Jul 18 2008

Food Worries Change Buying Habits

WASHINGTON, DC (AP) -- Troubled by the tainted tomato scare, nearly half of Americans are concerned they may get sick from eating contaminated food and are avoiding items they normally would buy, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll has found.

Although three in four remain confident about the overall safety of foods, the poll found that consumers overwhelmingly support setting up a tracing system for produce in the wake of the salmonella outbreak first linked to tomatoes and, now, hot peppers.

Eighty-six percent said produce should be labeled so it can be tracked through layers of processors, packers and shippers, all the way back to the farm. The lack of such a system frustrated disease detectives working on the salmonella outbreak. Although federal officials lifted the tomato warning Thursday, the cause of the outbreak remains unknown.

The poll found that 80 percent of Americans said they would support new federal standards for fresh produce. Meat and poultry have long been subject to enforceable federal safeguards, but fruits and vegetables are not, although produce increasingly is being implicated in outbreaks.

 

Dec. 17, 2007

Agreement between the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China on the Safety of Food and Feed.

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Oct 4, 2007

CEO Tomi Hong, Again Presented Expert Testimony To The US House Ways And Means Committee On Import Safety. 

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Oct 1, 2007

CEO Tomi Hong Testifies before President’s Interagency Working Group on Import Safety... On October 1, 2007 the USDA hosted a meeting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Jefferson Auditorium in Washington, D.C. to provide consumers and advocates an opportunity to offer comments about import safety.  

Tomi Hong, CEO for AmeriSci Group, laid out a 4-point action plan to help ensure the safety of our imports.  Mr. Hong testified,  “additional concerns come about from the lack of broad-spectrum heavy metals testing in consumer products. Although a significant amount of media attention has driven numerous proposals for updating  Lead in Toys standards, far more toxic elements have received little to no attention or review.”

Tomi Hong’s testimony included recommendations to use  3^rd Party Certifiers that can provide the function of quality systems oversight in the form of accreditation of a business operation, ensuring that the performance is in conformance with an industry-specific and/or international standard (e.g., ISO 17025, ISO 9002).

He also suggested a program to use 3^rd Party Testing by a 3^rd Party Certifier-approved testing facility, capable of generating an industry-recognized testing report of compliance and conformance with manufacturing design specifications and safety guidelines. 

Tomi Hong, CEO for AmeriSci Group is quoted  on page 35 of the report sent to President George W. Bush by the Department of Health and Human Services' Secretary Michael O. Leavitt
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 Sept. 11, 2007

AmeriSci CEO hosts Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong, and delegation from China AQSIQ to a luncheon in their honor at City Club in Washington, DC...  Tomi Hong, CEO for the AmeriSci Group, hosts Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong, and delegation from General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China; luncheon in their honor at City Club at Columbia Square, Washington, DC.

Vice Minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine Wei Chuanzhong, took part in a news conference in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, following the signing of a joint declaration to enhance the quality of consumer products, during the Biennial US-Sino Consumer Product Safety Summit.

Aug 24, 2007

AmeriSci International welcomes Dr. Jianping (Sydney) Xu, as our NEW our Operation Director in Shanghai, China... Dr. Jianping (Sydney) Xu, has many years of experience in agriculture and consumer products testing.  She is also an auditor for 17025 laboratory certification in China.

Aug 23, 2007

AmeriSci International Opens New Office in Shanghai, China... The AmeriSci Shanghai office is located at: 2601 Xie Tu Road, Jia Hui Plaza, Building T3,Suite 16B, Shanghai 200030, China.  The contact numbers are: Tel: 86-21-6426-2517, Fax: 86-21-6426-399.

Aug 16, 2007

US Department of Commerce Awards Tomi Hong With Certificate of Appreciation... Tomi Hong, CEO of the AmeriSci Group, receives Certificate of Appreciation from the US Department of Commerce, for his dedication, effort, and support in the Minority Business Community; signed by Ronald N. Langston, National Director, US Dept of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency.