gee, maybe they'll give us beyond infant weight risk assumption on this. How many days can we eat this stuff before getting seriously ill? The speed of recalls being what they are and all here . . . .

at 105lbs, I'm damn glad I gave up processed food and only eat local/organic.

cross-posting opinion piece from the New York Times. Thank you, menusux:

http://itchmoforums.com/recall-nonpet-food/chinas-dairy-farmers-say-they-are-victims-t6477.0.html;new

More from Taiwan:

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=755400

eTaiwan News October 4, 2008

Taiwanese government vows to tighten vegetable inspections over safety concerns

"The Council of Agriculture (COA) will coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) even more closely to prevent imports of any melamine-contaminated vegetable imports from China, the council said in a statement Saturday.

"The Cabinet-level council issued the statement amid Chinese media reports saying that some China-grown vegetables, such as lettuce, tomato, mushroom, potato and Java waterdropwort, have been found to contain excessive residues of melamine.

"Melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, is abused in China as a food additive as it masks low protein levels in milk diluted with water to lower costs.

"Melamine contamination of baby formula has been blamed for the deaths of at least four infants and kidney illnesses in more than 53,000 children in China.

"A shipment of 25 tons of milk powder imported into Taiwan from China earlier this year has also caused chaos in the local food market and led to the resign of Lin Fang-yue as DOH minister late last month.

"The COA statement stressed that none of the vegetables on the reported melamine-contaminated list have been imported into Taiwan.

"According to the statement, Taiwan imports about 50,000 tons of refrigerated vegetables from China annually, with radish, chili pepper and sweet pepper forming the bulk. In the first eight months of this year, vegetable imports from China slightly exceeded 29,000 tons.

"COA officials stressed that all foreign vegetables, including those from China, have to pass stringent pesticide residue tests before they enter Taiwan.

"Amid mounting concerns about safety of China-originating foodstuffs, the officials said the COA will coordinate with the Department of Health to intensify testing and inspection of vegetable imports from China.

"Moreover, the officials said the COA has formed a special task force to step up monitoring of animal feed imports from China in hopes of preventing any melamine-tainted products from entering Taiwan."

What we have on the apparent origina of this is said to have originated in South Korea:


I believe that South Korea would issue something on this, since it's said they initially found it in imported Chinese produce.

I wonder what a high level is and how long we can eat it? hello FDA, where are you?! Since you only "stepped up" inspections, you may want to do some more of your "assumptions" and let us know how long our bodies can handle these sneak attacks. Grains=Toxic, Dairy=Toxic, Veggies=Toxic, Seafood=Toxic, Household goods and toys=Toxic. Yeah, importing from China is a bangup idea alright!

JanC, frozen veggies from China can be found in most grocery stores including Whole Foods. Trader Joes quite Chinese ingredients in their brand and I think also single ingredient items like veggies. We need to start pressuring other grocery chains to do the same. We need to cut off the market like what happen with artificial hormones in milk. That was a war the consumer won. Let's win some more!

"MOTHER EARTH NEWS " Oct./Nov. 2008 issue has a very good article on aminopyralid and clopyralid . It appears some weed killers that pass through animals guts, stored in a compost pile. was then used on garden beds, killed the plants as the chemical had survived, beyond its half life!!!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2008-10-01/Aminopyralid-Garden-Threat.aspx

Now I really wonder about Melamine and how long it survives .

This article is a very good article.

Think about the technique that was employed throughout the pet food recalls of 2007. Never compile all the complaints
clearly in one place for public disclosure. That was used by both the FDA regulators and the pet food companies. Deny every
accusation first. Insist consumers with complaints call the company individually so they won't be aware of each other
or the nature of their complaints. Provide the media with disinformation that minimizes the actual numbers involved regarding
victims and products. The same blasted technique is being used here on an international basis by both the Chinese government,
our government, and the multinationals involved. Mars, Nestle, Kraft, Fonterra, Unilever are already screaming foul, not true. The news
reports are fragmented and contradictory. There's even strong division on the issue of what is a safe level of melamine contamination, ranging from none by South Korea, to 1ppm, to 2.5 ppm, to 5 ppm, to even more. WHO says background daily exposure is .07 anyway. Phillippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are trying to get information out there, but are already being questioned.

We have one chart of countries that have banned importation of Chinese dairy products with 55 on it. I think Cambodia should also
be on it, as I recall reading it, but have never been able to find the report again.

I need four volunteers to each take 10 pages of this thread, 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, and 41-51 and help me chart as accurately
as possible (I'm the 5th one and will take any pages, don't care which):
Countries like US and Canada, Russia, etc., which have simply recalled or banned particular products by name of product (include Reply numbers where info found). So a chart of country and products banned
By country, names of products and melamine levels if described, date it was done, and Reply in which the info appears.

Do I have four volunteers? PM me if you're willing to take ten pages.

Hey, db, isn't there something about a point at which melamine and cyanuric acid and/or uric acid saturates at some high level of exposure, forms
precipitate in the kidneys, causing stones and nephron tubule damage which is permanent and can no longer be excreted?