Every few months the media seems to dig up a new quality control issue with Chinese products. Many of these are largely just typical media fear factoring, but the recent “melamine in milk” debacle is very real and very wide-spanning.
If you’re like me, you probably gasped in horror when it was reported that all the major milk distributors in China had milk tainted with melamine. You heard about the babies dying and started looking ominously at your fridge.
Then, again assuming you’re like me, you stopped and said, “wait, WTF is melamine?”
Not boring anyone with the chemical details, essentially it is an organic compound that in one form or another is likely all over your house. When combined with formaldehyde, a resin is created that is commonly used is everything from kitchenware to whiteboards and commercial filters. It’s also used to make fire/heat resistant materials and some fertilizers.
So why on earth would any but the most malicious people stick melamine in milk? The reason is that melamine has the ability to fudge the numbers and make products appear to have more protein in them than they actually do. Melamine doesn’t actually contain protein, but by increasing the nitrogen levels, it fools the tests used to gauge protein into thinking there’s more of the good stuff than there actually is.
You may remember last year hundreds of pets died after eating tainted pet food? Same stuff. Melamine was mixed with vegetable proteins (rice, wheat and corn gluten) from China and ended up doing a number on our furry friends.
Melamine, in and of itself, isn’t overly toxic (they force fed it to rats and dogs in the 40s and it didn’t do much damage). However it is believed that when combined with cyanuric acid (another nitrogen booster) the two create a substance that is more toxic than either separately. It is this new compound that scientists believe causes acute renal failure (aka, your kidneys going nuclear).
Bottom line, melamine and cyanuric acid are both adulterants unethically added to products to make the products appear to have more protein than they actually have - likely because they’ve been heavily cut with water in an effort to lower production costs.
At the time of writing, four infants have died and more than 6,200 are ill because of this tainted milk.
Earlier this month it appeared to be just Sanlu (part owned by New Zealand’s Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd.) milk powder had been tainted. However tests on products from Yili Industrial Group Co. and Mengniu Dairy Co. (both of Inner Mongolia) as well as Shanghai’s Bright Dariy all revealed traces of melamine (link).
So, brass tacks - I drink milk, am I going to die?
Yep. But not likely because you drank milk in China.
Xinhua reports, “Chinese State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), along with 150 state level food testing centers, checked more than 400 liquid milk producers, and found most diary products were safe to drink.”
The 408 liquid milk producers, including Sanyuan and Nestle, were not found containing the chemical.
However, the test results showed nearly 10 percent of the sample batches tested from Mengniu and Yili, 2 top brands on Chinese diary market, contained 0.8 - 7 and 0.7 - 8.4 milligrams of melamine per kilogram respectively while 6 batches out of 93 from Bright, contained 0.6 to 8.6 milligrams of melamine per kilogram.
According to medical experts, these levels of contamination will not cause any illness, such as kidney stones, for an adult who drinks less than 2 liters of the tainted milk daily. So, unless you have an unnatural thirst for the white stuff, you should be alright. However, if you have young children who have consumed tainted products, it might be advisable to get them checked out.
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September 20, 2008
12:55 pm
Well, if Xinhua says it’s okay, then, I feel sooo much better!
September 20, 2008
1:39 pm
Exactly. But hell, if CNN can say it’s not okay - it’s a bit tough to know who to believe.
I was thinking about it and should anyone be stuck with a bunch of melamine-tainted dairy products, you can mix in a bit of Chinese beer with formaldehyde and make some kitchenware.
September 20, 2008
8:55 pm
We talked to the aiyis in our block about moving our daughter on to cows milk a few months ago and they told us that we should stick with powdered milk until she is five in China because most of the cows milk is watered down and has chemicals added. How right they were, apart from the fact that the powdered milk also had the same problems.
Anyway we are getting our daughter on to some french imported brand from Metro just to be sure.
It just makes you wonder if there is any product that you can trust here.
September 20, 2008
10:09 pm
I remember using soya based milk powder for my kids ages ago. But it is soya based, not cows milk based, and that must be considered backward and uncivilized by Chinese.
I myself was raised on goat’s milk, fresh from the udder. I remember the women herding goats around the neighborhood to deliver fresh goat’s milk. And that was in China.
September 22, 2008
6:58 pm
[...] more than just visa issues to deal with here in China, especially milk drinkers. What the hell is Melamine [...]
September 23, 2008
12:22 am
Having a son who just made it to 1 year old and basically hell-bent on drinking milk! It freaked me out pretty bad. We’re on Nestle and so far, so good, but give us a heads up if you hear anything contrary to that.
Best!
September 24, 2008
11:11 am
[...] likely all over your house. And adults who drink less than two liters of tainted milk daily are probably fine. [Lost [...]
September 30, 2008
5:47 pm
I heard about this issue from a co-worker who has a baby. It freaks him out. At first, I thought it’s just on baby products. Alas, when I arrived here in the city of Pines for a short break, the dailies, broadcasts, and all people I’ve met were asking about melamine. They’re all informed! Newspapers showed about 50+ companies mentioned by BFAD to be wary of. Tons of un-labelled milk products from China were confiscated. It’s alarming! So I called my wife back in China to get rid of all the fresh milk (by Mengniu) since my daughter and son really love it. I told her to go to Metro for imported milk. BDW, are Metro dairy products safe?
My wife brought my daughter to the Family Hospital (beside Impulse Fitness, HK Rd, Qingdao) for a checkup since she had difficulty urinating for thge past few weeks. We’re grateful she’s all right after undergoing a CTscan and urinalysis.
Just now, a leading newspaper mentioned that Cadbury is recalling it’s Chinese made products from the market… I just called all my friends and relatives to throw all those chocolates I brought home for them…
October 3, 2008
10:22 am
this melamine scandal is a bullshit thing. for some companies and corporation that do not use this stuff is unfair. it will do affect a lot in their bussiness.
maybe next time those who are in the position shall be strict with what you call quality control. do not be rude in brive. cause you become accomplice in sudden infant killings and illness.
me too are aware of consumers freaked out cause i worked at the grocery dept. they worry for the milk that they buy for thier children and i also understand that because i have also a 3yrs. child.
generally it will affect the country china and their productions, imports etc…
October 3, 2008
4:50 pm
so, with this inhumane adulterations that China have made to the milk industry that cause worldwide panic, is there anything that the world health organization would do? no sanctions or whatever?
October 4, 2008
12:08 pm
yes. it has a terrible effect to us, it is because we are afraid of having intake of this such melamine, why would they put this on dairy products, they should be in jail.. my famiy ow is afraid of having dairy products in our house, especially milk.
October 4, 2008
12:09 pm
thanks to nestle products. we are assure that there products are safe…
October 4, 2008
5:01 pm
correction:
my daughter had an ultrasound not a CTscan…sorry.
anyway, I’m back in China but my son stayed home. He’s 7 and he got scared coming back. Hope the government should do something about this. Those people responsible should go to jail after paying billions for damages!
Pls post updates about the issue people.
xie xie ni
October 10, 2008
3:49 pm
Stupid Chinaman… only knows how to earn easy money
October 14, 2008
12:26 pm
[...] wasn’t reported was the key detail that the harmful ingredient which might harm your pet, was melamine from China. Many people I talked with at the time, were completely ignorant of this fact and the [...]
October 22, 2008
2:13 pm
I’m really confused. The Chinese Government/Olympic Committee did not let the little singer sing on stage because they wanted a perfect image. Yet here where her image is more important -??????????????
What is China’s priorities?
October 27, 2008
7:28 pm
In my country, during the Moon festival(Turjak-maglusi tang tanan) we combine a glass of cow’s milk (goat’s milk will also do) with your own freshly ejaculated semen or other person’s as long as you’re assure its safety. We drink it all ’til the last drop while singing the traditional song called “Kada-uli Iyot” to provide us energy for the next lunar newyear. We call this drink as “Tulos-gatas, pampa-utog”. Its a long tradition in our country esp in the southern part. Some nasty girls, including gay men drink freshly ejaculated semen from other guys which is a taboo but is accepted in the society. Malamine is a no no. Semen contains many essential proteins and vitamins.
October 27, 2008
8:18 pm
That wins, hands down, as the most bizarre comment I’ve seen on this site.
November 14, 2008
3:07 pm
This is really crazy for those guys adding melamine into the food, even baby milk powder. The government should give them severe punishment. It is the price they asked for.
December 1, 2008
4:39 pm
I want 2 know that ? is d tolerance level of melamine in human body ?what R the impact on human body or which organ mostely effected ?plz inform me the in detail.