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Posted on 09/23/2008 6:25:38 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Melamine in pesticides, human food chain - experts
HONG KONG, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Melamine, a chemical that has tainted milk formula and made thousands of Chinese children ill, is used as an agricultural pesticide in China and may have been part of our food chain for a long time, experts said on Tuesday.
Chan King-ming, associate professor of biochemistry at the Chinese University, said cyromazine, a derivative of melamine, was very commonly used in China as a pesticide.
"It is absorbed into plants as melamine ... of course it is already in our food chain and animal feed," Chan said.
"So it is not just in milk products, but also in farm products and animal feed, fish diet," he said in an interview.
An Internet search for Chinese suppliers of cyromazine pesticides yielded many entries.
But experts were uncertain as to what this means for human health, or for people who may have been exposed to the chemical over the long term, albeit in very small amounts each time.
(Excerpt) Read more at asia.news.yahoo.com ...
They don't seem to care as long as they have other leverages.
Ping!
It’s amazing how many canned fruit products come from China.
We know melamine made it into hog and chicken feed here in the states last time around. Fortunately by the time it got to us it was pretty dilluted.
My wife had bought 4 small cans of mushrooms that came fron China. Into the garbacge can they went
I’m confused. This stuff is poison but the Chinese are using it all over. Does melamine have some property that gives the Chinese economic incentive to introduce it into food supplies?
Or is there malicious intent here?
I can stomach durable goods coming from China (to a point) but I think it’s a grevious error to import foodstuffs from there. It’s no great secret that the Chinese couldn’t care less about air and ground pollutants.
Whatever’s in the ground there is in the food we buy from them, and that ought to alarm each and every American.
“It causes food to appear to have a higher protein content making the value higher.”
Thanks. That clears a lot up for me.
It looks to me like the Chinese have taken to capitalism quite well. It seems unrestrained capitalism can yeild poor results, (can you say “bail out”?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine
I can see melamine added to feed and protein. It is cheap, and has Nitrogen. Protein content is measured by the amount of N in most cases so it is a cheap way to increase the value of your product such as feed and milk.
If you must buy packaged food, read the country of origin on the package.
If the package does not say, let it be on the shelf.
You should be buying fresh stuff anyway, the more local the better. Better for you, better for the U.S.
Some of the things we get from China suprize me, for example:
80% of the garlic consumed in the US comes from China.
I remember when I lived in California in the 60-70's the Garlic Festival was held in Gilroy, California - Garlic Capital Of The World
This kind of problem requires judicious detective work by dedicated lab staffs, and I doubt that China would do that. I heard that, a several years ago, quality test requirement for many processed food products was waived as long as the products are produced by large well-known manufacturers. The baby milk manufacturer, Sanlu, was one of them. It was not even on the list to be checked for several years.
You should be growing as much as you can, and buying fresh what you can’t.
According to Schlafly, the melamine inflates the protein readings in tests done on the food.
OUTSTANDING post! Thanks.
Ping.
I expect the Chinese people to revolt and demand that it be cleaned up from the inside of the country.
It is way too late to hide.
And...
It is just one of many such short cuts (cheating) that cause serious damage to people both in and out of the country. I expect these things to keep popping up for some time to come because these issues are so wide spread...
What are you guys, the health and lifestyle police? I should be doing whatever is good for me and mine, not out planting veges and fruit trees and putting up chicken coops, unless it works for me. Maybe you guys should re-phrase your dictums. Like maybe, “perhaps it would be worth considering a personal garden or farm, if you have deep concerns regarding the food supply”. Much more palatable than “You should be... etc. etc...”
“I blame China for poisoning themselves but I don’t blame them for poisoning us. That blame goes to the American or global corporations that repeatedly import crap from China knowing that the danger exists.”
Greed trumps all. Greed is not ALWAYS good.
There is no difference between the Chinese companies, and their American importers. The companies in question are trying to get the most profit they can. That is the goal of capitalism, right? So, they are willing to do whatever it takes to maximize the bottom line.
This is not much different than the American automakers calculating what it will cost to settle injury claims versus the cost of fixing a serious flaw in their product.
I understand capitalism is the best model for an economy we have. I understand that socialism has failed everywhere it’s been tried. I just find it interesting how some will hold capitalism as a flawless system. Humans in a system will break it, regradless of the design. Regulation is not just a leftist plot.
I am going to give this to my Veternarian. So many cats have developed Hyper Thyroidism and one reason source they believe is 'fish canned cat food". Both my cats are hyper-T and are un-related ---Hyper-T tends to run in the same 'households'...
Such labling wasn't even required until the end of last month.
When enough people die congress can act, if we keep enough pressure on them, and there is no politically expedient dodge...
Capitalism needs ethics to self regulate. I don’t even know if business ethics are taught in business schools anymore.
My uncle was a board member with a fortune 500 company. As other members happily accepted 6 figure bonuses knowing that employees were being laid off at Christmas, my uncle refused his bonus and asked that at least some emplyees be kept on the job. He was treated like a martian by other board members.
We dang sure know melamine will kill dogs and cats..
I have become diligent in trying to not buy any food products from China. However, if you buy products that have ingredients themselves, it is almost impossible to know.
“Capitalism needs ethics to self regulate. “
I agree wholeheartedly. I think most of our ills as a society can be traced back to our loss of values. As a society we celebrate wealth, regardless of how it was gained. If one were to lie, cheat, steal to get wealthy, but becomes very wealthy, that person is seen as a success in our society.
In short, in our society, the end justifies the means.
Sound familiar?
I think the "official" explanation is a Clintonesque scam to try to explain how so much melamine got into food.
No it didn't get there from pest spraying -- it was deliberately dumped in to try to scam the protein-content tests.
Melamine is used in China for more than a pesticide - it is also used as a fertilizer (the source of the contamination of the wheat gluten that killed a bunch of pets here a while back).
And this is exactly why I avoid buying food items that are made in China - take a look at apple juice bottles - most have the source of the juice somewhere - and China is one source.
Even canned mushrooms.
Many food items on grocery store shelves are now from China.
Not sure if this is true. I have been buying stuff in Chicago’s Chinatown for years and almost all the packaged products are labelled, albeit the labelling is tiny but it is there.
While my family will purchase Japanese or Taiwanese products at such Asian markets, products from China, Thailand and Vietnam can be iffy at best. This is nothing new to a lot of Asians in the US; quality control in those countries has been suspect for years. Actually, many of the Asian products available are made in the USA but cost a bit more than their Asian-made counterparts.
BTW, has anyone noticed how much of the stuff at Bass Pro Shop and Cabela’s is made in China? Everything from waders to the outdoor grills; it’s unbelievable. I try to buy US-made products, which are still available, but almost always at quite a price premium.
It is. Until 9/30/08 food was exempt from origin labeling requirements.
Most reputable manufacturers are proud to put the country of origin on their products, but they were not required to do so.
Manufactured goods were required to show origin for as long as I can remember. I'd guess since WWII. "Made in Japan" used to be a warning label...
Garlic can be grown in almost any home garden, even flower gardens. The flowers are pretty and garlic has some use as a natural pesticide. Lots of bugs don’t like it.
Get a grip.
“Most reputable manufacturers are proud to put the country of origin on their products, but they were not required to do so.”
Yesterday I bought a case of FESTIVAL MANDARIN ORANGES in light syrup from COSTCO and on the back of the can it says quite boldly:
Sole Food Importer: Acme Food Sales, Seattle, WA 98108
PRODUCT OF CHINA
Why?
“Why?”
Because I was not aware of the China Connection until I just looked in my cupboard this morning.
*oh*
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