Contaminated milk, poisonous pet food, toys containing dangerous levels of lead: Some products made in China have been found to be hazardous to your health. The latest is drywall. During the housing boom, construction companies used drywall from wherever they could get it, and now certain types, made in China, have been found to be releasing chemicals and fumes that cause medical problems. Adding insult to injury, many of the people affected are stuck with their infected walls because they can't afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove the drywall.

We talk with the BBC's Shanghai correspondent, Chris Hogg, who has details of an emerging partnership between the U.S. and China to crack down on tainted drywall. We also speak with Luis Gonzalez, a Miami-Dade police officer forced to leave his home, which was built using drywall from China. 

Today the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee is holding a hearing to examine the recent salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America. An extensive investigation into this nationwide outbreak, which now involves the FBI, looks at how contaminated peanut products, from one plant in Blakely, Georgia, could taint hundreds of other foods. Currently eight people have died from salmonella poisoning and nearly 600 people, in 44 states, have fallen ill. Joining us to discuss the break down in America’s food safety infrastructure is Benjamin England. England, is a 17-year FDA veteran and co-founder of FDA Imports.com.

The FDA's recall list for peanut butter and related food products has hundreds of items on it. Click here to see what is on the list that might hiding in your pantry.

On February 10th a controversial new consumer product law goes into effect. It requires manufacturers of goods aimed at children under the age of 12 to test their products for lead. It also forbids retailers to sell goods with unacceptable levels of lead. While that is certainly well-intentioned, small business owners say they don’t have the money to test their products. They worry the law, which is meant to protect children, will actually put them out of business. The Takeaway talks to Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Marilyn Seitz, owner of the not-for-profit Pennyworth Thrift Shop in Silver Spring, Maryland, for their take on the situation.

For those living on the streets, newspapers could prove to be an unlikely lifeline this winter. Taxi, a Toronto-based advertising agency, is donating thousands of its high-tech, sub-zero coats to the homeless. The jacket, when filled with an assortment of op-eds, sports, movie listings and classified pages, is as protective as any down-filled coat. For a look at this news many can use, The Takeaway turns to Taxi's Steve Mykolyn, the creative force behind the winter gear.