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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...

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A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates. Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died. Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.” ....

Australia and New Zealand issued recalls Thursday for an imported Chinese candy that was found to contain the industrial chemical melamine. New Zealand Food Safety Authority spokesman Geoff Allen said Thursday morning that he expected the White Rabbit Creamy Candies to be off shelves within 24 hours. "This product contains sufficiently high levels of melamine which may, in some individuals, cause health problems such as kidney stones," deputy chief executive Sandra Daly said in a statement posted Wednesday on the agency's Web site. "The levels we have found in these products are unacceptable."

Nearly 53,000 children in China have been sickened by milk powder contaminated by an industrial chemical, the government said Monday, dramatically ramping up its previous figures. Earlier the health ministry said 12,892 infants were in hospital with 104 babies in serious condition, according to the official Xinhua news agency. As the World Health Organization questioned Beijing's handling of the crisis, premier Wen Jiabao appeared on state television promising to head off further incidents. But a Hong Kong toddler also became the first child affected outside the mainland and more countries moved to bar Chinese milk products. The scandal stems from...

Three Somerset County residents have learned firsthand the dangers of picking and eating wild mushrooms. The trio from Franklin Township have been hospitalized with liver toxicity; one is in critical condition and may need a transplant. Bruce Ruck, director of drug information and professional education at the New Jersey Poison Control Center in Newark, identified the victims as a mother and her daughter and son-in-law, all Asian Indians. The mother is in critical condition and being evaluated for a liver transplant at University Hospital in Newark; the other two are at Princeton University Medical Center. "They picked and ate wild...

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said officials in Russia were hindering an investigation to determine who was behind his poisoning during the 2004 presidential election campaign. The president told The Times Russian laboratories were refusing to provide samples of the dioxin poison, even though he had discussed the matter with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. He also said Russia was refusing to extradite three suspects. "Three laboratories in the world were producing dioxin of this formula. It is very easy to determine the origin of the substance; there is nothing magical about it," he told the Times. "Two laboratories provided samples...

[Dec, 2004] A criminal investigation into the poisoning of the Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko began yesterday after tests showed that his blood contained 1,000 times the normal level of dioxin. The poisoning caused the severe chloracne which led to the disfigurement of his face. The results of the investigation are likely to prove politically explosive amid feverish speculation that Mr Yushchenko was the victim of a Cold War-style poisoning by members of the country's intelligence services.

It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide. Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada. A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of the Burnsley Hotel at...

DENVER (CBS4) ― It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide. Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada. A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of The...

China's devastating pollution problems aren't just taking a toll on China -- they're also affecting the rest of the world, says New Republic. For example: Acid rain partly caused by Chinese sulfur emissions, pours down on Japan and South Korea. On some days, one-third of California's background air pollution -- consisting of dust, sulfur and trace metals -- can be traced back to China. Some 80 percent of the East China Sea, one of the world's largest fisheries, has become toxic, due to sewage dumps from the mainland. Even if the Chinese government does spruce up Beijing in time for...

British spying chief Alex Allan, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, has regained consciousness having been in a coma for 10 days. Mr Allan's committee collates information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and briefs the prime minister, ministers and officials on intelligence assessments on issues such as security, defence and foreign affairs.

Russian agents came close to carrying out the perfect assassination on British soil when they killed Alexander Litvinenko... Security sources have disclosed that the former Russian spy would have died within hours had the poisoned tea he was given been served hot. Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had become a critic of the government of Russia's then president, Vladimir Putin... Security sources say that during the meeting Litvinenko took just a few sips of the tea but left the remainder of the cup because it was cold. "If Litvinenko had drunk all the tea he would have been dead...

SUPERSPOOK Alex Allan may have been an assassination target of the Russians or al-Qaeda, security experts said last night. The 56-year-old chairman of the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee is in a coma in hospital and has had toxicology tests to see if he has been poisoned. Another theory is that Britain's top spy - whose 58-year-old Australian wife Katie Clemson died from cancer in November - may have taken a drugs overdose. Mr Allan had direct access to the PM and regularly updated him about terrorist threats facing Britain. The members of the Joint Intelligence Committee Mr Allan chairs are...

A glam-metal rocker is bucking the Greeley Stampede, vowing to use the band's gig there Saturday to educate fans about "rodeo cruelty." "I had no idea that this gig included a rodeo," Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, an animal-rights crusader for 16 years, said in a statement. The 86-year-old Greeley tradition bills itself as the "World's Largest 4th of July Rodeo." "I am blown away that I missed the description of this show on our touring schedule," said the 46-year-old Rockett, whose real name is Richard Ream. "I have a huge problem with animal cruelty at rodeos," said the drummer, who...

How do you keep the ice out of ice cream? Antifreeze. A UW-Madison scientist has discovered an edible antifreeze that can keep ice crystals from forming inside ice cream containers, a real turnoff to late night snackers who just want their fix of Rocky Road without digging through a layer of frost. According to the UW-Madison news service, food science professor Srinivasan Damodaran mixed gelatin with papain, a natural enzyme from fruit that cuts proteins into smaller pieces. When blended into ice cream, the antifreeze works to keep ice cream smooth. Frozen foods get crystallized because of temperature fluctuations, such...

Biblical Text-Writing May Have Poisoned Monks Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Damaged Skull June 27, 2008 -- Medieval bones from six different Danish cemeteries reveal that monks who wrote Biblical texts and other religious materials may have been exposed to toxic mercury, which was used to formulate just one of their ink colors: red. The study, which will be published in the August issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, also describes a previously undocumented disease, called FOS, which was like leprosy and caused skull lesions. Additionally, the researchers found that mercury-containing medicine had been administered to 79 percent of the...

If your owners use mulch in the yard, please have them read the below letter. There’s danger in that there mulch they might be purchasing. Buyer beware. Over the weekend one of our friends experienced a tragedy with one of their dogs and wanted me to pass a special message along to all of our dog loving friends and family. Please tell every dog owner you know. Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 states, federal health officials said Saturday. Investigations by the health departments of Texas and New Mexico and the federal Indian Health Service have tied 56 cases in Texas and 55 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked tomatoes. “We’re seeing a steady increase,” said Deborah Busemeyer, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Health. An additional 50 people have been sickened by the same salmonella infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the federal...

DADE CITY — A 16-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated domestic battery after Pasco deputies said she spiked her mom's food with an ingredient that she knew could cause a severe allergic reaction. The Times is not printing the name of the teen or her mother. The 39-year-old mother is allergic to many foods, deputies said. Her allergies are so severe that she carries around an EpiPen, a spring-loaded auto injector of epinephrine, or adrenaline, to prevent her from going into anaphylactic shock. The woman needed the EpiPen the night of May 7, when deputies said the...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

The terrorist cell that planned to poison an Israeli restaurant this month was led by jihadists who were recently granted amnesty by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, WND has learned. The pardoned terrorists, members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, were directly involved in orchestrating the foiled attack, according to defense sources. They were granted amnesty in October as a stated Israeli gesture to help bolster Palestinian Authority President and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The terrorists were given amnesty on condition they disarm, refrain from attacks and spend three months in PA detention facilities and another three months confined to Nablus,...

AN ALLEGED attempt to kill a former Russian spy who defected to Britain was being investigated by police last night. Oleg Gordievsky was admitted to a hospital in Guildford after falling ill in November last year. And yesterday he claimed he had been poisoned with the highly toxic metal thallium in a botched assassination attempt. Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who spied on Russia for British intelligence during the 1980s, claims he was targeted by a Russian assassin who visited him at his safe house in Surrey. The 69-year-old was unconscious for 34 hours after falling ill last year and...

Rikki Rockett, the drummer of glam rock band Poison, was arrested Monday at Los Angeles International Airport on an outstanding rape warrant, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Rockett, 46, was arrested and booked into the L.A. County Jail, the paper said. He was being held on a strong-arm rape warrant filed in Neshoba County, Miss. Details

Mystery food poisoning traced to salads 24 March 2008 NewScientist.com news service Analysis of 2006 spinach poisoning outbreak in the US The rate of food poisoning from salad greens in the US is hugely outstripping increases in their consumption. Three large outbreaks in 2006 that between them made 300 Americans sick were traced to bulk-prepared greens. "For most outbreaks, investigators are unable to pinpoint where contamination occurred," says Michael Lynch of the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Whatever the cause, increased consumption is not it. Between 1986 and 1995, Americans ate 17 per cent more leafy greens...

(BEIJING) - Food poisoning deaths in China rose by about one-third in 2007, the state-run news agency reported Sunday amid ongoing scrutiny over the safety of the country's food production chain. Citing figures from the Ministry of Health, Xinhua News Agency said 258 people were killed last year, up 32 percent from the previous year. The report said that while the number of deaths rose in 2007, overall cases of food poisoning fell to 506, 26 percent less than the previous year. "Most of the fatal food poisoning incidents were caused by toxic seafood, meat and produce,'' Xinhua said......

Shi'ite cleric and leader Muqtada Al-Sadr was secretly transferred a few days ago from Iraq to Iran for hospitalization as he was comatose. It was reported that his illness resulted from food poisoning. Al-Sadr is being treated by Iranian specialists, as well as by Russian doctors brought in to help the Iranian medical staff treat him.

Deadly poison CDC test confirms substance is ricin FBI in Salt Lake City still investigating link to house in Riverton By Jason Bergreen The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 03/05/2008 01:27:51 AM MST A substance found in Roger Von Bergendorff's Las Vegas hotel room and tested Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was confirmed to be the deadly toxin ricin. The new results confirm initial tests conducted by the Southern Nevada Health District.     Jennifer Sizemore, a spokeswoman for SNHD, confirmed Tuesday that the CDC sample came back positive.     Police found vials of ricin, firearms and...

LAS VEGAS - As police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital. Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later. Capt. Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference late Friday that the book was tabbed at a spot with information about ricin. Police found the firearms and books on Tuesday after a manager at the Extended Stay America motel called...

A man who stayed in a Las Vegas hotel room where ricin was found is in critical condition at a hospital, where he has been since mid-February, said a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department official. A man is in critical condition after exposure to ricin at a Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel.

Thallium has been described as an ideal assassin's tool The UK government has flown antidote medicine to the Middle East after some Iraqis became seriously ill from eating cakes laced with the poison thallium. Two of the victims, both children, died after eating cake delivered to a military club in Baghdad. Others are being treated in hospital in the Jordanian capital, Amman. It is the first time the deadly toxin has been used since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, whose regime used it to kill its opponents. At least two of the poison victims, the secretary of the Iraqi...

Japan dumpling mystery deepens with poisoning claim Justin McCurry in Tokyo Tuesday February 5, 2008 Guardian Unlimited (UK) A pack of the brand of dumplings blamed for the food poisoning outbreak. Photograph: AP The mystery surrounding an outbreak of food poisoning in Japan that has been linked to Chinese made dumplings deepened today after the health minister, Yoichi Masuzoe, said they may have been deliberately contaminated. The case came to light last week with reports that 10 people had fallen ill after eating frozen dumplings produced by Tianyang Food Processing in Hebei province, China. The victims suffered from nausea and...

A Washington County woman is accused of locking her 10-year-old grandson in a feces-filled dog crate for about 90 minutes. Police said 51-year-old Rhonda Lehman, of Washington, put the boy in the crate Saturday because the boy laced the family's drinks with lamp oil and household cleaner called "Bam." Lehman has custody of the boy, who told police he did it because "he was angry because he didn't get to go on a trip" last year, said Washington police Officer James Markley. It is possible the boy had been spiking the drinks for a while, authorities said. Family members became...

HOUSTON - Maria didn't mean to poison her children. Quite the opposite. Worried about her daughters' lack of appetite, the young Houston mother was merely following her grandmother's advice when she gave the two girls and a niece a dose of "greta" - a Mexican folk medicine used to treat children's stomach ailments. What Maria, who asked that her last name not be used, did not know then, but now will never forget, is that the bright orange powder is nearly 90 percent lead. Fortunately, doctors detected the dangerously high levels of the toxic metal in the little girls' blood...

Garlic combats arsenic poisoning 14 January 2008 NewScientist.com news service Keya Chaudhuri, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology Information on arsenic in drinking water, WHO Arsenic in Bangladesh, British Geological Survey Garlic may provide some relief for millions of Bangladeshis and Indians whose drinking water is contaminated with arsenic. Keya Chaudhuri of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata, and her colleagues gave rats daily doses of arsenic in their water, in levels equivalent to those found in groundwater in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Rats which were also fed garlic extracts had 40 per cent less arsenic in their blood...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US drug safety watchdog warned Monday on its website that several Chinese-made 'dietary supplements' contain the active ingredient found in Viagra, and could be harmful to consumers. "The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to buy or use Super Shangai, Strong Testis, Shangai Ultra, Shangai Ultra X, Lady Shangai, and Shangai Regular, also marketed as Shangai Chaojimengnan, products," the FDA said in a statement. "These products, which originate in China, are being marketed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and for sexual enhancement," the statement said. None of the product labels mention...

Antibiotics in the meat, pesticide used as preservatives, mercury in the drinking water -- Chinese author Zhou Qing says China's food industry is poisoning the country in its greed for profit. If ordinary people knew, there would be a revolution, he adds. Chinese journalist Zhou Qing, a critic of the regime, unearthed political dynamite in his two-year investigation of China's food industry. He interviewed grocers, restaurant owners, farmers and food factory managers for an exposé for which he won a prize as part of the German "Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage" in 2006. His book is a...

APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a married man they say caused his girlfriend to miscarry twice by slipping her an abortion drug. Manishkumar M. Patel, 34, of Appleton, was expected to be charged Thursday afternoon. The woman already had a 3-year-old child with the man, who was married to someone else, Outagamie County sheriff's Capt. Michael Jobe said at a news conference. She became pregnant two more times, but miscarried in December and September, he said. Apparently suspecting she had been slipped mifespristone, the abortion pill also known as RU-486, the woman had a blood sample sent to...

Bill Clinton has finally begun campaigning in Iowa, sixteen years after he began running for President. Iowans appear to welcome him warmly on behalf of his wife, but Hillary's opponents have reminded them that when she takes credit for his successes, she has to take responsibilities for his failures as well. That formula forced Al Gore to keep Bill at arm's length in the 2000 race, and former Clinton official Donna Brazile says she knows why: Bill Clinton's shadow over the 2008 nominating race creates potential pitfalls for his wife and for her opponents. Hillary Clinton risks being seen as...

The former KGB officer named as a suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London said Wednesday the British government's case against him had collapsed and called the slain man a "traitor." In an interview with The Associated Press, Andrei Lugovoi, who is running for parliament in the Dec. 2 elections, said he expects his accusers to use the Nov. 23 anniversary of Litvinenko's agonizing death from radiation poisoning to renew calls for his extradition. But the 43-year-old multimillionaire said the Russian constitution prevents him being handed over, so he is not concerned about what British officials and Litvinenko's...

(HONG KONG) — The Chinese government announced late Saturday that it had confirmed the presence of poison on toy beads exported around the world, while in the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that seven more children had been sickened. The Chinese government’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also identified the factory that manufactured the beads, the Wangqi Product Factory in the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and said the factory’s export license had been suspended. The Chinese response to the poisonous toy beads represents an unusually swift reaction, and a contrast with other recent...

ALERT SYDNEY, Australia - The Australian company behind a popular Chinese-made toy found to contain a chemical that converts into a potentially fatal drug when ingested said Friday it was investigating how the toxin ended up in its product. An 18-month-old boy became the fourth child hospitalized in Australia in recent weeks when he collapsed after eating the toy. Retailers have pulled millions of the toys, known as Bindeez in Australia and Aqua Dots in the United States, from their shelves this week after scientists found the products contain a chemical that converts into the so-called "date rape" drug gamma...

German tennis star Tommy Haas revealed on Wednesday he believes he was poisoned during his country's Davis Cup semi-final defeat to Russia in Moscow last September. Haas was beaten in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 by Igor Andreev in the singles as Russia claimed a 3-2 win over Germany on the weekend of September 21-23 to claim their place in the final against the USA. "I have never felt so miserable in my whole life as I did on the Saturday and Sunday nights in Moscow," the 29-year-old told German agency SID. "Of the eight hours I should have been...

THE Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned, was an MI6 agent, it has been claimed. His death in November led to relations between London and Moscow plunging to their lowest since the Cold War. If the allegations are true, it will heighten pressure on Whitehall to have the main murder suspect extradited from Russia to stand trial in England. Litvinenko made a deathbed claim that he had been killed on the orders of Russian president Vladimir Putin, with whom he had several run-ins. The dissident's supporters allege the murder was ordered to send a 'deliberate message' to...

A top advisor of former PA chairman Yasser Arafat is suffering from similar symptoms to those diagnosed in the deceased Palestinian leader before his death, a Palestinian Web site reported Wednesday. Doctors at a London hospital treating Nabil Abu Rudeineh had to remove one of his kidneys and implant instead a kidney donated by his sister, the Web site said. Rudeineh's family told the PNN Web site that the former aide was recovering and would return to the territories in the near future. Rudeineh has been feeling unwell for some time now and doctors told his family that the liver...

If elected, Andrei Lugovoi would be granted immunity from prosecution A Russian businessman wanted in Britain on suspicion of murdering Alexander Litvinenko says he will stand for election to the Russian parliament. Andrei Lugovoi denies any involvement in former Russian agent Mr Litvinenko's death from poisoning in London in November 2006. He has said he will run for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) of the Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. If elected in December, Mr Lugovoi would get immunity from prosecution. "I confirm LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky's announcement that I have agreed to join the party's electoral list," Mr Lugovoi told...

MOSCOW (AP) — The sole suspect in the radiation poisoning death of a former KGB agent announced plans to run for parliament Sunday on the ticket of a pro-Kremlin ultranationalist party. Andrei Lugovoi, another former KGB officer who met with Alexander Litvinenko at a London hotel bar on Nov. 1 hours before Litvinenko fell ill, told state-run Russia Today television that he had no desire to go into politics but changed his mind because of British accusations. Now a Moscow businessman who runs a private security agency, Lugovoi said Sunday that he would be No. 2 on the list of...

California Fish and Game today began poisoning a Plumas County lake in an attempt to eradicate the population of northern pike. Crews began dripping and spraying 300 gallons of rotenone on the creeks and other tributaries feeding Lake Davis. An additional 16,000 gallons of the organic poison -- deadly only to gilled creatures -- will be placed in the lake itself beginning Sept. 25. The poison will kill all the fish in Lake Davis, which will be restocked with native trout, according to Ed Pert, manager of the $16.7 million project. "If we don't get them this time, we will...

(BEIJING) - Think a bottle of mineral water might have poisoned you? Then test it on a chicken. One Chinese family on the southern island province of Hainan had just that idea when one of their number started vomiting blood after drinking a bottle of water, a newspaper said. They fed the luckless chicken the rest of the water to see what would happen, the Beijing News said, citing a report in a local paper. "The result was the chicken died within a minute," it said, showing a picture of a man holding a plastic bottle squatting over the crumpled...

led the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a recall of more than 300,000 Chinese-made items on Wednesday. The recall includes about 250,000 SpongeBob SquarePants address books and journals because they may have excessive levels of lead paint on their metal spiral bindings. SpongeBob is a popular cartoon character from the hit show that airs on Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon cable channel. The CPSC said the books, which were imported by privately held Martin Designs Inc, were sold at stores across the U.S. between June 2006 and July 2007 for about $2. The latest round of recalls involving goods made...