'Unsafe' products still on shelves

GUANGZHOU: More than half of the beverages, tissues and women's sanitary products on sale in the markets of Guangdong province are "substandard", with a number of them even "dangerous to consumers' health", tests conducted by authorities on over 200 products showed.

The provincial administration bureau of industry and commerce conducted tests on 202 products of beverages, bottled water, tissues and sanitary products, and found that only "49 percent" of them met the government's hygiene standard during the manufacturing process, said Xiao Yangwu, director of the bureau's consumer's rights protection office.

However, the bureau has neither named the products nor the "72 firms" that manufacture them in its report, clearly hinting that the producers will not be penalized.