Food Contamination in China

[Broomstick]

From the BBC, an article about contaminated milk powder in China. It's killed at least two infants and made over a thousand sick - at least, the toll actually could be higher. The really stupid thing is that this is the exact same contaminant that got into pet food a while back and killed/sickened cats and dogs.

Isn't thoughtless greed wonderful?

Toxic milk toll rockets in China

The company which made the milk is accused of a cover-up

A total of 1,253 Chinese children have fallen ill after drinking contaminated milk powder, and two babies have died, China's health ministry says.

It confirmed the big jump in the numbers affected at a news conference.

"As many as 10,000 infants may have drunk the contaminated Sanlu milk powder," vice health minister Ma Shaowei warned.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government has accused the company concerned - and local officials - of failing to act.

The company at the centre of the growing scandal, Sanlu Group, is part-owned by New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative, the country's biggest dairy producer.

The New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said her government contacted Beijing directly, after alerting the company and officials but to no avail.

Estimates rising

Mr Ma said in Beijing that 340 children remained in hospital, and that out of these 53 were in a serious condition.

A mother with her baby - who fell ill after consuming contaminated milk - in hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Saturday
In this case we frankly have sabotage of a product. Our hearts go out to the parents and the infants who were affected
Andrew Ferrier
Fonterra chief executive

He confirmed earlier reports in the state media that two babies had died from drinking milk powder produced by Sanlu Group, both of them in north-west China's Gansu province.

Cases of contamination have also been reported in the provinces of Hebei and Jiangsu.

The government is investigating how the contamination occurred. Official media is reporting that melamine, an industrial chemical rich in nitrogen, was added to the milk powder to help the food appear rich in protein, but it also prompted babies to develop kidney stones.

Reports are now emerging of some mothers expressing doubts about the milk as early as March this year, on seeing that their babies' urine was discoloured after drinking the milk.

Government told

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said her government learned of the contamination problem on September 5, then three days later decided to inform Beijing after local Chinese officials refused to act.

New Zealand ambassador to China Tony Brown was deputised to tell the Chinese government.

"We were the whistle-blowers and they [the Chinese government] leapt in and ensured there was action on the ground," Ms Clark said.

Fonterra had "been trying for weeks to get official recall and the local authorities in China would not do it", Ms Clark told TVNZ.

"I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall," she said.

Meanwhile, Sanlu's minority partner, Fonterra, has accused Sanlu of sabotage.

"In this case we frankly have sabotage of a product," Fonterra's chief executive Andrew Ferrier told reporters.

"Our hearts go out to the parents and the infants who were affected," he added.

Under pressure in New Zealand to explain why Fonterra had not gone public with its concerns about the product sooner, Mr Ferrier said his conscience was clear.

He said Fonterra had known of the contamination in early August and wanted an immediate recall but that Sanlu had had to abide by Chinese rules.

"We together with Sanlu have done everything that we possibly could to get the product off the shelf," Ferrier said, speaking to New Zealand reporters by video from Singapore.

Arrests

All 19 people detained in connection with the scandal so far are from the stations which pick up milk from dairy farmers, the state-controlled China Daily newspaper reported.

It said the contamination probably happened at the milk-collecting stations.

Meanwhile, state news agency Xinhua reported that two brothers had been arrested, having allegedly added melamine to the 3 tonnes of milk they sold on from farmers every day.

Taiwan said late on Sunday it was banning all imports of Sanlu dairy products immediately. It is not believed that the milk powder was exported to any other country.

In 2004, at least 13 babies died in the eastern province of Anhui after drinking fake milk powder.

Melamine was linked to the deaths and illness of thousands of cats and dogs in the United States last year after it was added to pet food components exported from China.

And not long ago someone called me paranoid for not buying tilapia farm-raised in China... seriously, what the fuck? Yes, the US has had problems with food, too, but things like the E. coli in spinach were unintentional contamination, in this case someone deliberately added melamine to the milk.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

This is old news I think. Started months ago.

Plus, this is probably the umpteenth time this has happened.

[nickolay1]

Quick, to the execution bus!

[Broomstick]

This is old news I think. Started months ago.

Yes, and isn't that part of the tragedy? It started months ago, there were complaints, and the Chinese authorities apparently wanted to either hush it up or sit on their asses and do nothing.

Plus, this is probably the umpteenth time this has happened.

Yes, yet more tragedy.

It's relevant because so much stuff is made in China not just for the Chinese but for everyone else. If it's not poison in the pet food it's lead in the toys - unfettered free markets at work, right? This is why some regulation is needed, as well as inspections and testing.

The really stupid shit? The US and Europe went through all this at the beginning of the 20th Century, when we were producing toxic products. Sure, the regulations increased the cost of stuff, but it made it safer for everyone. But, in the pursuit of profit above all else, production has moved to places like China with few regulations and less enforcement. Sure, the shit is cheaper and there's more profit - but people are dying because of it.

How terrible that this has happened so often that some now shrug their shoulders and say "Meh - old news, not interesting."

[ray245]

Corruption is extremely strong at the ground level...even if the higher up want to carry out certain actions, it is going to be hard unless western news can actually make the story big enough and ensure that this is unable to cover up.

I won't be surprised if the people in this scenario is given a death penalty, and those officals on the ground level is going to be screwed upside down.

[Broomstick]

I've been trying to figure out if the Chinese are really that corrupt, or they just have so damn many people that even if the percentage of careless, greedy, quasi-sociopaths is the same the sheer numbers of them are much larger.

I mean, really, what kind of person thinks it's OK to adulterate milk? This isn't to add vitamins, it's to artificially boost the apparent protein - melamine doesn't actually boost protein, it just appears that way in certain tests. Which means this stuff probably IS being tested at some point, but whoever is doing this is trying to beat the test.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I would dare say, that this repeated food crises is merely a symptom that the "monolithic" Chinese bureacracy is collapsing, albeit slowly. Too much corruption, too much reluctance for strong will, distance from the centers of power, are all killing the system.

I wonder how much longer before it collapses.

[ray245]

I've been trying to figure out if the Chinese are really that corrupt, or they just have so damn many people that even if the percentage of careless, greedy, quasi-sociopaths is the same the sheer numbers of them are much larger.

I mean, really, what kind of person thinks it's OK to adulterate milk? This isn't to add vitamins, it's to artificially boost the apparent protein - melamine doesn't actually boost protein, it just appears that way in certain tests. Which means this stuff probably IS being tested at some point, but whoever is doing this is trying to beat the test.

Money money money, come on, the people who is most obessed over money in the world right now if china...captialism at its worst...it's funny how china can be more concerned about earning as much money as you can in the short term even when they are supposed to be a communist state.

If you think tons of american companies are looking at issues in the short term...by comparisions, chinese companies will be looking at their best interest in days...


Fingolfin_Noldor, are you saying that china should go for a state-system like the US?

However, it don't think that the monolithic system by itself is necessary bad. If that is the case, then this system would have collasped for a long time....since message takes a even longer time to get around, and it is even harder for people to enforce their policy and justice.

Correct me if I am wrong...one main reason why the age of warlord is due to people on the local or regional level having too much power, and it has been abused. If this is the case, then that means the issue lies with the huge issue of corruption, and not the system itself.

If the corruption level is here, no matter what sort of system you are using, it is going to be extremely hard to resolve the issues.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Fingolfin_Noldor, are you saying that china should go for a state-system like the US?

In theory, China itself runs nearly in a federal-system, but each city/area has to report to the central government and appointments may or may not come from the central government. Someone ought to correct me here. I believe only key appointments are subject to the central government.

However, it don't think that the monolithic system by itself is necessary bad. If that is the case, then this system would have collasped for a long time....since message takes a even longer time to get around, and it is even harder for people to enforce their policy and justice.

The problem is simply because of distance and not everyone wants to follow the edicts from Beijing and that creates problems. The central government has proven somehow reluctant to clamp down, except on occasions. In part because I suspect the central government doesn't want to look weak to people, and lose its authority.

Either that or there are clamp downs, and Beijing is censoring every damn detail.

Correct me if I am wrong...one main reason why the age of warlord is due to people on the local or regional level having too much power, and it has been abused. If this is the case, then that means the issue lies with the huge issue of corruption, and not the system itself.

I think the reasons of warlordism varies from period to period, though the collapse of central authority plays a role. Corruption is a product of a system and saying the system has not failed is a stretch of logic. The system is supposed to have checks and balances to prevent corruption or the help root out corruption.

If the corruption level is here, no matter what sort of system you are using, it is going to be extremely hard to resolve the issues.

Probably, but clearly people are either spineless, or have vested interests. Take your pick. I won't be surprised if the answer is both.

[The Yosemite Bear]

worse I am surrounded by LOLbertopians who keep complaining about the FDA and other watchdogs.

[Mayabird]

It gets worse. Melamine has now been found in baby formula made by 22 other companies.

* SEPTEMBER 16, 2008, 12:57 P.M. ET

China Finds Melamine
In More Baby Formula
By LORETTA CHAO

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities have found the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula made by 22 different producers, indicating that China's problems with tainted baby formula extend far beyond that made by Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co.

The additional cases turned up in extensive tests of baby formula conducted by regulators in the wake of the widening scandal, which has so far claimed two deaths and caused over 1,200 babies to fall ill in China.
[China milk photo] Reuters

A woman gives her grandson water as she waits along with hundreds of other local residents at the Shijiazhuang headquarters of the Sanlu Group to receive a refund.

Investigators found 69 batches made by some of China's best known formula makers were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical normally used in non-food products, according to a statement by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The testing indicates that that the problem is far bigger than expected and could involve widespread practices in China's dairy industry.

Melamine is the same chemical that was found in tainted pet food exported from China to the U.S. last year. About 20% of all the formula brands investigated so far have tested positive for the chemical, including products made by dairy giants Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. and China Mengniu Dairy Company Ltd., according to the regulator's statement. Neither company could be reached for comment.

The discovery exposes a potentially systematic problem in the booming dairy industry in China, where milk producers often buy raw milk from dealers and mom-and-pop operations, leaving products exposed to tampering.

Already, four milk dealers have been arrested for adding melamine to their milk in order to defraud quality tests before reselling it to companies like Sanlu, which is 43% owned by New Zealand dairy company Fonterra and was the first company to be implicated in the scandal. One man allegedly purchased 200 kilograms of melamine last November.

China's dairy industry has boomed over the past five years. Milk formula alone is expected to be a $3.45 billion-revenue industry in 2008, up 191.7% since 2003, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.

Chinese dairy companies export limited quantities of products to other regions in Greater China and Asia and retailers outside mainland China have begun taking some mainland Chinese products off the shelves. Hong Kong supermarket chain Wellcome announced Tuesday that it was recalling a line of iced yogurt bars by Yili, and offered its customers refunds.

Within China, authorities have ordered that the tainted formula products also be recalled, and destroyed, as authorities move to punish those involved.

Sanlu's board chairwoman and general manager, Tian Wenhua, has been fired in the wake of the incident, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. She was also removed from her duties as secretary of the corporation committee of the Communist Party of China, the Xinhua report said.

Some say the scandal will be a major setback for Fonterra, which purchased its stake in Sanlu for $107 million in 2005, and as one of the world's largest dairy exporters with annual revenues of $11.1 billion has a public image to maintain in over 120 markets.

Fonterra announced an additional voluntary recall of a line of prenatal milk sold in China called Anmum Materna, which the company believes to be contaminated local milk. In a statement Tuesday it reassured consumers that all batches of the product distributed outside mainland China were produced with milk from New Zealand and "free from any possibility of contamination with melamine from locally sourced milk.

Plans for the joint venture to offer Chinese yuan-dominated A-shares in a float on the Hong Kong or Shanghai markets may now be delayed. But a Fonterra company spokesman said "it's too early to speculate" the extent of the impact on the company's global image or its original plans to float Sanlu's trading arm.

Meanwhile, authorities are bracing for possible long-term health effects the children's exposure to tainted milk, and pledging free health care and top-priority treatment in medical institutions for all the affected children, many which live in poor rural areas where spending power is lower and families are less able to afford imported milk brands.

Kidney stones, which rarely occur in infants, produce painful symptoms and officials are preparing for possible long-term effects among those afflicted.

"Hospitals should try their best to meet rising demands for diagnosis and treatment because the number of parents who take their children for medical check-ups could rise drastically in the future," said Ma Xiawei, China's Vice Health Minister, said at a conference on Tuesday.
—Kersten Zhang in Beijing, Bai Lin in Shanghai and Simon Louisson in Wellington contributed to this article.

Link

[Broomstick]

The count is now three dead, 6,200 ill and over 1,300 hospitalized.

Although they have apparently caught two men who purposely adulterated milk in order to pass quality tests, the scope of this is such that I'm wondering if such adulteration is fairly common. Perhaps a low level of this doesn't cause enough harm to be noticed, but under the pressure to produce more/better/whatever folks started adding more and more of the chemical?

And it has not been confined to China - apparently this milk was sold to five other countries.

From CNN:

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The scope of China's contaminated baby formula case grew Wednesday as officials reported the death of a third infant and a spike in those made ill by it.

At the same time, China's largest producer of milk, Mengniu Dairy Group, announced the recall of three batches of formula made in January. Testing showed they were contaminated.

More than 6,200 babies have been sickened by the tainted milk powder, said Li Changjiang, China's director of quarantine and inspection, up from about 1,200 on Tuesday.

More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized. The illnesses include malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure.

Originally Chinese officials said all of the tainted formula had remained in China, other than a small amount that was exported to Taiwan. But Li said Wednesday that the powder has also been shipped to five other nations, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad and Burundi.

Recalls of the products by the Yashili and Suokang companies have been made, according to Li.

Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have already stopped production, Li said. Investigators are testing samples at the rest.

Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday and could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, the state-run newspaper. Video Watch a report on the arrests of milk suppliers »

The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said.

The scandal prompted China agricultural officials to start a nationwide inspection of its dairy industry.

While 19 people were detained for questioning, the only ones arrested so far are the brothers who supplied about three tons of milk each day to the Sanlu Group, which manufactured the baby formula, the paper said.

Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper reported.

The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, which carries a possible death penalty, the paper said.

Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation.

The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants.

Sanlu Group has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of sickened babies, Xinhua said. Video Watch what Sanlu has done »

Sanlu, one of China's leading dairy producers, has also sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, the news agency said.

Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical.

It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily.

In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper.

This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled more than 150 brands of cat and dog food last year after finding that some pets became ill or died after eating food tainted with melamine, the same chemical found in the powdered milk.

Two Chinese businesses, a U.S. company and top executives of each were indicted by a federal grand jury in February in connection with tainted pet food, which resulted in deaths and serious illnesses in up to thousands of U.S. pets, federal prosecutors said.

In October 2007, regulators and retailers in the United States recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause hazardous lead poisoning.
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In November, shipments of the popular toy Aqua Dots were found to have been contaminated with a toxic chemical that turned into a powerful "date rape" drug if swallowed, causing some children who ate the craft toys to vomit and lose consciousness.

And in February, a Maryland candy distributor pulled Pokemon-brand Valentine lollipops from store shelves after bits of metal were found in the sealed treats, authorities said.

[Glocksman]

Quick, to the execution bus!

I hope so.
Making graphic examples of the worst offenders may encourage the others to walk the straight and narrow.

Hell, I wish the execs at Ford who made the cold blooded decision that paying out wrongful death claims over the fuel tank defects in the Pinto would cost less than fixing the defect would have been hanged.

Preferably after being doused in gasoline and set on fire like the victims of that decision died.