Companies Cash In on Food Scare

The contaminated-import crisis, set off when potentially dangerous products from China turned up on the shelves of pet stores, supermarkets, and drugstores, has meant bigger profits for clever companies. BusinessWeek looks at several strategies: using only fresh, local ingredients in premium products; finding ingredients from somewhere other than China; and touting ways to trace foods from source to market.

Eliminating all traces of Chinese ingredients can be quite difficult, so companies are trying harder to ensure the safety of imported ingredients. They're also analyzing more food components than they did in the past. That, in turn, has meant more business for outfits that can help with the testing process. (More food stories.)