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News From The American Chemical Society, May 13, 200919 May 2009    Advance in detecting melamine-adulterated food Researchers in Indiana are reporting an advance toward faster, more sensitive tests for detecting melamine, the substance that killed at least 6 children and sickened 300,000 children in China who drank milk and infant formula adulterated with the substance. The improved tests may ease global concerns about food safety, the researchers say. Their report is scheduled for the May 27 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. In the new study, Lisa Mauer and colleagues note that tests...

Tian Wenhua, 66, has appealed against her conviction at a court in Shijiazhuang last month, as have the three other executives from Sanlu, who were given jail terms of between five and 15 years. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Tian's lawyer, Liang Zikan, launched an attack against the Chinese authorities, suggesting that his client was made a scapegoat and that the local authorities were aware of the problems at Sanlu but failed to act. His condemnation of the trial is one of the strongest criticisms ever to be voiced about China's lack of legal transparency and the...

The scandal over tainted milk powder led to a 10 percent fall in Chinese dairy exports by volume and a rise in foreign imports last year, state media said Saturday, citing the customs department. Dozens of countries pulled Chinese dairy products from their shelves in 2008 after it emerged that the industrial chemical melamine had been added to milk to artificially boost its protein content. "Lots of foreign countries stopped importing dairy products from China, and the country's milk industry suffered severely," the Xinhua news agency quoted a customs report as saying.

The Chinese melamine scandal is expected to claim more lives after the country’s courts sentenced two people with alleged involvement in last year’s contamination to death and imprisoned an industry executive, say news reports. Tian Wenhua, who until last year headed Sanlu, one of the country’s leading dairy producers, faces life in prison for her role in allegedly turning allowing the sale of dangerous and substandard products, the Reuters news agency reported. Sanlu, which is partly owned by New Zealand-based cooperative Fonterra and has filed for bankruptcy as of this month, was one of a number of groups, including Arla...

China's milk scandal is a political temblor Selling contaminated baby formula is a heinous enough crime to shock a nation, but China's leaders know they have a dangerously destabilizing political crisis on their hands. The scandal goes to the heart of a covenant between any authoritarian regime and those who surrender freedom. They cede power with the belief, however wishful, they will be better off. Those in power promise to protect them from all manner of hazards, foreign and domestic.

US parents want answers after China milk scare By DEANNA MARTIN The Associated Press Friday, January 2, 2009; 1:58 PM -- Beth Flanders was on her way to China to adopt her 17-month-old daughter in September when she received a warning from her adoption agency: An industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones had been found in Chinese baby formula, and parents should not feed it to their new children. Flanders' daughter had no symptoms. But in November, an ultrasound revealed two kidney stones, which are unusual in children. Now the Los Angeles-area nurse wonders if melamine is to blame.

Appeals may delay payments in pet food case By GEOFF MULVIHILL | Associated Press Writer 2:56 PM EST, December 30, 2008 MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - More than 23,000 pet owners in the United States have asked for money from a $24 million settlement for owners of dogs and cats who were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical.

China, fighting a health scandal over melamine found in milk and other food products, now says it is investigating melamine tableware, following reports it might be harmful to health when hot. Quality inspectors told Xinhua news agency they were organising tests of melamine tableware "following reports that some products contained poisonous ingredients." Melamine is an industrial compound used in making plastic chairs, countertops, tableware, flame retardants and even concrete. It was added by unscrupulous manufacturers to food to cheat nutrition tests due to its high nitrogen content. The melamine scandal has battered faith in China-made products, after a series of...

Industry experts and businesspeople in China say that the industrial chemical has been routinely added to fish and animal feed to artificially boost protein readings. Reporting from Los Angeles and Shanghai--Melamine in Chinese-produced milk powder has sickened hundreds of thousands of children and added to a growing list of made-in-China foods banned across the globe.Now, some scientists and consumer advocates are raising concerns that fish from China may also be contaminated with the industrial chemical. China is the world's largest producer of farm-raised seafood, exporting billions of dollars worth of shrimp, catfish, tilapia, salmon and other fish.The U.S. imported about...

90 Percent of U.S. Infant Formula May Be Contaminated with Melamine; FDA Abruptly Declares Chemical Safe for Babies (NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil infant formula products were all contaminated with melamine. The FDA has no new science to justify its...

Want to know what organic chickens are fed? If it's soy meal from China -- a cheap source of protein -- it may also contain melamine. That's what happened with 300 tons of soy meal being fed to organic chicken in western France. Authorities discovered the soy meal contained an astonishing 50 times the maximum limit of melamine: 116mg per kg of soy meal. This cheap Chinese soy meal was delivered to 127 "organic" chicken farms in France. Nobody yet knows how many organic chicken farms in the U.S., Canada, U.K. or Australia might also be feeding their chickens toxic...

China reports huge increase in children sickened by tainted milk by Karl Malakunas Karl Malakunas Mon Dec 1, 10:40 pm ET BEIJING (AFP) – China has dramatically raised the tally of children sickened by dairy products laced with the industrial chemical melamine to 294,000, more than five times the original figure. In a late-night statement on Monday, the health ministry also said six babies may have died from consuming poisoned milk, up from a previous confirmed death toll of three. The updated figures showed the problem over contaminated milk in China this year was much greater than the government had...

90 Percent of U.S. Infant Formula May Be Contaminated with Melamine; FDA Abruptly Declares Chemical Safe for Babies Saturday, November 29, 2008 by: Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor Key concepts: Melamine, Infant formula and The FDA (NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil...

Nov. 26, 2008 -- Tiny "trace" amounts of potentially toxic melamine reportedly detected in U.S.-made infant formula pose little if any risk to kids, experts tell WebMD. Investigative reporters for the Associated Press obtained FDA documents showing the agency has been testing U.S. made baby formula for melamine. According to the AP report, one brand of formula contained very small amounts of melamine. Another brand contained similarly tiny amounts of cyanuric acid, a related chemical. And a third maker of infant formula told the AP that its own tests detected small amounts of melamine in its product.

<p>Two months ago, federal food regulators said they were unable to set a safety threshold for the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula. Now, however, they found a way to settle on a standard that allows for higher levels than those found in U.S.-made batches of the product. Food and Drug Administration officials on Friday set a threshold of 1 part per million of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical is not present. They insisted the formulas are safe.</p>

Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration yesterday for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States. "This FDA, this Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're talking about babies, about the most vulnerable. This really makes...

Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling U.S. infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe. The Food and Drug Administration said last month it was unable to identify any melamine exposure level as safe for infants, but a top official said it would be a "dangerous overreaction" for parents to stop feeding infant formula to babies who depend on it. "The levels that we are detecting are extremely low," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "They should not be changing the diet....

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration said it found "trace levels" of the industrial chemical melamine in one sample of U.S.-made infant formula and in a few samples of products like nutritional and medical supplements, all made by the five U.S. manufacturers of infant formula. The FDA said, however, that the formula and the supplements were safe to consume. The agency declined to identify the companies and brand names of the products involved. But the nation's five FDA-approved makers of milk-based infant formulas are Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myer Squibb Co. Nestlé SA's Nestlé USA unit, PBM Products LLC and Solus...

Finally, some additional numbers from the Chinese government about the extent of the poisoned milk scandal. According to the Ministry of Health, 50,741 Chinese children sickened by the tainted milk have been released from hospitals in the past two months. Another 1,041 remain hospitalized. Conspicuously absent from the Xinhua report: The number of deaths. When the story first broke in September, the media reported four children had died as a result of having consumed large amounts of melamine milk. Are we to believe that of the tens of thousands of other children sickened, no one else died? SNIP Meanwhile, the...

In the United States, we have no end of attacks on product liability litigation, consumer protection laws and class action lawsuits. (A visit to Americans for Tort Reform provides information and perspective on these efforts.) As this group and others question the "excesses" of lawsuits in compensating the injured and doubt their efficacy in bolstering product quality, consider what is taking place in China. A lawsuit was filed by the parents of a six-month old baby who died from the effects of poison in milk formula. The charge against the manufacturer, The Sanlu Group, amounts to a stunning development in...

Beijing - China on Tuesday called on the United States to lift its ban on Chinese dairy products, saying it had cracked down on the use of the toxic additive melamine in milk. The United States issued an import alert for Chinese-made food products last week, calling for foods to be stopped at the border unless importers could certify they are either free of dairy products or free of melamine. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said the government had been successful in its crackdown on melamine contamination and had reined in the problem, and hoped the US could...

Federal food safety officials yesterday began holding up shipments of food from China that contain milk or milk-derived ingredients in the largest effort to date to keep products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine from reaching U.S. consumers. The Food and Drug Administration is requiring importers of the halted shipments to test for the chemical, which is used to make plastic and fertilizer but has been added to human and animal food to boost protein readings. The types of products likely to be waylaid are cookies, candies, and other goods made with milk or milk powder. If an importer can...

Arla Foods, the Scandinavian owner of Lurpak butter and Castello cheese, has warned that it will be more than a year before dairy sales rebound in China following the melamine scandal, underscoring the toll the food safety scare has taken on corporate profits. Peder Tuborgh, chief executive of Arla Foods, said its sales volumes in China were "half" what they were a few months ago. "There's absolutely nothing good to say about the melamine scandal . . . we need to use all effort possible to regain the confidence of the consumer." Mr Tuborgh said that food companies needed to...

Many believe that the current China melamine scandal could worsen given past scandals that emerged out of that country. What is now being called “The Chinese Product Safety Scandal of 2008,” seemingly began with the deaths of four infants and the sickening and hospitalization of tens of thousands of children in China as a result of consuming melamine-tainted formula. Upon investigation, a long-established chain of greed, incompetence, negligence, and ignorance allowed the toxic industrial chemical entry into not only China’s food chain, but into the international food market, as well. Inspections and action only occurred after the situation spiraled completed...

Expanding Afghan War Awaits New President An expanded U.S. military involvement awaits a new U.S. president in Afghanistan where the unfinished business of September 11 has flared over the past three years into a major insurgency. A raft of assessments and reviews now underway in Washington point to a fundamental rethinking of the Afghan war. But whoever is elected Tuesday will face choices on the size of the military buildup, how to strengthen the central government, how far to go in dealing with insurgent sanctuaries across the border, how to help stabilize Pakistan, and whether and how to reconcile...

Melamine: It's What's for Dinner? China's latest food safety scandals reveal prevalence of melamine in food supply By GILLIAN WONG The Associated Press BEIJING First it was baby milk formula. Then, dairy-based products from yogurt to chocolate. Now chicken eggs have been contaminated with melamine, and an admission by state-run media that the industrial chemical is regularly added to animal feed in China fueled fears Friday that the problem could be more widespread, affecting fish, meat and who knows what else.

Chinese regulators are widening their investigation into contaminated food amid growing signs that the toxic industrial chemical melamine has leached into the nation's animal feed supplies, posing health risks to consumers. The announcement came after food safety tests earlier this week found that eggs produced in three different provinces in China were contaminated with melamine, which is blamed for causing kidney stones and renal failure in infants. The tests have led to recalls of eggs and consumer warnings. The reports are another serious blow to China's agriculture industry, which is already struggling to cope with its worst food safety scandal...

The industrial chemical melamine is commonly added to animal feed in China to fake higher protein levels, state media reported Thursday, offering what appeared to be a tacit admission by the government that the food supply could be rife with contamination. The Nanfang Daily said it was an "open secret" in the industry that melamine scrap is being repackaged into an inexpensive product called "protein powder" that is sold to food suppliers. The Web sites of the official Xinhua News Agency and the Communist Party's main newspaper, the People's Daily, also carried the story in a rare step of publicizing...

Eggs tainted with the industrial chemical melamine were detected last month in the same northeast Chinese city from where contaminated ones sold in Hong Kong originated, an official said Monday. The safety inspector from Dalian city's food and drug department said tests were carried out on eggs for melamine in the wake of the scandal about the widespread use of the chemical in Chinese dairy products. "Agricultural authorities carried out some checks into eggs after the (tainted) milk powder incident was disclosed, the official, who declined to be named, told AFP by phone. Some eggs were found to be tainted...

Tens of thousands join anti-China rally in Taiwan by Amber Wang Sat Oct 25, 8:03 am ET TAIPEI (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters joined a major anti-China rally Saturday to denounce Taiwan's warming ties with Beijing, which they say threaten the self-ruled island's sovereignty. The demonstrators, many dressed in the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) green, marched through Taipei's streets waving flags and chanting. They hit out at the visit of Beijing's top negotiator in little over a week, and voiced anger at a series of Chinese export scandals including milk products tainted by industrial chemical melamine. "Opposing...

SOUTH Korea has ordered 23 tonnes of Chinese processed egg products to be destroyed after they were found to be tainted with melamine, the latest in a series of health scares blighting the 'made in China' brand. The move comes after South Korea found melamine in 10 Chinese dairy products earlier this month and ordered them to be taken off shop shelves. Tens of thousands of Chinese children have fallen ill and at least four have died from drinking milk formula contaminated with melamine, which has since been found in a series of drinks and foods and led to products...

Australian officials ordered the recall of a milk drink and cake brand after tests showed they were contaminated with melamine, bringing to six the number of Chinese-made products withdrawn in Australia following China's tainted milk scandal. A spokeswoman for Food Standards Australia New Zealand said Monday that Orion brand Tiramisu Italian Cake with Cheese Cream and Dali Yuan brand First Milk vanilla-flavored drink were recalled Friday after government tests revealed the Chinese-made products contained low levels of melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children.

Connecticut officials say cookies made in China that were contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine were found at a West Hartford food shop, and they're warning people not to eat them. The Department of Consumer Protection says its investigators found Koala's March creme-filled cookies at A Dong market on Friday, and testing showed melamine amounts above limits set by the federal government. SNIP Michigan-based Lotte USA Inc. is recalling the cookies from U.S. shelves and says it's not aware of any illnesses associated with the products. Connecticut officials say they suspect other stores in the state may have been selling...

Milk and yogurt from two Chinese stores in Italy tested positive for the chemical melamine, a government official announced Thursday. Welfare Undersecretary Francesca Martini said that health police have been seizing and testing dairy products imported from China, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. So far, problems have been found with three cases of dairy products. Cosimo Piccinno, commander of the health police, said that the levels of melamine found were above the acceptable limit and that he was concerned because the products are likely to be eaten by children. ''These aren't lethal quantities, but they are harmful,'' Piccinno said....

Malaysia today banned the import of raising agent “ammonium bicarbonate” from China as the substance was found to contain excessive melamine level. Following the finding, Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said two biscuit manufacturers, Khong Guan and Khian Guan, had been ordered to recall several of their products from the market. He added that raising agents from other countries would be put under thorough checks before they were allowed into the local market. The ban on the raising agent, which takes effect immediately, was taken after analysis made on samples from two biscuit factories — Khong Guan in Johor...

THREE more products from China have been found tainted with melamine, including one meant for manufacturing use, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said yesterday. They are Cadbury Choclairs in the coffee and blueberry flavours, and Panda Dairy Whole Milk Powder. The AVA gave the assurance that the levels of melamine detected in the tainted products were very low and should not cause ill heath unless consumed in very large quantities. It said the Choclairs had melamine concentrations of 21.4 to 92.3 parts per million (ppm) and a 60kg adult can consume between 108 and 292 pieces of the candy...

BEIJING — China said Wednesday that it had established limits for the allowable trace amounts of melamine in dairy products that officials assured would make the items safe. The toxic industrial chemical is at the heart of one of this country’s worst food contamination crises. The imposition of the limits, announced by the Health Ministry at a news conference, was the latest in a series of steps undertaken by the government to rebuild consumer confidence after revelations last month that at least three babies had died and 53,000 children had been sickened by drinking milk products adulterated with melamine, which...

BEIJING (Reuters) - The toll of Chinese children ill from toxic milk formula may have nearly doubled since the Health Ministry's last public count, local media reports show, but an official said on Wednesday the number of new cases was falling. Beijing is struggling with fallout from adulteration of milk with the industrial chemical melamine. At home four babies have died, and thousands of infants fell sick, while around the world products made with Chinese milk have been recalled. The government has not updated figures issued on September 21, when it said that 12,892 infants were in hospital, 104 with...

Melamine Found in Chocolate Products From China South Korea's food watchdog has detected quantities of melamine, an industrial chemical, in chocolate products from foodstuff giants Nestle SA, Mars Inc. and South Korea's Lotte that were manufactured in China, Yonhap News reported Saturday. The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said 2.38 parts per million (ppm) and 1.78 ppm of the toxic substance was discovered in samples of M&M's Milk and Peanut Snickers Fun Size products, respectively, from Mars Korea. A Kit Kat bar from Nestle Korea was also found to contain 2.89 ppm of melamine, the agency said. The...

Tainted Dairy Products Being Removed from Ethnic Markets 10/1/2008 The North Dakota Department of Health says it`s working to remove recalled products from the shelves of ethnic markets in the state. Kenan Bullinger, director of the department`s food and lodging division, says Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products, as well as White Rabbit Creamy Candies, have been found in ethnic markets in North Dakota. The recalls are the result of Chinese milk suppliers adding melamine to watered-down milk supplied to food companies around the globe to boost its apparent protein content. The compromised dairy products are blamed for...

`China Covered Up Melamine Outbreak due to Olympics` OCTOBER 01, 2008 03:00 A Taiwanese daily said yesterday that the Chinese government knew about melamine-tainted milk power before the Beijing Olympics, but covered it up. United Daily News said the Chinese weekly Southern Weekend found in late July infants who contracted kidney stones by eating the milk powder products of San Lu, the infamous company which triggered the melamine scare. The weekly was about to report the case. The central propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party, which controls the media, issued a gag order and banned the publication. The department...

Now animals fall victim to China toxic milk scandal as officials admit cover-up during Olympics By Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 11:43 AM on 26th September 2008 The 'tainted milk' scandal, which has claimed the lives of four infants and left more than 50,000 children ill in China, is now putting zoo animals in danger. Two orangutans, aged one and three, and a lion cub are now reported to be showing signs of kidney stones after being fed the milk powder for more than a year. The animals are from the Hangzhou Safari Park World near Shanghai. All had...

Cookies With Melamine Found in Netherlands By VOA News 30 September 2008 Officials in the Netherlands say two types of Chinese-made cookies have been found with elevated levels of the industrial chemical melamine. The Dutch Food Safety Authority said Tuesday the chestnut and chocolate flavored cookies from the "Koala" brand are now off the market because of their melamine concentration. New melamine-tainted products are being announced on an almost daily basis. In South Korea, officials say the chemical was found in Nabisco Ritz cracker cheese sandwiches and in rice crackers made by the Chinese company, Danyang Day. Since the melamine...

Heinz stops buying Chinese milk products Article from: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Washington October 01, 2008 04:44am US food group Heinz says it has decided to stop buying Chinese milk for use in its products in the wake of a giant tainted milk scandal that has left 53,000 children ill. "In order to reassure consumers about the safety of Heinz products, Heinz has made the strategic decision to switch our milk supply in China and Hong Kong to non-Chinese sources and we are testing all dairy ingredients for melamine prior to use in our factories," a spokesman for the...

Melamine-tainted Lipton milk tea powder recalled in Hong Kong markets (RTTNews) - Lipton milk tea powder was withdrawn Tuesday from Hong Kong markets after traces of melamine were found in its products manufactured in China. Unilever PLC, which owns the Lipton brand, announced the chemical that causes health hazards had been found in its brands of Milk Tea Powder Original and Lipton Milk Tea Powder Gold in internal quality checks. A spokesman for the Hong Kong Center for Food Safety has appealed to the public to stop drinking the tainted products. The center has ordered outlets selling the products to...

WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators warned the public on Friday not to consume seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products that were made in China because of concerns they may be contaminated with melamine. The Food and Drug Administration said the products were recalled by King Car Food Industrial Co Ltd "due to possible contamination with melamine."

FDA Updates Health Information Advisory On Melamine Contamination 28 Sep 2008 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting consumers that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products manufactured in China are being recalled by the King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd. due to possible contamination with melamine. The products, manufactured by China's Shandong Duqing Inc., are: - Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1) - Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1) - Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1) - Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1) - Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)...

China milk scandal hits home Chinese had shrugged off previous problems as Western hysteria, but tainted milk has many wondering what else poses a risk. Even professed patriots seek out products not made in China. By Barbara Demick Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 27, 2008 BEIJING — Even after regulators assured the public that all contaminated baby formula was off the shelves, B.X. Wei wasn't going to feed his 2-month-old son anything that came out of a can. Especially not one made in China. But his wife didn't have enough breast milk for the baby. Then the 30-year-old businessman...

A Burlingame company is recalling a candy product after the California Department of Public Health warned consumers Friday of a harmful chemical compound detected in some candies. White Rabbit Candy, sold by the Burlingame-based Queensway Foods Company, is being recalled after testing detected the presence of melamine in some candies at levels up to 520 parts per million, according to the department of public health. The candy was produced by China, which has been associated with contaminated infant formula and other milk protein products containing melamine. The harmful compound has also been associated with a large recall of pet food,...

CHINA'S toxic milk scandal escalated today as one of the nation's famous candy brands was pulled off shelves and four more people outside the mainland were thought to have fallen ill. The industrial chemical melamine has also been found in Heinz baby cereal and in potato crackers in the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong and officials ordered a recall of the products. In China, the maker of White Rabbit candy, given to US president Richard Nixon on a landmark 1972 trip, said it was halting domestic sales after its products were found to contain melamine, normally used to make...