Japan recalls five products over melamine concern

by Pat_S on September 21, 2008

A post by Pat

Milk produced by a Chinese dairy company that was confirmed to have contained melamine was used in the five Marudai products. This is precautionary and not a bad idea despite early reports it was a China-only problem. ( Marudai pulls 5 products made in China / Melamine taint from milk feared. )

The toxic dose of melamine is high. The Chinese babies became ill only after ingesting the poisoned milk over a period of time (three to six months). It was small animals (pet food scandal of last year) and babies that gave away the criminal practice of lacing food ingredients with melamine. Melamine adulteration is known to be common in China to boost the protein content. My guess is unknown quantities of melamine have been universally ingested but no acute symptoms appear. What this stuff does over a long period of time is another matter. At the very least adulteration of food with melamine reduces the nutritional content. Another question is the purity of the melamine. Contaminants such as cyanuric acid may also be present. It can hardly be expected that criminals adding melamine to food will take care there are no impurities.

It was constant urging by New Zealand that forced an investigation into the baby formula. The Sanlu Group knew about problems since March. The Chinese government is posturing outrage. The fact is China is systemically corrupt and nothing was done about the adulterated baby formula until after the Olympics. I wonder how many babies were critically sickened and crying in agony while Jacques Rogge, George Bush and the other smiling leaders applauded the regimented spectacle, a trademark of totalitarians. The current toll is now over 12,000 babies sickened with four babies dead.

Will we ever know how widespread melamine contamination is? Will it ever stop? When will we realize the cumulative effect of long term ingestion for the general population?

Melamine in Milk


The majority of afflicted infants ingested Sanlu-brand milk powder over a long period of time, their clinical symptoms showed up three to six months after ingesting the problematic products”.

…the toxic dose [of melamine] is rather high, on a par with common table salt with an LD50 of more than 3 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. [...]But, if melamine has low toxicity…then what is it that has poisoned thousands of babies in China and why has this scandal occurred? Well, LD50, the toxic dose issue, tells us something about acute exposure not the apparent six-months’ worth of accumulated exposure these babies have suffered. Chronic exposure to melamine can lead to bladder or kidney stones and even bladder cancer and as we have learned, acute kidney failure.

***UPDATE***Singapore says third Chinese product contaminated


Singapore has found traces of a toxic chemical in a third Chinese-made dairy product as a scandal over tainted milk spreads across Asia, authorities said yesterday.Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, known as AVA, said samples of White Rabbit-brand Creamy Candy imported from China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

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1 Comment | Leave a comment
  1. marleed says:
    September 21, 2008 at 11:22 am

    It appears that China is an equal opportunity hazard.  France has also been the beneficiary of China’s fine quality control!

    PARIS – FIRST tainted milk, now toxic chairs from China.

    Customers in France who bought Chinese-made recliners are complaining of stinging allergic rashes and infections.

    One customer, Ms Caroline Morin, said on Friday she was stunned to learn the chair she bought in December appears to have caused the skin problems she says she suffered for months.

    The French distributor, Conforama, warned clients in July that some of the chairs and sofas presented an allergy risk ‘in rare cases.’

    It has withdrawn them from sale and now says the health problems were linked to an anti-fungal chemical in the chairs.

    The affair gained attention this week following French media reports exposing problems suffered by people who bought the chairs.

    One was Ms Dolores Ennrich, who says that because of long-term illness she spent a lot of time sitting in the recliner she purchased in March 2007.

    She says she suffered painful eczema and skin infections on her left thigh, back and left arm that put her in a hospital for 12 days and led doctors to prescribe repeated courses of antibiotics.

    ‘It went away, it came back, it went away. That went on for more than a year,’ she told wires agencies. 

    ‘It is very painful.’

    You have to give them credit for consistency!

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