China's lousy industry regulation hits its home: Tainted milk and baby formula

Oh, nothing they're selling here, fortunately for us. But contaminated baby formula was exported to five countries in Africa and Asia and sold widely at home in China.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080919/ap_on_re_as/as_china_baby_formula_recall_41

<blockquote> BEIJING - China's tainted milk crisis widened Friday after tests found the industrial chemical melamine in liquid milk produced by three of the country's leading dairy companies, the quality watchdog said.

<b>Tainted baby formula has been blamed for killing four infants and sickening 6,200 in China since the scandal broke last week. Some 1,300 babies, mostly newborns, are currently in hospitals and 158 of them are suffering from acute kidney failure.</b> Thousands of parents across the country were bringing their children to hospitals for health checks.

The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to tainted milk powder. But about 10 percent of liquid milk samples taken from Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co. — China's two largest dairy producers — contained melamine, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Milk from Shanghai-based Bright Dairy also showed contamination.</blockquote>

Melamine is used as a fire retardant (it releases nitrogen when burned). Among other things, it's formed in the digestive system of animals that have digested the pesticide cyromazine. It's toxic and can cause kidney stones and kidney failure. Adding "melamine scrap" to animal feed is apparently common in China; supposedly its high nitrogen content gives the appearance of higher protein content. Apparently that's why it was added to baby formula and milk (after water was added to the milk to increase its volume, per that story).

Melamine contamination was what led to the pet food recalls here in the U.S. in 2007 and a similar incident in 2004 led to the death of 13 children with 200 more becoming ill. Customers started complaining about this in March and reports were made to the Chinese government in June and Jly; allegedly, nothing was done because of the desire to present a perfect image to the world during the Olympics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_baby_milk_scandal (very in-depth, lots of good sourcing throughout)

So much for China's stronger safety standards.

 

Olympics are over, what do they care about safety now?

 

Deregulation: Getting the evil gubbmint off the backs of hardworking businessmen and allowing the miracle of the marketplace to work its magic. : :

 

The government is just decreasing the population. What's wrong with that?

 

China is capitalism unfettered by real government regulation. One-hundred years later, "The Jungle" revisited. Anything goes.

Kind of like Wall Street...

 

It almost makes me not want to buy anything made in China anymore. Not after all of the news reports lately.

 

Ha! Try to by a baby toy NOT hecho en China.

 

The remarkable part is how the government is trying act compassionate and offer settlements in the health care centers in the wake of the crisis.

No more threats and intimidation. Since when did the government care about any of the great unwashed?

 

Which is part of the problem we have at home: all the manufacturing jobs went over there.

 

Reminds me of that book, "Overpopulation in China," by Wi Fukkem Yung.

 

This is appalling and only adds to my concern about products made there.

However, when China deals with corruption, they deal with corruption.

http://www.china.org.cn/government/local_governments/2008-05/09/content_15131535.htm

 

You said taint.