This is a Public Post, for general information
SHANGHAI — China said Saturday that 19 people had been detained by the police as part of an investigation into how baby formula had become contaminated with an industrial chemical. The formula is implicated in the death of one infant, and at least 432 others have been afflicted with kidney problems.
The government also said Saturday that the Sanlu Group, China’s biggest producer of milk powder formula, had first received complaints about its powder in March and had recalled some products but delayed reporting the problems to the government or the public.
Last week, the Sanlu Group recalled 700 tons of powdered formula, and on Saturday the government said the company had been ordered to stop producing and selling powdered formula.
The provincial government of Hebei, where Sanlu is based, ordered on Saturday that Sanlu shut down all of its milk powder production, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Beijing authorities also formally sent notice of Sanlu's difficulties to the government of Taiwan, where stores have already been removing the product from shelves. Mainland China continues to insist that none of the powder was sold to any other overseas markets.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said that no infant formula from China had been approved for import.
Beijing’s highest government agencies ordered a “first-class national food emergency response” on Saturday, calling for a thorough investigation into the causes of the contamination and offering aid to infants suffering from kidney stones.
“This is a severe food safety accident,” Gao Qiang, the vice minister of health, said at a news conference on Saturday.
The government said that a preliminary investigation had determined that the infant formula had been contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical that is used in some plastics. The government said it thought the melamine had been intentionally added to the powder to make it seem to have more protein.
Last year, the same chemical was found in animal feed from China that was then sold to pet food makers in the United States, sickening hundreds of cats and dogs. This touched off an international trade dispute and questions about the safety of products from China.
In interviews with melamine producers and sellers last year, several acknowledged that melamine was commonly used to artificially raise the protein count in a variety of foods, fish feeds and even dairy products.
Melamine, which can be created from coal, is high in nitrogen and for decades has been used by farmers to bolster protein counts in food and feed. Food safety officials in Beijing said Saturday that dairy producers could have used cheap melamine filler to make the infant formula powder seem far richer.
Last year, however, Beijing insisted that its food supply was largely safe. The government also started a nationwide campaign to root out food and product safety problems. It even executed the head of the food and drug administration after he had been found guilty of dereliction of duty.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/worldbusiness/15milk.html?ref...
Crocs
So sad! But it could happen here too which terrifies me.
1My hubby had the Hong Kong Flu (various strains of it) when he was a baby and it came from contaminated baby food from China (chicken to be exact).. he almost died.
I just don't understand why we're still importing anything from China - especially food products.
2Oh no Kim! I'm glad that he survived!
3Good information to know. I feel so bad about the baby death and the baby kidney stones. My husband has had kidney stones and they are horrific. I can't imagine a baby handling that type of pain.
4Ugh, this is awful. Reminds me of the Tylenol incident.
5The tylenol incident was done on purpose with the intent to kill. I just think the communist regime of China is so full of corruption that no one cares. Life seems to be cheap there. Look at their response to the earthquake and the school collapse. The worse thing is all that they export. People have died over the last few years due to their sloppiness. You can not even buy toothpaste made there with out taking a chance. There toothpaste kill many quite a few people in South & Central America.
Stop buying Made in China!
6***************
"Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it."
Amen to that Sam.
7Amen Sam!
And wasn't it interesting how Obama, in his O'Reilly interview, referenced China as a model of spending, building and expansion.
Sure, Beijing looked beautiful for the Olympics, but it seems B.O. quickly forgot about the children in the school who died for no reason because the government cares more about their appearance than the safety and lives of the people.
And that is supposed to be our model? That freaking scares me.
8Sy, that is a perfect example of the failure of the Chinese system. The Olympic village was flourishing with flowers and plant and the outlying area were in a drought due to the the of their water. Or in communist terms "redistribution for the betterment of the People."
9***************
"Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it."
Should have been "due to the theft of their water." bad fingers
10***************
"Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it."
I know, I was shocked when I heard him say that about China. My husband looked at me and I could see in his eyes what he was thinking... "THE SOVIET UNION!"
It makes me wonder if B.O. still sees the Soviet Union in the light that it was presented to us by it's propagandist leaders?
11I am sure Stinky would look smashing in a Mao jacket.
12***************
"Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it."
Brendel- i thought the same thing...i get kidney stones a lot and thinking of a poor little baby with them is heart wrenching! it's terrible...but i still think executing the head of the food and drug administration was a little harsh.
13Regarding the school collapses and Obama's praise for Chinese building programs: I don't know how widely publicized it was, but the main reason those schools collapsed--and not neighboring homes--was due to corruption in the contracting process. The schools were not up to established building codes.
14---------------------------------------------------------------
How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin.
And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
-- Ronald Reagan
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