Warnings against milk products

The shock waves from the contaminated milk scandal in China reached landfall in the U.S. Friday, as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings against an instant coffee brand and a candy brand exported from China.

The Mr. Brown brand instant coffees are produced by Shandong Duquing Inc. in China and reach the U.S. via a Taiwan-based food trading company, King Car Food Industrial Company Ltd. The FDA says King Car has asked to recall the coffee products and a milk tea it produces using China-made ingredients.

The FDA also issued warnings against White Rabbit brand candy also manufactured in China. The warning is based on tests conducted by the New Zealand government which showed the presence of melamine in ‘high levels.’

There has not been any report of anyone becoming ill due to consumption of the candy or coffee brands. But the FDA advisory was spurred by warnings issued by the Canadian food agency four days ago. So far, FDA has stopped all shipments of the cited products at the ports and subjecting them to intensive testing. It has also inspected over 1,400 Asian stores for China-made milk products.

The tainted milk scandal surfaced Sept.11, after reports from China indicated that powdered milk ingredients in baby formula were contaminated with melamine, an industrial compound widely used to manufacture plastics and glue, tan leather, and produce fertilizer.

The current scandal may indicate that little progress has been made since a 2004 scandal involving fake baby formula with absolutely zero nutritional value was openly sold in China’s domestic market leading to 12 infant deaths and over 200 babies treated for malnutrition.

After arresting dozens of people then (as it has done in recent weeks), the Chinese government vowed to implement more inspections and raise quality standards (exactly like its promises made last year after the melamine-contaminated pet food scandal).

The government is drafting another food safety law. Its food agency has now been placed under the health ministry and the director has since been replaced.

Still, the perception among Chinese consumers is that the government officials are more intent about controlling protests than allowing open discussion of the issue.

On Sept. 26, lawyers who were trying to help victims gather information and/or preserve evidence were advised to stop by local officials. They were threatened with the loss of their licenses if they persisted.

The entire process for milk testing needs to be overhauled; otherwise, other problems may eventually emerge. A former salesman for Chinese dairy companies says that aside from melamine, farmers have in the past added urea (from fertilizers) to raise protein counts. Farmers also use stimulants in the summer to boost milk outputs. More critically, they use antibiotics and preservatives.

Unless China solves these dairy industry problems, there might be more — even bigger — scandals than the current scare.