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 scandal broke in early September, more than 50 governments around the world have either banned or recalled Chinese-made products containing milk.

The World Health Organization has issued guidelines to help authorities decide on the health concerns of melamine levels in food.

Chinese authorities warned earlier this month that tons of melamine-contaminated milk powder were exported to Taiwan.

Already some 53,000 children have been sickened in China and four have died after drinking milk or milk products laced with the chemical.

China's official Xinhua news agency says police in northern China have arrested 27 people in their investigation of the milk scandal.

Police tell Xinhua that melamine was being produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations.

The chemical which is used in making plastic, is believed to have been used to make foods such as watered-down milk appear to be higher in protein.

The World Health Organization reports more than 54,000 children in China have sought medical treatment, 12,000 are hospitalized and at least four infants have died from melamine-contaminated dairy products.

WHO says it only learned about these toxic products on September 11. By then, it says they had been marketed to Chinese consumers for months, turning this food safety scare into a global scandal.

WHO Food Safety Scientist, Peter Ben Embarek, says the ball started to roll as soon as WHO was informed of the crisis. He says swift action was taken to recall all contaminated products on the market. He says the Chinese authorities have been providing regular updates and cooperating in every way.

He says all of these products are going through intensive testing so what is on the shelf in China is now probably safe. He says the Chinese have tested tens of thousands of products over the last few weeks.

"So you can be sure that what is on the shelf is by-in-large coming from a safe source," said Embarek. "They also are importing increasingly foreign products that have also been tested and also ensure that they come from production systems with safe ingredients. All of these measures should reassure parents that what is now on the shelf is safe."

But, Embarek acknowledges it will take a lot of time and patience to restore confidence among consumers who feel abused and cheated.

Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which makes products appear to have more protein content. In small amounts it is harmless. But, sustained use can cause kidney stones and renal failure, especially among children.

The chemical has been found in other dairy products as well. The Chinese maker of the popular White Rabbit Candy, made from milk, stopped domestic and foreign sales of the candy after finding melamine.

The candy has been found in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore. A growing number of countries are barring imports of Chinese products containing milk.

Embarek attributes much of the problems to, what he calls, the incredible pace in the development of food, agricultural, and industrial production in China over the past few decades. He says the agencies in charge of setting the rules and monitoring food safety in the private sector are not developing at the same pace.

"And that opened the gates and the door to all kind of, I would say, misbehavior and incidents and criminal and intentional acts like we have seen in this case," said Embarek. "The large scale of this event ensures that it was clearly not an isolated accident. It was a large-scale intentional activity to deceive consumers for simple, basic, short-term profits."

The World Health Organization says the industry in China and elsewhere has to adopt the culture of food safety. It says countries must strengthen their food control and food-borne disease surveillance systems. It says this could minimize food safety crises such as the dairy scandal in China.

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Unilever is recalling four batches of Lipton Milk Tea sold in Hong Kong and Macau after finding traces of the chemical melamine in the product, the company said Tuesday.


A researcher in Wuhan, China, last week checks for melamine in milk samples collected from stores.

Unilever Hong Kong Limited described it as a precautionary measure and said no other Lipton Milk Tea Powder products were affected.

The announcement came a day after British confectioner Cadbury said it has recalled all of its Chinese-made candy products after preliminary tests showed they contained trace amounts of melamine. Some of the products were exported to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Nauru and Christmas Island, according to the company.

They are the latest companies to get caught up in China's tainted milk scandal, which began earlier this month when authorities discovered melamine in powdered infant formula. Watch how scare affects companies outside China »

Contaminated milk has sickened nearly 53,000 children in China, killing four.

Countries around the world have since banned the import of Chinese products containing milk, or have withdrawn products that contain milk from China -- such as chocolates -- amid worries they contain melamine.
Authorities have arrested 40 people in connection with the milk scandal, including two brothers who could face the death penalty if convicted.

Investigators suspect people watered down milk in an attempt to sell more of it, and added melamine in order to fool quality checks, Chinese authorities have said. The toxic chemical is used to bolster apparent protein levels in diluted or poor-quality milk.

Others arrested include 19 managers of pastures, breeding farms and milk-purchasing stations. Chinese authorities have said those arrested were involved in a network that made and sold melamine.

Authorities have implicated 22 Chinese dairy companies in the scandal.

Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.

Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition.


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said a company in Taiwan, the King Car Food Industrial Company, had recalled seven instant coffee and milk tea products that were sold in the United States under the Mr. Brown brand name. They contain a non-dairy creamer found to be contaminated with melamine.

The FDA also recommends that U.S. consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy, which in China has been found to contain unacceptable levels of melamine. The candy's maker, Guanshengyuan, has recalled its exports of White Rabbit Cream Candy.

Cadbury Announces Chocolate Recal
Cadbury chocolates are seen in a store in Beijing Monday Sept. 29, 2008. British chocolate Cadbury said in a statement issued Monday by its Singapore office that tests had "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China." Hong Kong's government said Cadbury is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates as a precaution. (Greg Baker - AP)

Chocolates of British chocolate maker Cadbury are displayed for sell at a supermarket in Hong Kong Monday, Sept. 29, 2008. Cadbury became the latest foreign company Monday to be hit by China's tainted milk scandal, ordering a recall of its Chinese-made products after saying tests "cast doubt" on their safety. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (Kin Cheung - AP)

A shelf, above, where was used to place M&Ms chocolates is empty at a supermarket in Hong Kong Monday, Sept. 29, 2008. U.S. foodmakers were investigating Indonesian claims Monday that high traces of melamine were found in Oreo wafers, M&Ms and Snickers imported from China. Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said a dozen allegedly tainted products distributed nationwide, including those popular brands, had repeatedly tested positive last week. (Kin Cheung - AP)

Chinese food safety personnel check on the fresh milk at a milk collection station in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008. British chocolate maker Cadbury on Monday became the latest foreign company to be hit by China's tainted milk scandal, ordering a recall of its Chinese-made-products after saying tests "cast doubt" on their safety. (AP)

Cadbury chocolates are seen in a store in Beijing, Monday, Sept. 29, 2008. British chocolate Cadbury said in a statement issued Monday by its Singapore office that tests had "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China." Hong Kong's government said Cadbury is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates as a precaution. (Greg Baker - AP)

Officials with the Indonesian Health Ministry box products suspected of containing melamine at a supermarket in Surabaya, East Java. Kraft Foods and Mars said they would suspend sales of Chinese-made Oreos, M& Ms and Snickers in Indonesia after the products allegedly tested positive for high levels of melamine last week. (Associated Press)

By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, September 30, 2008; Page A13

BEIJING, Sept. 29 -- China's tainted-milk scandal, which has led to bans or recalls in 16 countries and raised fresh concerns about the made-in-China label, spread Monday to big-name Western brands as British candymaker Cadbury announced a recall of its Chinese-made chocolate.

Cadbury said 11 types of chocolate bars made at its factory in Beijing and sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia were being recalled as a precautionary measure. Tests "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China," Cadbury said in a statement.

In Indonesia, Kraft Foods and Mars also said they would suspend sales of Chinese-made Oreo cookies, M&Ms and Snickers bars in that country. The sweets were among a dozen allegedly tainted products that tested positive for high levels of melamine last week, according to Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency.

All three companies said none of their products were being recalled or suspended in the United States.

Both American food companies said they were mystified by the Indonesian test results, which reportedly found high levels of melamine -- the toxin that has been at the center of a widening scandal that has left four infants dead, sickened more than 54,000 babies and ensnared 22 Chinese dairy companies.

Kraft said none of its Oreo products worldwide, including those sold in Indonesia, are made with milk ingredients from China. The Oreo wafer product that tested positive in Indonesia tested negative in Malaysia, Thailand and Korea, a company spokesman said.

Mars said its two Chinese suppliers of milk power were not among the 22 tainted Chinese companies. Mars's milk powder tested negative for melamine at a lab in Germany, and its candy tested negative in Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, a spokesman said.


Both U.S. companies have asked for clarification and additional testing from BPOM, the food safety agency in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, police in Hebei province arrested 22 people in an underground melamine-distribution network, the state-run New China News Agency said Monday. Hundreds of police conducted raids on pastures, breeding farms and milk-purchasing stations in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, seizing more than 480 pounds of melamine.

Shijiazhuang is home to Sanlu Dairy Co., the 50-year-old company that health officials say covered up the problem when complaints first started coming in from parents of sick children last December. Local doctors also issued warnings that went unheeded until a journalist posted Sanlu's name online at a Chinese social portal Sept. 11.

Since then, Chinese authorities have fired several municipal and provincial officials and forced the resignation of the head of its General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, who, during last year's food and product safety scandal, said that foreign companies needed to do a better job of testing products made in China.

Premier Wen Jiabao has apologized for the tainted-milk scandal, but he has also insisted that China does not "cover up."

and unless i over looked it in ur post, they used lead paint on childrens toys, hey i wonder if they had that Melamine in the tang drink up in space, remember the tang add when we went into space,...takd care

You are right about the lead based paint on toys.
My next door neighbor is from Japan, she goes to speciality stores to buy her native foods, alot of which are shipped from China.
She has found numerous items she had to discard. The FDA is not inspecting a great deal of the food products to these speciality stores as they buy direct from dealers in China, and not going thru the mass retail outlets.

I used to drink that Tang growing up as a kid, I really liked it then, don't know about now thou, do they still make it today? I would guess they do but I probably wouldn't like it much anymore, so I'll just stick to my Coke and fruit juice drinks..


Good post SSC, it seems more and more things are getting recalled these days.

Candy with chemical in Chinese milk found in Conn. By LARRY SMITH
Wed Oct 1, 6:49 PM ET www.news.yahoo.com



An industrial chemical blamed for sickening thousands of infants in China was found in candy in four Connecticut stores this week, a state official said Wednesday.

Days after contaminated White Rabbit Creamy Candy was found in California, Connecticut Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said tests found melamine in bags of the candy sold at two New Haven stores, a West Hartford market and an East Haven store.

"We're concerned, obviously, there may have been bags sold of these before we got to them," Farrell said.

Anyone who has the candy should destroy it, Farrell said.

The contamination has been blamed for the deaths of four children and kidney ailments among 54,000 others. More than 13,000 children have been hospitalized and 27 people arrested in connection with the tainting.