Safe sex, risky act: three in 10 imported condoms fail China quality checks

Trying to practise safe sex in China might be a risky act – after more than 30 per cent of imported condoms checked last year failed quality checks and many were found with holes, according to the authorities.

Among spot checks conducted on 133 batches of imported condoms, 43 – or 32.3 per cent of them – failed to meet China’s sanitation and condom quality standards, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on Monday.

The problematic condoms were imported from six countries, mostly Malaysia and Thailand, and covered more than 30 brands, the administration said. These brands included Okamoto, Jissbon, Sixsex, Elasun and Donless.

Laboratory results showed almost half of all the condoms examined either failed the inspection’s “burst test” or came without proper labelling of its manufacturers and distributors.