients from!

The Bottom Line

What am I getting at here, what is my point?

Just that avoiding products made in China would be difficult at best, and more likely impossible. Even if you make a point of avoiding every label that states “Made in China”, in the food we eat, the medicines you take, and the products you use it’s very likely that at least some portion of the source material came from China.

As it applies to us at BulkActives, I am going to continue what I normally do. I may not like China’s politics or their political stances. In fact I don’t!

But, trying to not sell ingredients that include at least a portion of Chinese-sourced materials would be near impossible. The products we sell are quality controlled when they are imported by our distributors, and we do include a COA with every product we sell.

Yes, some of our products include Chinese source materials. But then, so do many other products you use and ingest every day. When you take the time to get to the heart of the matter, it becomes apparent that for most of us “Made in China” is impossible to avoid.

Those consumers who still insist that they would “never put anything made in China on their face” ( a direct quote from one email I received), may be interested in reading the following articles:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07315/832952-85.stm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19508453/

In conclusion, If you do not wish to buy from us because our product are from China, then please make sure you get a written and public assurance from our competitors, clarifying exactly in which country their raw materials are grown, processed, and manufactured.

A refusal to supply this info, either via email or on a forum, can only be an indication that your supplier is unwilling to acknowledge that they too are buying and selling “made in China” products.

References:

[i] USCBC’s Website Page: US-China Trade Statistics and China’s World Trade Statistics, no author listed. Accessed January 30, 2009 from www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html

[ii] World Trade Organization, Press Release WTO: developing, transition economies cushion trade slowdown. Accessed January 30, 2009 from , www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres08_e/pr520_e.htm see Appendix Table 4 Merchandise trade: leading exporters and importers, 2007

[iii] BBC News Story, Chinese milk scam duo face death, Accessed January 30, 2009 from news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7843972.stm

[iv] US Food and Drug Administration Recall of Peanut-Containing Products: Salmonella Typhimurium, no author listed. Accessed January 31, 2009 from www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

[v] FBI raids peanut butter plant suspected in outbreak, no author listed. Accessed February 19, 2009 from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/10/peanut.butter.raid/

[vi] The Free Library, Article: Price of vitamin C fluctuated considerably in 2007, by Ba Yanfeng, Beijing Orientbit Technology Co., Ltd. Accessed on January 31, 2009 from: www.thefreelibrary.com/Price+of+vitamin+C+fluctuated+considerably+in+2007.-a0176371912