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Posted on 09/17/2008 1:07:13 AM PDT by Schnucki
More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking formula milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced.
The figure is five times higher than previously announced.
Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China.
Twenty-two brands of powder were found to contain the toxic industrial chemical melamine, apparently added to make it appear higher in protein.
Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with "acute kidney failure" had risen to 158.
Anger on forums
The government has labelled the poisonings a "level one" food safety incident and formed an emergency team to grapple with the fallout.
It is keen to try to reassure parents that it is in control of what is happening, says the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing.
This scandal has undermined confidence in food safety in China and many parents are worried about what they will feed their babies, he adds.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
melamine? Wasn’t that the problem with the pet food deaths scandal about a year or so ago?
Yes, I think that’s correct.
If the Chinese were to import this formula into the US, we probably wouldn’t know there was a problem with it until American babies started getting sick and dying.
What the heck..... they have more people than they can feed anyway. /sarc
Yep. When tested chemically it reads as protein, so they can scam the testing folk.
You would think they figured out by now it kills living things. And China can be sort of unforgiving about that. They tend to shoot people.
Ping.
Oh.... those poor little babies. My heart is breaking.
> Wasn’t that the problem with the pet food deaths scandal about a year or so ago?
Yeah, it was.
Have a look at Wikipedia — it has a really well-written and well-presented article on this filth. I am astonished that people would actually try this on. It is Immoral: no other word for it.
The worst part is that while China says it will “dispose” of the stuff, I suspect it’s far more likely that it will end up in a wide range of other products in a dilluted form.
Related
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084087/posts
Probe Finds 20 Percent of China Milk Companies in Scandal
NW_AZ, I linked your ProMed article from the big thread on this one.
Everyone should read it. WalMart carries the product.
On the thread at the link at post 13, I added a link to that thread. It was the ProMed notification about the Powdered Milk. That is where WalMart was mentioned.
I read the article at the link http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK279084.htm , but could find no mention of Wal-Mart.
I am so sorry! I grabbed the wrong link@!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2082611/posts
More than 1,200 infants sick in China tainted milk scandal (1,253 babies have kidney stone)
The ProMed link is added at post 21!
Bringing ProMed article over from nw_arizona_granny
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2052529/posts?page=1917#1917
[It is the same as they put in our dog food]
INFANT KIDNEY STONES - CHINA (02): GANSU, BABY MILK, MELAMINE
*************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
[1]
Date: 12 Sep 2008
Source: Xinhua [edited]
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/12/content_9939779.htm
Health ministry starts nationwide haul of infant kidney stone cases
China’s Health Ministry said here Friday [12 Sep 2008] that it has
launched a nationwide investigation into contaminated Sanlu baby milk
formula. All local health agencies are to report cases of infants
with kidney stones immediately. Testing by Sanlu, found
tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine, in 700 tons of its product.
Health experts said melamine is a chemical raw material. Ingestion
can lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones. A
thermosetting plastic, melamine has an appearance similar to milk
powder. It is widely used in manufacturing fabrics, glues, house
wares and flame retardants.
“The substance gives the appearance of a high nitrogen level, which
is an index to measure the protein content in food,” a health expert
told Xinhua. He declined to be named.
Dozens of babies in the Gansu province are reportedly sick. One died
after drinking contaminated formula.
Lu Yuan, a urologist with the No. 1 Hospital of the Chinese People’s
Liberation Army, said kidney stones could bring serious problems to
the baby’s brains, hearts, lungs, kidneys and livers. 2 babies with
kidney stones receive medical treatment at a military hospital in
Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, 11 Sep 2008.
Lu’s hospital, based in Lanzhou, capital of the Gansu Province, has
received 14 such infant patients’ 6 have already been cured and 8 are
still being treated.
“Most of the babies looked worn-out and had a fever when they arrived
at the hospital. Some didn’t produce any urine for two to three days
and were in very serious condition,” Lu said.
The Health Ministry has issued a treatment plan on its official
website http://www.moh.gov.cn to help local hospitals deal with
such sick babies. The Health Ministry said those responsible for the
contaminated milk will face “heavy punishment”. It urged the public
to immediately stop consuming the Sanlu milk powder formula and go to
a doctor if they find babies having difficulty in urinating.
Additional newswire links from the above article:
Stores in China pull contaminated milk powder off shelves:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/12/content_9947534.htm
Hundreds of Carrefour and Wal-Mart stores in China are pulling Sanlu
milk powder off shelves.
78 questioned in powder milk contamination:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/12/content_9948044.htm
Chinese police questioned 78 people suspected of being involved in a
baby milk powder contamination scandal, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor
Zhao Xinchao on Friday [12 Sep 2008].
—
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
promed-mbds@promedmail.org
******
[2]
Date: Fri 12 Sep 2008
From:Belinda Thompson
bt42@cornell.edu
RE: PRO/EDR> Infant kidney stones - China: Gansu, milk powder susp., RFI
Belinda S. Thompson DVM
Veterinary Support Services
Animal Health Diagnostic Center
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University
bt42@cornell.edu
www.diagcenter.vet.cornell.edu
******
[3]
Date: 12 Sep 2008
Source: Source: CNN.com [edited]
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com
Tainted formula sickens 50
Sanlu Group, a leading dairy producer in China, recalled about 700
tons of its baby milk powder formula after discovering the product
was contaminated with tripolycyanamide, a chemical believed to cause
kidney stones, the Xinhua news agency reported.
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
[ProMED-mail’s toxicology moderator Mod.TG had the following
observations on tripolycyanamide and possible kidney stones in
infants: “The majority of this product is produced and used in China.
There are a couple of large plants in China. It is largely used in
the manufacture of plastic and fertilizer and has some application in
the coating of steel and glass for some industrial purposes.
Interestingly, it has almost the same chemical signature as melamine
and reacts with cyanuric acid in a similiar fashion to melamine.
Melamine by itself does not cause too many problems, but in the face
of its biological breakdown or metabolite product cyanuric acid, the
2 together can cause kidney problems. This chemical has the same
combination as with cyanuric acid and results in a detrimental effect
on the kidneys. It is curious as to how/why it got into the baby food
formula.”
In 2007, there were at least 10 reported deaths among dogs and cats
with many more suffering from renal failure related to ingestion of
melamine contaminated pet food imported from China. (see prior
ProMED-mail postings referenced below). In a New York Times article
at that time (see 30 Apr posting) it was stated that “workers [in the
city where the product was made] openly admit that the substance
[melamine] is routinely added to animal feed as a fake protein. For
years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly
supplemented their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap
additive that looks like protein in tests, even though it does not
provide any nutritional benefits, according to melamine scrap traders
and agricultural workers [in Zhangqiu]”.
More information on the why’s and how’s of this contamination would
be greatly appreciated.
For a map of China with administrative divisions, see:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_pol01.jpg
For the interactive HealthMap/ProMED map of China with links to other
recent ProMED-mail/PRO/MBDS postings in China and surrounding areas,
see:
http://healthmap.org/promed?v=36.5,103.9,4
- Mod.MPP]
[4]
Date: 12 Sep 2008
From: Carolyn Carkeek Cramoy, MS, CNS
Infant Formula Manufactured in China: Health Information Advisory Due
To Reports Of Possible Contamination With Melamine
Currently, no Chinese manufacturers of infant formula have fulfilled
the requirements to sell this product in the United States. FDA
officials are investigating whether or not infant formula
manufactured in China is being sold in specialty markets which serve
the Asian community. Caregivers should not feed infant formula
manufactured in China to infants and should replace any product from
China with an appropriate infant formula manufactured in the United
States. Individuals should contact their health care professional if
they have questions regarding their infant’s health or if they note
changes in their infant’s health status.
Read the entire 2008 MedWatch Safety Summary, including a link to the
FDA Health Information Advisory regarding the above issue:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#formulaChina
—
Carolyn Carkeek Cramoy, MS, CNS
Nutritionist
81 Intervale Way
Lake Placid, NY 12946
Cramoy@aol.com
[see also:
ProMED-MBDS:
Infant kidney stones - China: Gansu, milk powder susp., RFI 20080910.2827
Fake pharmaceuticals - Cambodia 20080725.2262
Fake pharmaceuticals - China: artesunate 20080213.0573
Fake pharmaceuticals - China: enforcement 20080124.0306
2007
[For additional references on related postings from the general
ProMED-mail list, see below at http://www.promedmail.org - Mod.MPP
Infant kidney stones - China: Gansu, milk powder susp., RFI 20080910.2828
2007
Thank you Calpernia for moving the posts to where they will be read by those who want the information.
You have the ‘feel’ for getting things in the best location.
These cases are still growing, there is another report, but it is based on a New York Times article, so I didn’t post it.
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