(Beijing, China) So far, three babies have died from consuming Sanlu formula melamine-contaminated baby milk, two in the Gansu Province and one in Zhejiang Province. Four government officials have been fired including Zhejiang's head of the Food and Drug Administration and the Quality and Technical Inspection Bureau chief.
According to China’s Minister of Health Chen Zhu:
Aside from the three deaths, a total of 6,244 infants are now confirmed sick after drinking contaminated milk powder.Nevertheless, China's top quality watchdog found melamine, a thermoset plastic, in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide.
4,917 infants had minor symptoms and have been discharged from hospitals after treatment. Chen said, the remaining 1,327 babies, the majority newborns, remain hospitalized. Of those, 158 babies suffered from acute kidney failure. Chen said 94 were in stable condition.
Most of the babies developed urinary problems, such as kidney stones, after taking Sanlu’s milk powder for three to six months.
As of Wednesday morning, the health ministry had not received reports of babies becoming sick after drinking milk powder produced by other companies.
In the U.S., however, a review by the Food and Drug Administration found no examples of contaminated baby milk in samples from hundreds of specialty stores.
As a reminder, melamine was also identified as the contaminant in pet food imported from China in 2006 and 2007 that reportedly killed hundreds of dogs and cats.
Also, in February of this year hundreds of Japanese people were sickened by potstickers imported from China. The contaminant in those illnesses was identified as an organophosphorus pesticide, methamidophos.
In summary, all people should be cautious when purchasing food items from China. Furthermore, it's noteworthy that Chinese foods don't generally contain biological contaminants, rather it appears that unhealthy food additives are obtained from the home and garden center.
Also: The Jawa Report
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