13 years ago, kidney stones were diagnosed in 16 babies in Gansu province, China. All had been fed powdered milk that was later adulterated with a toxic industrial compound called melamine. Four months later, an estimated 300,000 babies in China contracted the contaminated milk and kidney damage caused six deaths. The Sanlu Group, one of China's largest milk producers, has been identified as the main culprit. But as the scandal unfolded, more Chinese dairy companies got involved. This horrifying experience was one of the biggest cases to show the importance of food safety standards around the world. Various acts around the world were adopted due to this. Similar acts are also constantly observed in India. Despite the fssai standards for milk, these adulterarted products are readily available in the market everywhere. Let us read more about the Chinese scam and its horrors.
Who was responsible?
The scandal was first exposed on July 16 after sixteen babies were diagnosed with kidney stones in Gansu province. The babies were fed infant formula made by the Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group, which was then one of the country's leading infant formula manufacturers. After the initial focus on Sanlu, new state inspections revealed that the products of 21 other companies were also damaged, including those of Arla Foods: Mengniu, Yili, and Yashili.
Source of contamination
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that melamine can be found "in a variety of milk and dairy products in varying concentrations, from low ppb to ppm." One academic suggested that cyromazine, a long-standing melamine-derived pesticide in China, is absorbed as melamine in plants; therefore, it may have been present for a long time in products such as poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy products. It is not known in which supply chain the melamine was added to the milk. The chemical is not soluble in water and must be mixed with formaldehyde or another chemical before it can dissolve in milk.
What is melamine?
Melamine is used to make melamine-formaldehyde resin, a type of plastic known for its flame retardant properties and widely used in countertops, dryase boards, etc. It has also been used as non-protein nitrogen found in soybean meal, corn gluten meal, and cottonseed meal in livestock feed. Melamine is known to cause kidney failure and kidney stones in humans and animals when it reacts with cyanuric acid in the body. The use of melamine in food production is not approved by WHO or national authorities.
Who were the victims?
On September 17, 2008, Health Minister Chen Zhu stated that "more than 6,200 children have been diagnosed with contaminated milk formula and that more than 1,300, mostly newborns, remain in the hospital, 158 of whom suffer from acute kidney failure. " By September 23, around 54,000 children had been reported ill, four had died. As of September 27, 10,000 more cases had been reported in the provinces. A World Health Organization official said 82% of affected children were 2 years old or younger. The Hong Kong Center for Food Safety said 99 percent of the victims were under the age of 3. Ten children in Hong Kong were diagnosed with kidney problems, with at least four cases in Macau and six in Taiwan. The inhumane victims included a lion cub and two orangutan babies fed Sanlu infant formula at the Hangzhou Zoo. The government said on October 8 that it would stop publishing updated figures "because it is not a communicable disease, so it is not essential that we make it known to the public."
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