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JJ
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« Reply #780 on: October 05, 2008, 10:34:45 AM » |
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Should it be renamed to the FEDERAL DEATH AGENCY? (IMO) We will allow levels of toxins, poisons, etc. into the food just to prove to you - the CONSUMER - that the food is safe? WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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'Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
But how to dance in the rain.'
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #781 on: October 05, 2008, 10:55:05 AM » |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-AS-Asia-Tainted-Milk.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=sloginTainted Cadbury Chocolate Found in Hong Kong
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 5, 2008
BEIJING (AP) -- Hong Kong said Sunday it found two Cadbury chocolate products contained considerably more of the industrial chemical melamine than the city's legal limit in a growing scandal over tainted food made in China. ...
Iran banned imports of all dairy products from China because of the contamination concerns, state radio reported.
Hong Kong's Center for Food Safety said Cadbury's Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate Bulk Pack contained 56 parts per million of melamine, while Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate contained 6.9 parts per million. ...
The latest tests of 129 batches of baby formula and 212 batches of other kinds of milk powder showed they were free from melamine contamination, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site.
The tests were on baby formula and other kinds of milk powder produced after Sept. 14, when the scandal broke, the watchdog said. Quality supervisors have been stationed in baby milk powder production facilities to oversee the process.Since China's government declares it's the only country in the world that can produce melamine-free milk that is not even trace contaminated with melamine from plastic packaging, there is absolutely no agreement regarding food safety that the US or any other country anywhere in the world that one can make with the Chinese government that has any meaning. The Chinese government is willing to poison Chinese children long before and during the Olympics to increase profit. There is nothing the Chinese government would not lie about for profit with regard to food exports, absolutely nothing. There is no defense left for the FDA and the US government
continuing to allow any Chinese food imports without detention, inspection, and safety testing.
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straybaby
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« Reply #782 on: October 05, 2008, 11:12:50 AM » |
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Since China's government declares it's the only country in the world that can produce melamine-free milk that is not even trace
contaminated with melamine from plastic packaging Gee, I'm pretty sure the organic milk I get from the place upstate, packaged in glass bottles, is melamine free.  It's really not that difficult, just stop using toxic substances. |
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #783 on: October 05, 2008, 11:17:59 AM » |
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I stand corrected, straybaby. But I don't believe the milk China's government is testing is organic (except maybe for the added urea). But good point. http://www.taipeitimes.com:80/News/world/archives/2008/10/04/2003424991More countries ban China dairy
SPILLED MILK: Authorities in Manila, Hanoi and Montevideo have taken measures to ban food products from China believed to contain the toxic chemical melamine.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008, Page 5
In South America, Uruguay’s public health ministry banned all dairy imports from China on Thursday, including baby formula.Bringing to 55 the number of countries worldwide that put food safety first . From Reply 625, page 42 of this thread: http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/09/27/2008-09-27T123805Z_01_B162168_RTRIDST_0_CHINA-MILK-RECALLS-FACTBOX.htmlIMPORT BANS:
* BANGLADESH: -- Three Chinese powdered milk brands, Sanlu, Suncare and Yashili, banned. Melamine tests to be introduced on
all milk powder imports at Bangladeshi seaports.
* BENIN: -- Bans powered milk products from China.
* BHUTAN: -- Bhutan has banned Chinese milk imports, ranging from chocolates, sweets and cakes to milk tablets.
* BRUNEI: -- All Chinese milk products banned by Health Ministry, even though Brunei does not directly import dairy products from China.
* BURUNDI: -- Banned import, sale of Chinese milk products.
* COLOMBIA: -- Banned import of China-made powdered milk.
* CAMEROON: -- Suspends import and sale of fresh and powdered milk from China.
* EUROPEAN UNION: -- The 27-nation bloc banned baby food containing Chinese milk.
* FRANCE: -- Banned all food items containing Chinese milk as precautionary move.
* GABON: -- Introduced ban at same time as Burundi.
* GHANA: -- Food and Drug Board suspended imports of all milk and milk-based products made in China.
* INDIA: -- Banned import of milk and milk products from China for three months.
* INDONESIA: -- Banned imports of China dairy products.
* IVORY COAST: -- Banned imports of milk products from China.
* MALAYSIA: -- Banned all Chinese milk imports, as well as chocolates, sweets and other foods containing milk.
* MALDIVES: -- Banned Chinese milk products to protect its population of 300,000.
* NEPAL: -- Banned all China milk and milk-based food products as a precautionary measure.
* PAPUA NEW GUINEA: -- Banned China-made milk products.
* PHILIPPINES: -- Banned import and sale of milk products from China, pending investigation of possible contamination.
* SINGAPORE: -- Banned the import and sale of milk products from China on Sept 19 after finding melamine in two China-made
products -- "Dutch Lady" strawberry flavoured milk, and "Yili Brand" dairy fruit bar yoghurt flavoured ice confection.
White Rabbit Creamy Candy pulled from shelves after being found to be contaminated with melamine.
* SOUTH KOREA: -- Banned China-made foods containing powdered milk after imported biscuits test positive for melamine.
* SURINAME: -- Banned milk and dairy products from China, is stepping up inspections on food imported from Southeast Asia.
* TAIWAN: -- All China-made dairy products banned, a milk testing station set up for consumers in Taipei.
* TANZANIA: -- Suspended all China dairy imports, and seized 34 tonnes of China-made milk powder.
* TOGO: -- Suspended import, distribution and sale of all Chinese-origin milk products.
* VIETNAM: -- Banned China milk products. Health officials warned such products may have been sold in remote areas
in the impoverished central region.
Edited to add on Monday, September 29, 2008: *MYANMAR and *LAOS (see reply 556, page 38)
Edited to add on Wednesday, October 1, 2008: *UGANDA (see Reply 619, page 42)
51 54 nations where consumer food safety appears to come first pending further investigation and food safety controls
Edited to add on Friday, October 3, 2008: *URUGUAY
To the overwhelmed US FDA and US Congress: Keep repeating "If it's 'Got Milk?', it needs government testing" until it sinks into the
bureaucratic morass. The American consumer does not want this happening for the second time in the United States."
"China has run out of excuses, assurances and defenses. As a giant exporter of food and other products, its attitude toward consumer safety is a disgrace and a global health threat." Edited to add on Sunday, October 5, 2008: *IRAN and *CAMBODIA Bringing to 56 57 the number of countries concerned about consumer food safety first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote from: menusux on Today at 02:44:22 PM More information on Russia's seizure of nearly 2 tons of Chinese-made dry milk: http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=27290Chinese Milk Seized St. Petersburg Times October 7, 2008 "Federal authorities on Tuesday banned all imports of Chinese dairy products following news that milk containing melamine may have killed four Chinese babies and sickened more than 54,000 others. Edited to add on Monday, October 6, 2008 *RUSSIA Bringing to 58 the number of countries worldwide where food safety comes first |
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« Last Edit: October 06, 2008, 04:46:28 PM by 3catkidneyfailure »
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Offy
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« Reply #784 on: October 05, 2008, 11:19:51 AM » |
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Testing Methods come under examination. Here's where the links to the FDA testing method & protocols should be examined. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/protsurv.htmlhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/GCMSMelamine.htmPretty late in the game: http://www.laboratorytalk.com/news/tel/tel135.htmlhttp://www.thermo.com/eThermo/CMA/PDFs/Articles/articlesFile_6670.pdfhttp://www.bodycotetesting.com/Category.aspx?ContId=13847&CatId=11233&lang=1(GCMS)
F. Reporting
In the event that the analytes were observed in the representative control sample that was fortified at 10 µg/g, and no analyte signals were observed in the samples at levels which approach those in the fortified control, then the samples are not contaminated with melamine, ammeline, ammelide or cyanuric acid at levels in excess of 10 µg/g.
When it is close (within 50%), consider preparing additional portions from those samples along with a couple of additional fortified controls.
If it is clear that one or more of the analytes are present in the samples (based on the identification criteria above) and at levels in excess of 10 µg/g, then a semi-quantitative estimate may be obtained by comparing analyte responses to those from standards as described below.
There's politics in the methods & there's consumer protection in the methods - who choses the method on the side of consumer safety?http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/06/2003425143Chan Chang-chuan (¸âªøÅv), a public health professor at the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene at National Taiwan University, praised health officials for choosing LC-MS/MS.
The technique is 500 times more sensitive in detecting melamine than high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which was previously favored by the health department.
A provisional statement by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on June 7 said that the European Commission had recommended that all EU member states use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to analyze imports of wheat gluten and other raw materials from developing countries ¡X in particular China.
The statement came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used the method to test for melamine and similar compounds in wheat gluten and pet food ingredients from China. Midwest 10ppm MDL - they test for which pet food companies? ETA: Natura, Natural Balance.. others?LC-MS/MS is sensitive to .5ppm (MDL) for melamine & aminopterin Nestle objects (cos consumers can decide .8 is more than they want)? Now, add in the uptake from packaging to Nestle's ("not contaminated") ....Nobody seems wants to talk about what's in the food and what's potentially coming from packaging in the same sentences, do they? But when Yeh Ching-chuan (¸ª÷¤t) took over Lin¡¦s post on Sept. 26 and announced that LC-MS/MS would be used instead of HPLC, Nestle, one of the leading makers of infant and adult milk products, was quick to object.
Last Thursday, the health department requested a recall of all 20 Nestle milk products on the market after it said random tests conducted by city and county health bureaus found that six kinds of Nestle milk powder manufactured in China contained between 0.06ppm and 0.85ppm of melamine.
While the company said it would comply with the request, it complained that the department had adopted a melamine limit that was 50 times stricter than the international standard, which Nestle said was 2.5ppm.
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« Last Edit: October 05, 2008, 11:59:08 AM by Offy »
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"The days of the fox guarding the henhouse, with corporate lobbyists writing the laws that regulate their industries, must end."*Brent Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth, Sept. 22, 2008
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straybaby
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« Reply #785 on: October 05, 2008, 11:46:23 AM » |
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Sorry 3Cat, that wasn't aimed at you. It was my frustration with the Chinese Government! When I look at all the food I get that isn't tainted with ANYTHING, it just pisses me off what China, multinational producers etc are doing to our food and environment. I'm betting most people would prefer a bug hole (or a few) in their greens vs toxic matter . . . . Bug holes rock!
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purringfur
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« Reply #786 on: October 05, 2008, 01:22:43 PM » |
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3cat, did you ask us to find information on what Cambodia banned from China? I looked, but I may have missed Cambodia on your running list of countries banning or recalling products. I hope this info is not a duplicate. Pardon if it is. "Pan Sorasak, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said the Cambodia Import-Export Inspection and Fraud Suppression Department (Camcontrol) has enforced a strict ban on all Chinese milk products since Friday." http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008092321802/National-news/Govt-warns-of-milk-powder-dump-threat.html |
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Buy local. Buy organic.
If you ate today, thank a farmer, hopefully a small, local farmer.
Remember the thousands & thousands of pets that died to give US a wake-up call about the safety of ALL food.
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #787 on: October 05, 2008, 03:10:09 PM » |
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I'm just as frustrated as you are, straybaby, and not aiming anything at anyone personally. Just furious at our government and our food regulator. That is upsetting to me, too. Thanks, purringfur, for finding another country ban. This could be why New Zealand can't find the melamine: http://www.stuff.co.nz:80/stuff/4717666a1861.htmlTrouble with melamine and why trickery went unseen
WORLD OF SCIENCE - BOB BROCKIE
The Dominion Post | Monday, 06 October 2008
In recent weeks the authority has been exchanging information with similar agencies in the United States, Australia, Europe, Canada and elsewhere discussing how much melamine can be safely ingested. They have settled on 5 parts per million for food ingredients, 2.5 ppm for food in its final form and 1 part per million for infant foods. Any more melamine will trigger further investigation.
Among the many products sampled by the Food Safety Authority has been the pharmaceutical lactoferrin, which is made from milk. Minute amounts of melamine have been detected in the product but not enough to be a health hazard. Scientists at the authority are trying to work out how the lactoferrin was contaminated – possibly by leaching from plastic used in processing or packaging the product, or possibly from a farm pesticide residue.Looks like we'd have to know from the US FDA if they are also using 5 ppm for food ingredients (meanng you are obviously going to miss many foods), 2.5 ppm for food in its "final form" (whatever the heck that means, processed food??), and New Zealand independently has declared 1 ppm safe for infant foods. Remember, FDA in US says it doesn't know and has set no limiting standard (as in zero tolerance)for baby formula and baby food. What a government shell game. 3 card monte with the lives of babies, not to mention all other milk consumers. Saw no testing limits on China's reports of melamine-free milk tests on product since September 14 2008 either. What was the lower testing limit, China, 10 ppm or higher? |
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« Last Edit: October 05, 2008, 03:27:12 PM by 3catkidneyfailure »
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #788 on: October 05, 2008, 03:37:35 PM » |
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Snip from a personal blog hoping it may help those with the scientific background: http://blog.simplyjean.com/2008/10/05/melamine-in-everything-there-may-be-more-coming-and-heres-why/"There was a dead gave away when melamine was also found in lactoferrin, one of the export products from New Zealand. Unless there is a worldwide conspiracy on the use of melamine in their products, it is unlikely that the factories in New Zealand have also added melamine into their products to fake a protein test. However, if you look at the common denominator of the products, the answer lies in the cows. To be more precise, it lies in the food of the cows. Melamine is a by-product of cyromazine and is formed in the bodies of mammals that have ingested cyromazine. Cyromazine is a pesticide that is commonly used to control pests in plants. If cows have been given such plants as part of their diet, it could be possible that melamine is formed in their bodies and passed out in their milk and urine. This is particularly evident in the latest report of vegetables being tainted with melamine, which probably has no purpose when used on plants. However, it was also reported that cyromazine may also be converted to melamine on plants through photodegradation, resulting in dealkylation and thus the formation of melamine. This can be found in Lim et al., 1990 L.O. Lim, S.J. Scherer, K.D. Shuler and J.P. Toth, Disposition of cyromazine in plants under environmental conditions, J. Agric. Food Chem. 38 (1990), pp. 860–864. Thus, the real culprit at the end of the day could be the pesticide, cyromazine, through use of it leads to the metabolite, melamine being formed in milk, urine and on plants through photodegradation." http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/DealkylationDealkylation The removing of alkyl groups from a compound Alkyl groups (Science: chemistry) a funtional group on an organic molecule which is derived from an alkane which has lost a hydrogen atom http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/photodegradation.htmlPhotodegradation Photodegradation is the chemical transformation of a compound into smaller compounds caused by the absorption of ultraviolet, visible, or infrared radiation (light). In many cases photodegradation is an oxidation process. Many compounds, when exposed to sunlight, degrade to smaller compounds. Some drinking-water and wastewater treatment facilities use ultraviolet light to destroy pollutants (through oxidation). |
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Carol
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« Reply #789 on: October 05, 2008, 03:53:47 PM » |
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(I hope this isn't posted already) But I think this NY Times reporter is going to stay on this...he did with the pet food melamine contamination...interesting to see who may be the one to blame... http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1578314/chinas_dairy_farmers_angered_by_blame_they_say_policies_and/"We have no way to adulterate our milk," said Shi Shangcun, a 38- year-old dairy farmer in Nantongyi, noting that village cows go directly to the milk station, where they are machine-milked. "I think it's Sanlu and the milking station that blend."
Sanlu officials repeatedly declined to respond to questions for this article. They have blamed farmers and milking stations for tampering with supplies. |
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« Last Edit: October 05, 2008, 03:55:50 PM by Carol »
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
United we stand Divided we fall....
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straybaby
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« Reply #790 on: October 05, 2008, 04:13:22 PM » |
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Ya know, the more I think about them blaming the farmers, the less sense it makes. Exactly how many of those poor small dairy farmers brining their cows to a milking station, have the knowledge and means to spike milk on a large scale? And the volume of milk/milk products that are spiked is large, so it would take a lot of farmers doing this. Now a milk processing operation spiking large batches of whatever sounds pretty doable. I would also wonder about processing liquid spiked milk into dry milk products, as in what would happen to the melamine during processing? Also, the poor farmers would be risking poisoning their family and friends as they would never know when they would be getting it in food, but the higher ups are eating organic.
I think we have more than one problem here. Food and dairy animals ingesting it, manufacturers and middlemen spiking it and perhaps the fertilizer growing it in plants and waste water/toxic water used for irrigation. China is basically a toxic waste site in some areas being assaulted on many fronts.
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dingbat
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« Reply #791 on: October 05, 2008, 04:47:13 PM » |
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I would also wonder about processing liquid spiked milk into dry milk products, as in what would happen to the melamine during processing? I would suspect that the melamine was added to the dry ingredients to boost the "protein" content rather than put in the liquid milk. Easier that way to adjust the content. db |
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I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone doing anything weird wasn't weird at all and it was the people saying they were weird that were weird.
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purringfur
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« Reply #792 on: October 05, 2008, 05:36:02 PM » |
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I do not believe the dairy farmers are doing the melamine spiking if they have to herd (walk?) their cows to the milking stations. (A very different practice compared to our milking system & collection process.) Yes, the cows are most likely eating melamine tainted feed, along with a host of other pesticides, fungicides, toxic metals, GMO grain, etc. and are perhaps drinking water polluted with nitrogen-rich fertilizers, but I don't think this would account for the high levels of melamine tested in some of the milk products. (I'm surprised the cows don't go hoofs up before they reach milking age there!) The water the fields are irrigated with is probably farm run-off water that is recycled, containing huge amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, & insecticides and could even be contaminated with the waste water from a melamine/cromazine plant or another hazardous/chemical industry. Who knows what toxic chemical factories are upstream from the dairy farmers? Or, who knows if there is a market for chemical factory wastewater to be tanked and transported to farmers? It would probably be cheaper than disposing of it properly, if there's even a regulation for that. Before the Olympics, we heard about the algae blooms from the use of farm chemicals & sewage that are high in nitrogen: "Besides being a concern to the sailors who plan to compete in the Olympic regattas, the algae explosion is also another instance of bad publicity highlighting China’s polluted environment. The country’s three-decade economic boom has left its waterways and coastlines severely polluted by industrial and farm chemicals and domestic sewage [AP], which contain high levels of nitrogen that nourish the algae blooms." http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/06/27/giant-slimy-green-algae-bloom-threatens-olympic-sailing/The Chinese at first denied that the bloom was due to overuse of farm pesticides/fertilizers upstream. The same water problem occurred upriver. This isn't the article I'm thinking of that I cited, but I'm sure someone here knows to which article I refer. I think this is a situation of the bigger, more powerful business owner or milking station blaming the little powerless farmer, when it's greedy businesses that benefit from the fraud. Some of the very high amounts of melamine tested in products seems to point to deliberate spiking of the product. If there were always a level of melamine in milk from cow's milk or the grain/feed cows eat, the levels would tend to be about the same over time and not all of a sudden, start killing babies and sickening another 50,000+ children. I think this was pure greed. Let's see who wins the blame game. |
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« Last Edit: October 05, 2008, 05:37:39 PM by purringfur »
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Buy local. Buy organic.
If you ate today, thank a farmer, hopefully a small, local farmer.
Remember the thousands & thousands of pets that died to give US a wake-up call about the safety of ALL food.
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Offy
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« Reply #793 on: October 06, 2008, 03:48:01 AM » |
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Kit Kat Bars???!!! http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/10/117_32242.html"Items that were found to contain trace levels of melamine include Kit Kat bars, Misarang Custard and peanut Snickers the KFDA said, adding that the chemical was not found in 94 percent of all items checked.""He said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's standard for melamine was less than 2.5 ppm for non-baby foods. However, among those confirmed to have contained the toxic chemical, most exceeded the ``tolerable'' level, he said.
Baek also added, ``The American authorities refused to set a minimum standard for baby food because they do not know the damage it could cause. The government is trying to fool the people by confirming food is safe."http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200810/200810060011.html"The KFDA on Saturday said melamine was found in Peanut Snickers Fun Size with the expiry date of Jan. 4, 2009, and M&M¡¯s Milk expiring on March 22, 2009, both of which are made by Mars Korea, and in KitKat mini expiring on May 8, 2009, by Nestle Korea. " |
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« Last Edit: October 06, 2008, 03:55:43 AM by Offy »
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"The days of the fox guarding the henhouse, with corporate lobbyists writing the laws that regulate their industries, must end."*Brent Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth, Sept. 22, 2008
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5CatMom
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« Reply #794 on: October 06, 2008, 04:09:27 AM » |
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From the Taipei Times: FEATURE : Debate over melamine limit not over: experts By Shih Hsiu-Chuan STAFF REPORTER Monday, Oct 06, 2008, Page 3 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/06/20034251435CatMom =^..^ = |
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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