Melamine scare exposes problems
This summer, the world's attention was focused on China as the nation prepared to host the world's largest sporting event Â- the Olympics. But amidst the fanfare and excitement, tragedy struck. On July 16, 2008, 16 infants in China's Gansu province were diagnosed as having kidney stones as a result of drinking milk that was contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine. Four of them died.
Melamine is an organic base which, when properly combined with chemical resins, exhibits interesting properties, including being fire retardant. Thus, it has proven to be useful for many industrial uses such as making plastics and concretes. However, melamine can be toxic to humans if it is ingested in large quantities and can cause problems such as kidney stones or kidney malfunction.
When melamine is mixed in solution, it causes an apparent increase in the protein content of the mixture; as a result, it was once considered a cheap alternative to provide protein-rich meals for cattle. However, in Europe and the U.S., government restrictions now ban the use of the substance in production of any food, due to the extent of its toxicity.
But in China, there are no government regulations on melamine. Many infant formula producers - a CNN article quoted 21 of China's largest milk firms - have used melamine in their products, in an attempt to make cheaper milk that still passes tests for sufficient protein levels. However, the consequences of these companies' actions far outweigh the small benefit in the cost-reduction they may receive.
According to data procured by CNN and other news media, over 50,000 infants in China have acquired an illness directly due to the melamine in infant milk. Because of the severe extent of their illness, 13,000 of them have been hospitalized.
These morbid injuries are tragedy enough, but what's worse is that there is the potential for many more problems. Scientists found that the melamine contamination spread from just the infant milk to other dairy, poultry and egg products. China is a major global producer of these items, which means that there may be toxic melamine in such foods around the world.
Melamine is an organic base which, when properly combined with chemical resins, exhibits interesting properties, including being fire retardant. Thus, it has proven to be useful for many industrial uses such as making plastics and concretes. However, melamine can be toxic to humans if it is ingested in large quantities and can cause problems such as kidney stones or kidney malfunction.
When melamine is mixed in solution, it causes an apparent increase in the protein content of the mixture; as a result, it was once considered a cheap alternative to provide protein-rich meals for cattle. However, in Europe and the U.S., government restrictions now ban the use of the substance in production of any food, due to the extent of its toxicity.
But in China, there are no government regulations on melamine. Many infant formula producers - a CNN article quoted 21 of China's largest milk firms - have used melamine in their products, in an attempt to make cheaper milk that still passes tests for sufficient protein levels. However, the consequences of these companies' actions far outweigh the small benefit in the cost-reduction they may receive.
According to data procured by CNN and other news media, over 50,000 infants in China have acquired an illness directly due to the melamine in infant milk. Because of the severe extent of their illness, 13,000 of them have been hospitalized.
These morbid injuries are tragedy enough, but what's worse is that there is the potential for many more problems. Scientists found that the melamine contamination spread from just the infant milk to other dairy, poultry and egg products. China is a major global producer of these items, which means that there may be toxic melamine in such foods around the world.
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Clemson Grad
Jack
posted 11/21/08 @ 7:26 PM EST
Where is the outrage? It is the Melamine mfg-ers that are selling the poison. STOP THEM and the poison pipeline is plugged. Hold both US and Chinese companies accountable
Business Opportunities
posted 11/23/08 @ 11:36 AM EST
Who was the genius who came up with the idea to put melamine in milk and other foods. I thought that the Chinese were smarter than that.
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