Tainted Milk Scandal

There are many Malaysians working in China and many of them are fearful of what they consume over there as rumours whether true or unfounded has been circulating that many of the food products are tainted or consist of illegal substances or substitutes  which can affect one's health. The perceptions is very strong among the Malaysian communities over there and they are taking no chances.


In recent years, there have been cases of over contaminated seafood,canned luncheon meat, toothpaste and a pet food ingredient tainted with melamine and lead in toys and colour pencils.

There are some business men over there who are in a hurry to become rich and had no moral or couldn't care less attitude about whether the consumer would suffer or not. These are unscrupulous business men who are out to get rich by hook or crook in the quickest time. Individual  greed, lax government regulation and corporate cover-ups have caused this massive scandal.

The government watchdog have failed in their duties and have again set off another food scandal of epic proportions.The crisis has raised doubts about the effectiveness of tighter controls in China. China is a very large country.

The government started receiving  complaints about its infant formula as early as December 2007.!!!The scandal began with complaints over milk powder by Sanlu Group Co. — one of China's best-known and most respected brands. Recent testings found melanine in samples of liquid milk taken from 22 Chinese companies - including the country's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group Company and Yili Industrial Group Company.


Melamine is a toxic industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. It has no nutritional value but is high in nitrogen, making products with it appear higher in protein. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added it to watered-down milk to cover up the resulting protein deficiency.

Surely they cannot plead ignorance for using this toxic chemicals in their milk powder. In China, there is the one child per  family law and to see their only child fall sick or in grave danger is really hard for them to accept.

More than 54,000 Chinese babies have been sickened after drinking formula made with tainted milk and four have died.

At least 12 countries have banned Chinese dairy products — the latest was Indonesia, which distributed a list of 28 products that it said may contain tainted Chinese milk, including Oreo cookies, Snickers bars and M&M chocolate candies.

Tesco has also withdrawn the White Rabbit candies from its stores in China and Malaysia.
There are now 132 products which the Government has placed on the list of items suspected of having melamine, up from 53 items on Wednesday.

New Zealand's Food Safety Authority warned Wednesday that the White Rabbit candies being sold by other retailers there contained dangerously high levels of melamine and advised people not to eat them.


Anthony Hazzard, the Western Pacific director of the World Health Organisation, said yesterday that 82 per cent of the children made sick by the formula were two years old or younger.

Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said tests revealed traces of melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar and Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk manufactured in China, Dutch Lady-brand banana and honeydew flavored milk, Silang-brand potato crackers and two kinds of puffed rice balls.

Other milk products are yogurt bars to strawberry milk, biscuits and candy.

For the time being , it is better to scrutinize the labels carefully and see the contents and where the product comes from.

Malaysia's health minister said that customs officials will test all Chinese food imports, including those without milk, before allowing them to be released for sale. Can you really trust them?

More Updates - 2th Oct. 2008

In Taiwan , Golden Kestrel Co. informed the bureau that their cheese sandwich exported from Malaysia contained 29.818 parts per million of melamine.

Source:-
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=752857&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_world&cate_rss=WORLD_eng

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/25/nation/20080925203429&sec=nation

http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/September/world/082BFE88C2.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tainted_milk

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5873427&page=1

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/19/world/main4460016.shtml