China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

EU agency to check health risk of China milk powder [Alertnet]

EU agency to check health risk of China milk powder

22 Sep 2008 17:53:32 GMT

Source: Reuters - By Jeremy Smith

ANNECY, France, Sept 22 (Reuters) -

Europe's top food safety agency will issue a scientific opinion this week on whether processed items containing milk products coming from China pose a risk to human health, the agency's chief said on Monday.


Speaking on the margins of an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in France, the executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said the opinion was likely to be issued on Wednesday or Thursday.

EFSA's opinion had been requested by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm responsible for monitoring food safety and implementation of EU food standards across the bloc's 27 member countries, Catherine Geslain-Laneelle said.

"The Commission would like to know, in case you find melamine in this type of product, would there be a risk for human health," she told Reuters.

"There are so many ingredients that are imported and then used in complex products."

China's top quality regulator has resigned over the scandal, which has found milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, used in making plastics.

Four deaths have been blamed on the toxic milk powder, which causes kidney stones and agonising complications, and a string of Asian countries have banned or recalled Chinese milk products.

Thousands of Chinese infants are also sick in hospital after drinking tainted milk formula.

While the European Union does not import milk or milk products from China, Commission experts are keen to make absolutely sure that nothing enters EU markets as an ingredient or as part of a processed product that might pose a health risk.

"There's no question of having milk products from China in the European Union ... but in case they (Chinese) have used milk for the production of biscuits, for example," EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou told reporters.

"My suspicion is that they use melamine to give the impression of high protein in the milk. It's not a coincidence that people are being criminally prosecuted in China," she said.

Melamine is rich in nitrogen, and relatively cheap. Adding it to milk makes watered-down milk's protein level appear higher.

Standard quality tests estimate protein levels by measuring nitrogen content.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)
--

<cite cite="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LM87612.htm">Reuters AlertNet - EU agency to check health risk of China milk powder</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: SFH on melamine incidents [SFH]

Following is a transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up session after visiting the Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club General Outpatient Clinic this afternoon (September 23):


Reporter:
(about expanded services at designated general outpatient clinics)

Secretary for Food and Health:
Since the policy is only implemented today, it is very difficult to assess the actual demand from one day statistics. This morning we have already screened about 700 children. About a quarter to one-third of them need to be referred for further examination and investigation. We will be monitoring the situation in the next couple of days to see the trend of the parents and children coming to our clinics. We will make an assessment of how long or whether we need to expand our service to some districts. We know that in Northern District and Kwun Tong, there are more people demanding the service. We have already increased the quota there. We will also examine whether we need to further increase quota.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
--

View Original Article

[tropical]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

#16:
""There are so many ingredients that are imported and then used in complex products.""

The result of an legaly instaurated additional mixing of so many artificial food aditives which cannot be totaly proof-checked in every bit of an traded product, instead of producing and purchasing genuine natural items.

Better to have an more diluted wateradd. powdered poor milk, than an antifreezed (metaforicaly) builded one, for the same prize.

Maybe to insert an automatic processed food antidoping machine ...

[Treyfish]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Travel Bulletin

Contaminated dairy products

This Bulletin is current for Tuesday, 23 September 2008.
The Bulletin was issued on Tuesday, 23 September 2008, 18:12:14, EST.
The Chinese government has announced that traces of a chemical contaminant, melamine, have been found in a number of products and may be linked to cases of renal (kidney) problems in infants. A Chinese Health Ministry official has reported the number of infants affected by contaminated product produced in China has risen to nearly 40,000 cases.
The Chinese government has issued recalls for infant formula from 22 companies after tests turned up traces of melamine. Two of these companies exported their products to Bangladesh, Burundi, Myanmar, Gabon and Yemen. While contamination in those exported products remains unconfirmed, a recall has been ordered from China.
Chinese authorities are also testing other dairy products. Low levels of melamine contamination have been identified in liquid milk from three of China?s largest milk processors. Testing of milk produced by smaller processors is continuing.
Chinese authorities have also tested samples of imported dairy products from 18 countries and regions and have confirmed that no melamine was detected.
Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh and Singapore have banned imports of all dairy products from China and have issued product recalls for certain brands of infant milk formula, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, candy, canned coffee drinks and buns. Singapore and Japan have extended the ban to include confectionery such as chocolate, biscuits and sweets, as well as any other product containing milk from China as an ingredient.
Australians overseas are advised to avoid all milk products manufactured in China, until further information is available, unless the manufacturers have confirmed their products are free from contamination. Food standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has issued a warning to caregivers not to use any infant formula manufactured in China. For further information on impacts of this within Australia please visit the FSANZ website.
About Melamine
Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk. Though health experts believe ingesting minute amounts poses minimal risk, melamine can cause kidney stones, which can lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable. The World Health Organization is maintaining a list of frequently asked questions on melamine. http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-c...dairy_products

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: Two cases of renal stone found in child reported (with photo) [CHP]

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 23) received notifications from the Hospital Authority (HA) and a private hospital respectively of two confirmed case of renal problems involving children living in the Mainland who had consumed melamine tainted milk products, a CHP spokesman said.


This is the third and fourth cases reported to the CHP so far.

The spokesman said the case reported by HA involved a 29-month-old boy who was born in Hong Kong but lives in the Mainland. He had history of consumption of milk products adulterated with melamine. His father took him to out-patient clinic of Kwong Wah Hospital for examination on September 22.

He was diagnosed of renal stone and is now under treatment. He is in stable condition.

The fourth case is a nine-year-old boy who was born in Hong Kong but has been living in the Mainland since he was two-year-old.He consumed melamine tainted milk products in the past four years and has no symptoms of renal problems. His father took him to a private hospital on Hong Kong Island for examination on September 20. He was admitted for treatment after a renal stone was found in his kidney. He has been discharged and is now in stable condition.

Meanwhile, up to 1pm today, the CHP hotline 2125 1133 has received a total of 2 148 enquiries from members of the public.

"651 callers, claimed that they or their children had consumed milk products which were confirmed to have been adulterated with melamine, and 157 of the affected persons, 83 males and 74 females aged from 1 to 69, claimed to have symptoms of renal problems including dysuria and changes in the frequency of urination.

"They have been advised to seek medical attention as soon as possible to ascertain if they were suffered from renal disease," the spokesman said.

The remaining 1 497 callers had no history of exposure to melamine adulterated milk products and just asked for general health advice.

The CHP hotline operates from 9am to 5pm daily and more than 30 staff members of the Department of Health have been deployed to answer public enquiries.

The hotline is catered for individuals who consumed milk products contaminated with melamine or those who experience renal symptoms.
--

View Original Article

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: Latest test results of dairy product samples (with tables) [CFS]

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (September 23) released the latest batch of results of melamine tests on dairy products.


Results available today showed that of the 71 samples, including milk, milk beverages, frozen confections, milk powder, raw milk, chocolates, cakes, biscuits, creamy candies and three-in-one coffee powder, 69 were satisfactory.

A sample of creamy candy and a sample of cake were found unsatisfactory.

Details are as follows:
* Product - Level of Melamine Detected
1. White Rabbit Creamy Candies (net weight: 227g) - 4.6ppm
2. Four Seas Cake (Strawberry Flavour) (net weight: 160g) - 6.1ppm

Under the Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2008 which takes effect today, the legal limit for melamine in the above two food items is 2.5ppm.

"We have informed the trade of the test results and asked them to stop selling the products concerned.

No prosecution under the Regulation will be taken as the samples were collected before the commencement of the amendment regulation.

However, we have sent warning letters to the retailers and importers concerned.

The importers will recall the affected products," a CFS spokesman said.

According to the standards of US Food and Drug Administration, the safety reference value (i.e. tolerable daily intake - TDI) for melamine is 0.63mg per kg of body weight per day.

For children under the age of 36 months, as they are more sensitive to melamine, the TDI for melamine is 0.32mg per kg of body weight per day.

"Based on the low level detected, normal consumption will not pose major health effects. However, the public should stop consuming those food items."

On the creamy candy sample which was detected with a level of 4.6ppm melamine, the spokesman said it would be for a three-year-old child weighing 10 kg to eat about three packs (about 130 pieces) of the product a day to have exposure reaching the TDI.

On the cake sample which was detected with a level of 6.1ppm melamine, it would be for the same child to eat about 16 pieces of the product to have exposure reaching the TDI.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to collect dairy product samples for testing," the spokesman said.

Information on the test results can be found on CFS's website www.cfs.gov.hk.

For enquiries, members of the public can also call CFS?? enquiry number 2381 6096 which operates from 9 am to 9 pm daily.

The enquiry service will be suspended when Typhoon Signal No.8 or above/Black Rainstorm warning is in effect, and will resume two hours after the signal/warning is cancelled.
--

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[Shiloh]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...AFpCQD93CHPJ81

China: 'Out of control' dairy system led to abuse

By TINI TRAN ? 48 minutes ago

BEIJING (AP) ? China's agriculture minister acknowledged Tuesday that the country's milk-gathering system was "out of control" and led to abuses that put contaminated dairy products in stores across Asia, sickening some 54,000 babies and killing four.

At least six Asian countries banned or curbed imports of Chinese dairy products, and the World Health Organization warned of possible smuggling of melamine-tainted infant formula across borders. The European Union told customs authorities to keep a closer eye on food imports from China.

Melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizer, has been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 Chinese dairy companies. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added it to watered-down milk because its high nitrogen content masks the resulting protein deficiency.

Since the discovery of tainted milk was made public, China's government has scrambled to respond. Recent days have seen a number of arrests and forced resignations of officials as reports of sickened children spread outside the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong and Macau.

Chinese state television reported that the company at the center of the scandal, Sanlu Group Co., received complaints about tainted formula beginning last December and waited eight months to tell the local government, which then waited another month before informing higher authorities.

Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai told a meeting with the health and public security ministries that the industrial chemical melamine was likely added at stations that collect milk from small individual dairy farmers.

"Since milk stations began only in recent years, the country now has no specific method of supervising them, or clear-cut supervision department. The purchasing process of raw milk is basically out of control," Sun said, according to a summary of his comments posted Tuesday on his ministry's Web site.

"We must crack down on them with the greatest determination and the toughest measures," Sun said in the meeting held late Monday.

A group of 316 Chinese milk producers and retailers issued a joint statement promising to keep the dairy industry clean, state broadcaster China Central Television reported late Tuesday.

Among other things, producers promised to reject sub-standard raw materials, strictly inspect production, and take responsibility for product quality. Retailers also promised closer inspections.

Sanlu had no comment Tuesday about the allegations on state television.

CCTV reported Monday night that an investigation by the State Council, China's Cabinet, found that Sanlu had been receiving complaints about its infant formula as early as December 2007. The dairy company discovered melamine in its milk powder in June but did not report it to city officials until Aug. 2, it said.

"During these eight months, the company did not inform the government and did not take proper measures, therefore making the situation worse," CCTV said.

The Shijiazhuang city government then failed to report the case to the Hebei provincial government until Sept. 9, CCTV said. Sanlu products were recalled from stores two days later and Shijiazhuang's top Communist Party official fired.

Anthony Hazzard, the Western Pacific director of the World Health Organization, said 82 percent of the children made sick by the formula were 2 years old or younger.

The sick included 12,892 babies in hospitals, 39,965 who have received outpatient treatment, and an additional 1,579 patients discharged from hospitals, he said, citing China's Ministry of Health.

Hazzard said countries had been advised to focus particularly on smuggled formula by the International Food Safety Authorities (INFOSAN), a network of 167 countries organized by the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

He said authorities do not know at this stage what countries may have received the contaminated products.

"I think the greatest fear is if there has been illegal movement of the heavily contaminated products rather than the legal movement of products that may have very low levels of melamine," said Hazzard, speaking in Manila where the WHO's regional headquarters is located.

The head of the Chinese agency that monitors food and product safety stepped down Monday. The resignation of Li Changjiang, who headed the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine since 2001, comes a year after he and the government promised to overhaul the system in response to a series of product safety scares.

New regulations and procedures were introduced in an attempt to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls involving tainted toothpaste, faulty tires, contaminated seafood and in March 2007, pet food containing melamine that was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States.

According to the Health Ministry, of the 53,000 sickened children, 12,892 remain hospitalized, with 104 in serious condition. Another 39,965 children were treated and released.

Baby formula and other milk products have been pulled from stores around the country and Chinese dairy products have been recalled or banned in Bangladesh, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

A total of five children outside the Chinese mainland ? in Hong Kong and Macau ? have been diagnosed with kidney stones after drinking Chinese-made milk products and Hong Kong regulators found tainted cake, officials said Tuesday.

A 16-month old child in the southern Chinese gambling enclave Macau was diagnosed after being fed Nestle milk powder made in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province, the government said in a statement. No government tests have found melamine in Nestle milk products, and Switzerland-based Nestle said its milk products sold in China and Hong Kong are "absolutely safe" and that none are made from tainted milk.

European Commission spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki said national customs authorities across the EU were asked last week to step up checks on imports of "composite products," such as bread or chocolate, to ensure they contain no traces of contaminated milk. She said the EU's 27 member states do not import baby formula or other dairy products from China.

One of China's biggest milk producers, China Mengniu Dairy Co., saw its stock price plummet slightly more than 60 percent in Hong Kong trading Tuesday after its products were found tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.

Mengniu, China's No. 1 dairy producer in total volume, said only a small portion of its products were contaminated and blamed the contamination on "the illegal acts of some irresponsible milk collection centers and raw milk dealers."

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Macau baby drinking Nestle formula found with kidney stones

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

A 16-month-old baby in Macau who had been fed with Nestle baby formula produced in mainland China was confirmed to suffer from kidney stones yesterday.

According to the Health Bureau (SSM) press statement, the infant was found by a private laboratory to have kidney stones and afterwards was taken to Conde de S?o Janu?rio Central Hospital for a urine test, ultrasound and bladder scanning for confirmation.

The baby is now being taken care of at the paediatrics ward.

The Nestle baby formula for one year-olds or above, produced in mainland China's Heilongjiang, was revealed by the Hong Kong media last week as containing melamine.

The SSM has taken the powder the baby was using as well as other formulas of the same brand for further testing.

Parents who have been feeding or used to feed their children with the same formula were urged to take their children for health checks at nearby health centres.

On the other hand, health centres have already started sending medical staff to schools with no stationed doctors for conducting tests on those 10,000 students who participated in the milk program last year.

It was estimated that about 1,000 students can have their urine tested every day and to date 774 children had received urine dipstick tests.

Of which, 27 students have been sent to receive urine sediment microscope screening and 11 of them had completed the procedures.

At this stage six students have then been arranged to receive ultrasound screening and three of them had finished the tests with no signs of kidney stones were found, the SSM said.

The health department said students who failed in the urine dipstick tests did not necessarily mean their kidneys have problems as the results could be affected by other urinary system diseases such as infections, tuberculosis, dehydration or vulva inflammation.

To date, the SSM said 295 children had been taken by parents to hospitals or transferred by health centres for urine tests.

Of which, 14 needed to receive the urine sediment microscope screening and four of them had completed the checks without needing to undertake further testing.

In addition, as of September 23 the SSM hotline had received 126 calls of inquiries and complaints. Eighty of them inquired about urine tests while 43 related to concerns of dairy products.

According to TDM news, the SSM began the health checks yesterday by sending three nurses to Chan Sui Ki Perpetual Help College in Estrada da Vitoria where 120 second year primary school students from three classes had their urine tested.

The health centre in Areia Preta also said that they had conducted the same test for about 80 students in Hoi Fai School in the Border Gate area, TDM said.

http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16617&Itemid=28

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: No new cases of renal problems related to tainted milk received [CHP]

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 24) did not receive any new reports from the Hospital Authority and private doctors of renal problems related to the consumption of melamine tainted milk products, a CHP spokesman said.


Meanwhile, up to 1pm today, the CHP hotline 2125 1133 had received a cumulative total of 3,561 enquiries from members of the public.

1,076 callers claimed that they or their children had consumed milk products which were confirmed to have been adulterated with melamine, and 312 of the affected persons, 159 males and 153 females aged from two to 60, claimed to have symptoms of renal problems including dysuria and changes in the frequency of urination.

They have been advised to seek medical attention as soon as possible to ascertain if they were suffering from renal disease,'' the spokesman said.

The remaining 2,485 callers had no history of exposure to melamine adulterated milk products and just asked for general health advice.

The CHP hotline, which operates from 9am to 5pm daily, caters for individuals who have consumed milk products contaminated with melamine or those who are experiencing renal symptoms.
--

View Original Article

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: Latest test results of dairy product samples (with tables) [CFS]

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (September 24) released the latest batch of results of melamine tests on dairy products.


Results available today showed that of the 67 samples tested, including fresh milk, milk beverages and soya milk produced locally, milk powder, creamy candies, evaporated milk, condensed milk and raw milk, 66 were satisfactory.

The unsatisfactory sample was White Rabbit Creamy Candies (net weight: 454g, expiry date: November 20, 2009) and the level of melamine detected was 16ppm.

Under the Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2008 which took effect yesterday (September 23), the legal limit for melamine in the creamy candies is 2.5ppm.

"The creamy candies whose test result was announced today were the same brand of creamy candies found to contain melamine yesterday. We have already informed the trade upon announcing the test results yesterday and asked them to stop selling the products concerned. The importer has recalled the affected products. No prosecution under the amendment regulation will be taken as the sample was collected before its commencement. However, we have sent warning letters to the retailer and importer concerned," a CFS spokesman said.

According to the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration, the safety reference value (i.e. tolerable daily intake - TDI) for melamine is 0.63mg per kg of body weight per day. For children under the age of 36 months, as they are more sensitive to melamine, the TDI for melamine is 0.32mg per kg of body weight per day.

"Based on the level detected, the public is advised to stop consuming the creamy candies," the spokesman said.

On the creamy candy sample which was detected with a melamine level of 16ppm, the spokesman said a three-year-old child weighing 10kg would have to eat about half a pack (about 40 pieces) of the product a day toreach the TDI.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to collect dairy and other concerned product samples for testing," the spokesman said.

Information on the test results can be found on CFS's website www.cfs.gov.hk.

For enquiries, members of the public can also call CFS's enquiry number 2381 6096 which operates from 9am to 9pm daily.
--

View Original Article

[Treyfish]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Chinese rush hospitals as toxin fear grows

LI Yang spent most of yesterday pacing up and down the entrance to Ward 7 in the Beijing Children's Hospital.
His eight-month-old son, Li Jinqi, was clinging to life, racked with fever as medical staff grappled with the fluid that has accumulated in his kidneys.
"He's been lively, even naughty, since he was born, until about six weeks ago," Li said. "'Then he started getting fever. We kept taking him to the small clinic in the neighbouring village, and the doctor there treated him for colds."
Then Li and his wife began reading reports of milk powder being poisoned with melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used in plastics and fertiliser that boosts the apparent protein content of milk products that have been diluted to increase profit.
Li, a driver for a pharmaceutical company in Zhuozhou, 60km south of Beijing, said that as soon as their son was born, they fed him mostly powdered milk, relying less on breastfeeding.
"We are just peasants. We don't have much knowledge -- all of us peasants trusted advertisements," he said.
The ads told Li milk powder was more nutritious than mother's milk. "We thought we were doing the right thing," he said.
They bought the Yashili, Shengyuan and Sanlu brands. Sanlu has the highest level of melamine.
The head of New Zealand company Fonterra, which owns 43 per cent of Sanlu, yesterday admitted the Chinese brand would not recover.
"Sanlu has been damaged very badly by this tragedy," Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said, as he announced Fonterra's annual results. "The brand cannot be reconstructed."
He said he was "appalled" by claims Sanlu received complaints about its infant formula as early as December 2007, but failed to alert authorities until last month.
Fonterra, which trades dairy products in 140 countries, would introduce "more comprehensive testing for every conceivable poison ... round the world" in milk it purchases, Mr Ferrier said, adding: "You can never be 100 per cent absolutely certain against a criminal contamination of your supply chain."
Such promises are of little use to Li and his family.
A week ago he and his wife took their son to their local hospital. When told the baby had a build-up of fluid in his inner organs, Li rushed him to the capital, hoping he would receive better treatment there.
Fearing his son was already in a critical condition, Li was too worried to wait in line all day and instead paid a professional queuer 80 yuan (about $14), to join the line for a ticket entitling the holder to enter the hospital for testing and admission.
"There were so many sick babies and parents worried about milk poisoning," Li said. "I had to do something."
The line was even longer yesterday. Babies were crying. Parents clutched tubes of their baby's urine for testing. Guards shouted at people to "stay in the queue".
While baby Li's condition improved in the days after he was admitted, the fever returned yesterday. The doctors are not sure if he has a kidney stone -- the ailment that has most troubled the 53,000 babies treated for milk powder poisoning.
"If a baby is found with a kidney stone, the treatment will be free," said Li. But because his baby has different symptoms, he has to pay. He earns 1000 yuan ($174) a month, and had to pay eight times that as a deposit before the hospital would admit his son.
Li said his wife was now breastfeeding their son at the hospital, where she too is staying. "We don't even trust the powdered milk the hospital provides. We're afraid all the powder brands have chemicals in them -- it's just a matter of how much." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-25837,00.html

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

China milk scandal deplorable, says WHO [Alertnet]

China milk scandal deplorable, says WHO

25 Sep 2008 05:45:52 GMT

Source: Reuters

* UNICEF and WHO urge enforcement of quality standards
* Mothers urged to breast feed infants
* Vietnam, Nepal and France ban Chinese milk products

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG, Sept 25 (Reuters) -

The World Health Organisation and UNICEF said on Thursday China's contaminated milk powder scandal was "deplorable" as more countries in Asia and Europe banned imports of Chinese milk products.


Beijing is battling public alarm and international dismay after close to 13,000 Chinese children crowded hospitals, ill from infant milk formula tainted with melamine, a cheap industrial chemical that can be used to cheat quality checks.

"Deliberate contamination of foods intended for consumption by vulnerable infants and young children is particularly deplorable," the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, said in a joint statement.

But the two agencies said Beijing's plan to overhaul its food safety would help prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

"We are confident that swift and firm actions are being taken by China's food safety authorities to investigate this incident fully."

"We also expect that following the investigation and in the context of the Chinese government's increasing attention to food safety, better regulation of foods for infants and young children will be enforced," the two organisations said in a statement.

The WHO and UNICEF also urged mothers to breast feed their infants, a need further underscored by "alarming examples" of tainted formula scandals in China and around the world.

China's poor track record in coming clean on past product safety scandals including toys, toothpaste, pharmaceutical ingredients and pet food ingredients has seriously dented the country's credibility.

MORE BANS, RECALL
Despite China's reassurances its milk products are now safe and the situation was under control, several countries continued to take steps against milk imports from there. In Europe, France banned all food items containing Chinese milk products as a precautionary measure. The European Food Safety Authority is expected to announce this week whether processed items containing milk products from China pose a risk.

In Asia, Vietnam and Nepal halted sales of all Chinese milk products and would now carry out stepped up testing of such imports. Vietnam health officials warned tainted Chinese milk may have been sold in its remote, impoverished central region.

South Korea started from Wednesday to recall products with melamine after the Korea Food and Drug Administration found tainted rice cookies made for a South Korean confectionary by one of its divisions in China.

Singapore said it had tested melamine in five more products including two Dutch Lady fruit-flavoured milk products.

Kraft Foods took out a full-page advertisement in Singapore's Straits Times newspaper to say its Oreo products are safe and do not contain milk ingredients sourced from China.

Global coffee giant Starbucks said it had started using fresh milk from a Hong Kong milk supplier in 55 of its stores in southern China, ditching its usual China supplier.

In the latest update by China's quality control agency on its website (www.aqsiq.gov.cn), it said 235 samples of carton milk and drinking yoghurt produced since Sept. 14 and sold across the country had shown no signs of the toxic chemical melamine.

Nitrogen-rich melamine can be added to substandard or watered-down milk to fool quality checks, which often use nitrogen levels to measure the amount of protein in milk.

The chemical is used in pesticides and in making plastics.

So far, four deaths have been blamed on kidney stones and agonising complications caused by the toxic milk.

(Additional reporting by Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong, Kevin Lim in Singapore, Francois Murphy in Paris, Ho Binh Minh in Hanoi and Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
---

<cite cite="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG132511.htm">Reuters AlertNet - China milk scandal deplorable, says WHO</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

Hong Kong: SFH on buyout scheme for live poultry trade and dairy products incidents [SFH]

[see below for remarks about melamine-tainted dairy products - IOH]

Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session in the West Wing lobby of Central Government Offices today (September 25):


Reporter:
(about the effectiveness of the buyout scheme)

Secretary for Food and Health:
Our main policy is to ensure that there is no live poultry staying overnight in our markets. This ex-gratia payment scheme is mainly to deal with the traders that cannot survive with this particular policy. About 70% of the trade have decided to take up the scheme now. About 30% of the retailers and about 50% of the local farms remain. With the adjustment in the import of Mainland live chickens, I think we are able to maintain a certain level of supply of live chickens and at the same time ensure that those chickens are being slaughtered in a much more hygienic and better environment.

''In controlling avian influenza, this is an effective policy (no overnight stocking of live poultry at retail level) which is able to continue for some time. As I have said many times, we need to ensure segregation between humans and poultry eventually and some sort of centralised poultry slaughtering plant is required. We now expect that local farms will produce roughly only about 5,000 or 6,000 chickens a day, the scale of this poultry slaughtering plant will be much smaller than what we have already planned. We think that the planning and implementation can be done a bit earlier.

Reporter:
(about the buyout scheme)

Secretary for Food and Health:
We set the target of 80% first as an aim that we can reduce a large amount of retailers and live chickens in the market. With a percentage of 72%, we feel that a similar effect can be achieved. I don't think in such policy, you can achieve the exact percentage that you plan.

Reporter:
(about dairy products incidents)

Secretary for Food and Health:
Most of the milk powder baby formula in Hong Kong are not produced on the Mainland. There are only three brands that are produced on the Mainland, but they are all international brands. On September 12, we already tested these three brands and proved that they were safe. In the last week or so, we repeatedly tested those milk powder and proved that they were safe. I think at the moment, for those that are sold in Hong Kong market, we can assume that they are reasonably safe. We are still testing regularly. Since the regulation on control of melamine was introduced and gazetted on Tuesday, this is also the responsibility of the trade to ensure that all their goods are safe and do not contain melamine exceeding the legal limit.

Reporter:
(about dairy products incidents)

Secretary for Food and Health:
If you look at the reports from the Mainland, those milk or milk products produced after September 14 would be reasonably safe. Of course it is still important for each market to test its own products. Whether those milk products that are produced before September 14 would be used for manufacturing other types of milk-related products, such as biscuits, cakes and chocolate, it depends on where they go. That is the reason why we cannot simply ban Mainland products. Products that travelled to other territories and countries might be used for manufacturing other products that are shipped to Hong Kong.

Reporter:
(about services provided by designated clinics)

Secretary for Food and Health:
It is still too early to say. In the last two days, we have examined more than 3,000 children in public hospitals. So far, we have only discovered four cases. Three of them actually came from the Mainland. They are children born in Hong Kong but lived on the Mainland. Their exposure might be different from Hong Kong children. As I have said earlier, it is still too early to define the treatment protocol and screening protocol. One of the tasks that we have to concentrate in the coming days is to ensure that we are giving the right screening procedures for children to get the most accurate diagnosis and to make sure that we do not do anything too excessive as well.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
--

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[FrenchieGirl]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

AUSTRALIA - Call for White Rabbit lollies recall
24/09/2008 5:24:00 PM.

http://livenews.com.au/articles/2008...lollies_recall

Australian retailers have been asked to remove the Chinese lolly White Rabbit from sale after New Zealand tests showed they may contain traces of a toxic chemical linked to several deaths in China.

The illegal additive melamine has been found in Chinese milk formula, believed to be responsible for 54,000 babies falling ill and four of them dying.

Australian food regulators on Wednesday issued a formal request to wholesalers and importers to voluntarily withdraw White Rabbit brand lollies from shops pending further results of testing for melamine.

The milk-based sweets are imported from China, and sold in retail packs through Asian retailers, supermarkets and restaurants.

"Testing in New Zealand released late today has confirmed that this product contains sufficiently high levels of melamine which may, in some individuals, cause health problems such as kidney stones if consumed in high quantities over a long period," a statement from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) said.

"Anyone who has the product should not consume it. It is unlikely that there could be a problem if consumed in small amounts but people with concerns about the consumption of this product should seek medical advice."

The Australian state and territory agencies will be working closely with wholesalers and importers to facilitate the voluntary withdrawal.

Australia does not import infant formula products from China and has not imported full-dairy products, such as yoghurt or condensed milk, from China since March 2007.

FSANZ and state and territory agencies are continuing to monitor the situation.

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: China: Melamine tainted milk, current situation

ITALY - http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=110023 (article in Spanish, Google translate)

24/09/2008 Updated 24/09 at 18:01

Italy recommended to avoid Chinese restaurants and strengthens controls on their products

Rome
The Italian government announced today that it has strengthened controls on food products from China to certify that do not contain milk or their derivatives, and advised not to eat in Chinese restaurants.

Under Secretary for Health, Francesca Martini, explained that the imported goods will be examined from China, although they are accompanied by the necessary documentation.

These measures came after it was detected levels of melamine in liquid milk sold by three major Chinese dairy brands, which for the moment has caused kidney damage to almost 53,000 children in this country, of which four died.

Martini said that these products will have sixty days to pass the checks, after which, if the merchandise has not passed the examinations, will be destroyed.

She explained that the Carabineros (military police) are carrying out checks around the country to detect illegally imported products business in ethnic food or Chinese establishments.

"The investigation will include integrating food, drink and cereal powder, soy protein and rice, spicy sauces, biscuits, chocolate and sweets," said Martini.

The consumers' association Codacons asked the Government to subject all Chinese restaurants from Italy to controls to ensure that no contaminated products supplied, and the possibility that in some cases closing the establishment of a preventive manner.