Even Chinese restaurants in the U.S., where food sanitation laws are a lot stronger, are notoriously resistant to health and sanitation rules. There was a great piece in The New Yorker a few years ago where the reporter was allowed to tag along with two NYC restaurant inspectors. Before they entered a Chinese restaurant one of the inspectors said, "Chinese places are the worst. You have to go in really fast." They burst through the front door, badges out, and made a beeline for the kitchen. Sure enough, half the staff raced out the back door and the cook dumped a big bowl of fried rice that had been sitting out into a sizzling wok. (Now prove it wasn't the right temperature to be sitting out).

Unfortunately for me, I love the stuff. I could eat Chinese food 7 days a week.


>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17980629/
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>Yikes:
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>Chemical scares and mass poisonings are common in China, which has been struggling to improve a dismal food-safety record. Manufacturers often mislabel food products or add illegal substances to them. Cooks routinely disregard hygiene rules or mistakenly use industrial chemicals instead of salt and other ingredients.
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>Last year, seven companies were punished for using banned Sudan I dye to color egg yolks red. The industrial dye, a possible carcinogen used for leather, floor polish and other household chemicals, has been found in various consumer products sold in China, such as roasted meat, chili powder and lipstick.
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>In 2004, at least 12 infants died from malnutrition after drinking formula with little or no nutritional value in eastern China’s Anhui province.