http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/09/yehey/opinion/20081009opi5.htmlManila Times (Phillipines) October 9, 2008
Melamine Poisoning: “Tip of the ice-cream”
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Like many similar incidents in the past, the melamine poisoning scandal is just a symptom of a global food system characterized by corporate greed and government neglect.
"The government tries to show it is addressing the problem by parading to the media hurriedly confiscated milk products while it downplays the dangers by echoing the corporate line that humans will have to ingest unrealistically huge volumes of contaminated milk to be poisoned.
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Just as quickly, Nestlé and other companies put out expensive ads proclaiming that their products are safe, even without undergoing the appropriate tests. These short-sighted and self-serving knee-jerk reactions do not protect the health of consumers but perpetuate the pathetic state of affairs as far as food safety is concerned.
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Food safety has never been a serious concern of governments and corporations, particularly with the advent of globalization. Under the World Trade Organization rules, countries, especially weaker ones, could be forced to import food products that could be contaminated with toxic chemicals or substances. Any attempt to ban or restrict such harmful substances, even when these are already banned in other countries, is met with fierce resistance by corporate giants and their host countries. Such is the case, for example, for pesticides, artificial sweeteners and additives, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and now melamine. "Melamine is a synthetic chemical used in a wide range of products such as kitchen dishes and utensils, furniture, cleaning agents, glues, fertilizers and drugs.
It is a byproduct of cyromazine, a triazine pesticide commonly used in vegetable and chicken farms. In 1987, it was shown to be present in coffee, orange juice, fermented milk and lemon juice, leaching from cups made of melamine resin. From 1979 to 1987, there was widespread melamine contamination of fish and meat meal in Italy and in 2004, there was a nephrotoxicity (kidney damage) outbreak in pets in Asia. Thousands of cats and dogs, mostly in the US, became seriously ill or died of acute renal failure after eating melamine contaminated pet food in 2007. Hogs, chicken and fish were also found to be similarly contaminated.
"Cyanuric acid is a common disinfectant used in swimming pools together with chlorine. It is used as an ingredient in herbicides and in the production of melamine and sponge rubber. It is also an intermediate chemical in the bacterial degradation of melamine and in bleach and whitening agents production. Trichloromelamine is the chlorinated form of melamine mainly used as a disinfectant and cleaning agent.
"Melamine may cause adverse reproductive effects, may affect genetic material and may cause bladder cancer, based on animal data. It may also cause skin, eye and respiratory tract irritation and irritation of the digestive tract with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and may damage the urinary system. However, cyanuric acid and trichloromelamine have greater toxicity potential in causing kidney damage, developmental toxicity and cancer. "By themselves, based on standard risk assessments, melamine and cyanuric acid are considered to be of low acute toxicity. However,
multiple sources and multiple chemical exposures is the more likely exposure situation from these chemicals and should be the basis for assessing risks to human health. Other compounds, such as herbicides structurally and toxicologically similar to these compounds, must also be considered.
Much can already be said about the potential harm these chemicals pose to animals and humans. The mechanism of renal toxicity of melamine and cyanuric acid is well established and that acute or chronic exposure could lead to renal failure. Existing empirical and scientific data indicate that it is likely at present circumstances to reach exposure levels sufficient to cause harm. The European Food Safety Authority, despite conservative risk assessment methodologies, said: “in worst case scenarios with the highest level of contamination, children with high daily consumption of milk toffee, chocolate or biscuits containing high levels of milk powder would exceed the TDI [tolerable daily intake].” This does not even consider cyanuric acid in swimming pools, melamine from pesticides and contaminated vegetables, fish and meat, and leachate from kitchen wares. With milk products from China already banned in Europe at the time of the assessment, the said worst case scenario did not even consider potential sources from milk and ice cream!
"The extent of harm that melamine and related compounds have caused is not clear at this time but simply confiscating products will not solve the problem. Government officials should not downplay the dangers of food contaminated with toxic chemicals. Mechanisms for appropriate monitoring and timely intervention should be established. Food safety should be placed high in the political agenda and greed, corporate and otherwise, eliminated. Safe food should be put in the hands of the people! "___
Dr. Romeo Quijano is a member of AGHAM and is a Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila
