A Taste for Toxins

Chinese shoppers are used to warnings about tainted food. According to a November report by the Asian Development Bank, food-borne disease affects 300 million Chinese per year, costing up to $14 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses. But a recent string of high-profile health scares involving toxic ingredients has consumers worried about more than a stomachache.

In Hong Kong, imports of freshwater fish from the mainland were halted in November for 18 days after officials discovered MALACHITE GREEN, a banned fungicide possibly linked to cancer, in samples of fish from local markets.

On Feb....