A ping list dedicated to exposing the quality, safety and security issues of anything “Made in China”.
Please FReepmail me if you would like to be on or off of the list.
(This can be a high volume ping list.)
Posted on 09/12/2008 11:58:24 AM PDT by DlRTYHARY
BEIJING (AFP) - Shops throughout China pulled a milk powder suspected of killing one baby and sickening dozens of others from shelves on Friday in the latest safety scandal to rock the country's food industry. ADVERTISEMENT
China's health ministry launched an investigation into the affair as media reports said dairy farmers were suspected of lacing milk used in the Sanlu brand formula with an industrial chemical to boost its protein content.
The scandal has had repercussions overseas, with the US Food and Drug Agency reportedly alerting US markets to beware of Chinese-made baby formula.
The World Health Organisation said it was monitoring the situation, although it was not immediately clear if any of the suspect powder has been exported.
Stores throughout China, including global retailing giants Wal-Mart and Carrefour, began removing the product from shelves after the Sanlu Group ordered a recall.
One baby has died and dozens have been hospitalised across the country after drinking the suspect milk powder and developing kidney stones, China's health ministry said on its website as it announced the national probe.
"A joint inter-ministerial team has been set up to investigate responsibility and strictly deal with those responsible," the ministry said of the team composed of police, health, commerce and drug agencies.
The ministry also issued guidelines on how to treat infants suffering from kidney stones after drinking the tainted formula.
Sanlu has acknowledged that some of its milk powder was contaminated by the chemical melamine, which can cause kidney stones, the ministry said.
Melamine is a chemical used in making plastics, glues and other products.
It was at the centre of a US recall of pet foods containing Chinese-made additives last year.
State press reports citing an internal company probe said Sanlu had accused dairy suppliers of adding the chemical to their milk.
"This was caused by dairy farmers illegally adding melamine to the milk to raise the protein content," the China News Service quoted Sanlu as saying.
Xinhua news agency said 78 "suspects" had been summoned for questioning in the case by police in Shijiazhuang, a city near Beijing where Sanlu is based.
They include dairy farmers and milk dealers, it reported.
China has in recent years endured a series of high-profile safety scandals over its food and other products sold overseas as well as domestically.
China. Its crap, but its cheap.
I’m betting melamine again. Yeah, use a plastic substance to up the protein amount during testing.
I once worked for a company that started importing parts from China. The company hired the son of a PRC Army general as our rep in China. The first thing he told the board of directors is that all Chinese are liars. It is normal for them and totally ingrained in their nature.
Is it because the milk was LOWER in protein content...because they were watering it down to increase saleable quantity?
We are dealing with a culture, folks, that never had a Christian ethic instilled in it. It's all about prosperity for oneself, one's family, and extended family. Nothing more.
They don't have an ethic to prevent this behavior, and they have no legal system that would properly punish it. Only the most extreme cases are punished--again, when the behavior is so egregious that it harms their ability to sell other products.
Sauron
Yep, we don’t want to pay a decent wage to make it here so we import it. Hopefully our government is realizing that you get what you pay for, but, cheap is one thing and poisoning the citizens of another country is another thing completely.
Most favored nation status my butt! Least favored is more like it.
So sad - it could have been avoided if gov’t did not regulate protein content.
Hey, what the hell. What doesn’t kill your babies, makes them sensitive.
Bankrupt in a lot of ways. We’re dealing with people who are arming and funding terrorists who are killing our soldiers. Apparently the life of a soldier is a far more cost effective loss than the losses wall street would take if Americans woke up.
My first thought was that there must be some sort of analysis made before these products may be sold and to ensure that their products would get a high rating, they laced it with a substance which is famously known for both giving high false protein readings and for causing subsequent kidney problems.
Not only was the action dangerous and reckless but it would seem that it was calculated and could be seen by the more cynical of us as perfectly in keeping with their family-planning programs put in place by the government itself.
Made in China Infant Kidney Stone Ping!
I don’t get how it is they can make such crap for the consumer, but build submarines that are THIS silent.
Even if it's kosher.
They’ll behead Wang down in shipping. The carton clearly read “For Export Only”.
Melamine and lead are just two recent examples.
Keep buying Chinese goods which are manufactured by slaves under the auspices of the Peoples' Army.
At present our supermarkets are selling Chinese farm-raised talapia and other denizens of filthy swamps where these fish are farm raised. But of course they get a pass because they manufacture our birth control pills and many other drugs necessary for our 'survival' including, I believe, the Viagra drug so many are apparently enamored of.
Buy lots of Chinese toys for the kids this Christmas (a holiday banned in China where Christians are routinely executed)as well as the ornaments for your tree.
Bert and Ernie are routinely dipped in lead to insure they are long lasting. These toys, at least, will last longer than your children.
China is our enemy, but we don't want to tick them off as they, like Venezuela's ally Russia, are armed to the teeth with nuclear missiles all of which are aimed at our cities.
>>>a Christian ethic
Their ethics are RELATIVE, not ABSOLUTE like ours.
So, for example, the belief “thou shalt not kill” is not an absolute rule, but one that depends on the circumstances.
Secondly, they are true to their family before all else... then they proceed outward. To their city, to their county, to their ethnic, to their country... and finally to other humans.
These are the people preparing our foods. But they mean well. They just don’t have the same values as we do.
Rudyard Kipling said it best, “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Eat accordingly.
Man, they screwed up and must really be kicking themselves. That was the batch of powered milk that was supposed to be *for export*... :-/
Friendly fire incident. Shipment accidentally went somewhere domestic instead of America. Great people, those Chinese.
And we are still importing food products from them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.