China says US politicians need to be more rational after senator's call for garlic probe

(Dec 13): China's foreign ministry on Friday urged US politicians to exercise more "common sense" after a US senator called for a probe into imports of Chinese garlic, citing concerns about food safety and labour practices in the country. Republican Senator Rick Scott wrote to several US government departments this week, describing in one letter Chinese garlic as "sewage garlic" and saying the use of human excrement as fertiliser in China was a serious concern. In other letters, he said garlic production in China may involve exploitative labour practices and that low Chinese prices undercut domestic growers, threatening US economic security. The US counts China as its biggest foreign supplier of fresh and chilled garlic, with millions of dollars worth shipped across the Pacific annually. "The garlic would never have dreamed that it would pose a threat to the United States," said Mao Ning, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, when asked at a regular news conference about ...