Tainted baby formula in China

[Catty1]

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/new...htm?tab=latest

Three year cover up in China milk scandal

Updated September 19, 2008 12:19:45


Four babies have died, 6,244 are ill, after drinking contaminated milk formula. [Reuters]

Reports in the Chinese media suggest the company at the centre of a contaminated milk scandal knew it had a problem as far back as 2005.

Our correspondent Kerri Ritchie reports, more than 6,000 children in China are sick and four babies have died after drinking milk laced with melamine.

Chinese media is reporting dairy company Sanlu knew its products were contaminated three years ago but kept quiet.

Sanlu's chairwoman has been sacked along with a number of government officials.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra part-owns Sanlu.

Fonterra knew about the crisis six weeks before it went public.

New Zealand trade minister Phil Goff doesn't believe Fonterra's representatives at Sanlu should be arrested but he says Fonterra should learn some lessons.

"China is a market of huge opportunity but it's also a market which operates quite differently from New Zealand," he said.

Fonterra says it's now doing all it can to make things right.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government quality watchdog says nearly 10 per cent of milk samples taken from top Chinese dairy companies was contaminated by melamine.

The nationwide inspection of milk showed the problem of contamination ran wider than the tainted milk powder that has made thousands of infants ill.

Officials said most milk was safe to drink, trying to bolster public trust already rocked by a litany of food scares involving eggs, pork and seafood in recent years.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine says almost one-tenth of milk batches from Mengniu Dairy and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd tested positive for melamine, a compound banned in food.

At the latest count, 6,244 children have fallen ill with kidney stones after drinking powdered melamine-tainted milk, with four deaths and 158 suffering "acute kidney failure".

[Daisy and Delilah]

When I saw this story on the news, it just made me sick to see those innocent babies so sick. I just can't believe this has happened. I hope the people responsible never see the light of day again.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Those poor babies and their families!!! I heard 6 have died as of this morning.

Maybe now they will keep closer track of what is going into their products though.

[Catty1]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20080921a3.html

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008

Tainted milk forces Marudai into recall

OSAKA (Kyodo) Marudai Food Co. said Saturday it has recalled five products imported from a major Chinese dairy firm that are suspected of containing milk tainted by toxic melamine.

In Tokyo, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry decided to advise food makers' associations to check whether products made by its members contain the dangerous chemical.

All of the products in question, which include pastries and steamed meat buns, are already on the market. This includes about 2,500 bags of three products that have probably already been consumed.

So far, there have been no reports of health problems, the company said.

A Marudai subsidiary in China bought contaminated raw milk produced by Chinese dairy firm Yili, through trading house Sumitomo Corp. The milk was then used to produce processed food products, most of which were imported by Japan, Marudai said.

Earlier Saturday, the Osaka-based company warned the health insurance center in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, that its products might contain melamine-laced milk.

Through food organizations, the health ministry will instruct Japanese importers who deal in processed food to examine their products and urge them to recall any found to contain melamine.

Government figures show that less milk and milk products are imported from China than from Australia and New Zealand.

If they are used as an ingredient in processed foods, existing statistical surveys only state that Chinese milk or milk ingredients were used in Japanese products, not the amounts they contain.

In China, traces of the toxin melamine have been found in milk products produced by several dairy firms.

[fghoieks]

Do not rush to post with FedEx as it may cost you a hell of money. I once had to pay an unbelievable sum for a really small package. In most cases, this post is meant for companies and business dispatches. For individual deliveries, it is better to look for some more affordable options. I am in https://postcodefinder.net/england/london and we have here many smaller and cheaper services.

[phesina]

Do not rush to post with FedEx as it may cost you a hell of money. I once had to pay an unbelievable sum for a really small package. In most cases, this post is meant for companies and business dispatches. For individual deliveries, it is better to look for some more affordable options. I am in https://postcodefinder.net/england/london and we have here many smaller and cheaper services.

Please start a new thread with something about FedEx in the title! Right now this is the second message in a 2008 thread about tainted baby formula in China.