China: Offshore bonanza?

Yet another recall for Mattel. Third one. The bankers will be crying in their martinis. Looks good on them. They sold out their own country for the cheap labor of China, and now it's biting them in the ass. That's justice; still, it doesn't make up for all the thousands of lost jobs.

But there's an even more serious question. Are these news items just the tip of the iceberg? When you use a hair spray, what chemicals are in there, courtesy of China, and are now floating around for you to breathe in? You can't tell from the label, can you? You can only read what's supposed to be in there. And you can't tell where the ingredients came from--in other words, how likely is it that the ingredients really are what they say they are.

How big is the iceberg, below the waterline? When you eat a can of soup, is there anything in there that came from China? How about when you paint a room in your house?

When will the next story break? How many stories are being covered up?