Toxic Chinese Milk Poisons 53,000 Children

[al-Canine]

A chronology of events in the tainted baby formula scandal that has been blamed for the deaths of four infants and for sickening nearly 53,000 others in China:


December 2007: Sanlu Group Co. receives complaints from consumers that its infant formula was sickening babies, according to state broadcaster China Central Television, citing findings from a State Council investigation.


June 2008: Sanlu learns its milk powder is contaminated with melamine, CCTV says.


June 30: China's product quality watchdog receives a complaint that five infants at the Hunan province children's hospital have kidney stones and were all fed Sanlu brand milk powder, according to data on the Web site of China's food safety watchdog that has since been removed.


July 24: A pediatrician tells the watchdog he has seen nine cases of kidney stones in infants, all of whom drank Sanlu formula. The unidentified doctor expresses concern over the milk powder, according to data on the watchdog Web site that has since been removed.


Aug. 2: Sanlu alerts the government of Shijiazhuang, the northern Chinese city where the company is based, that its infant formula is tainted, according to CCTV. At a Sanlu board meeting, New Zealand dairy farmers' group Fonterra, a major investor in the company, learns about complaints of sick babies and urges an immediate recall.


Aug. 6: Sanlu pulls baby milk powder from distributors, but does not do a public recall.


Aug. 8: The Beijing Olympics open and run until Aug. 24.


Sept. 5: Fonterra informs New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark about the issue. Three days later, Clark orders New Zealand officials to inform officials in Beijing.


Sept. 9: Shijiazhuang city officials inform Hebei provincial officials. A day later, Hebei provincial officials contact the central government.


Sept. 11: Sanlu publicly recalls 700 tons of baby formula. Government vows "serious punishment" for those responsible. Xinhua reports dozens of babies have kidney stones and one baby has died.


Sept. 13: Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang says 432 babies fed Sanlu formula have developed kidney stones. Gao blames Sanlu for delays in warning the public and launches an inspection of all Chinese formula companies. Hebei's vice governor says authorities have seized 2,176 tons of Sanlu formula and recalled 8,218 tons.


Sept. 15: Number of sickened children rises to more than 1,200, with two deaths. China's quality watchdog says contamination occurred mainly at farms, which sell raw milk to dairy companies. Sanlu's vice president apologizes, but does not explain the delay in informing the public.


Sept. 16: A nationwide inspection of 109 Chinese baby milk powder companies uncovers 22 with traces of melamine. Sanlu General Manager Tian Wenhua is fired and dismissed from board of directors, state media reports.


Sept. 17: China's two largest dairies, Mengniu Dairy Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co., recall baby formula. Health minister says three babies have died and more than 6,200 others have been sickened. China deploys 5,000 inspectors to companies producing baby milk.


Sept. 18: Authorities arrest 12 more people, bringing total detained to 18. Police confiscate 660 pounds of suspected chemicals.


Sept. 19: Crisis widens after government tests find melamine in liquid milk produced by three of China's leading dairies.


Sept. 21: Health ministry reports the number of sickened children soars to nearly 53,000, with 12,892 hospitalized and 104 in serious condition. The Chinese territory of Hong Kong reports the first known illness outside mainland China, a 3-year-old girl who developed kidney stones after drinking Chinese dairy products.


Sept. 22: The head of China's product quality watchdog agency resigns.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/toxic-chinese-milk-poison_n_128411.html

[pixikill]

A chronology of events in the tainted baby formula scandal that has been blamed for the deaths of four infants and for sickening nearly 53,000 others in China:


December 2007: Sanlu Group Co.

...


hey niner, i heard they knew as early as 2005......

[al-Canine]

Tainted milk crisis hits more global companies

The Associated Press
Friday, September 26, 2008

SHANGHAI, China: Snackers beware: Oreo fillings contain no milk, but chocolate-filled Koala brand cookies and White Rabbit creamy candies do.

The roll call of companies facing potential recalls grew Friday as reports of contamination of foods by the industrial chemical melamine spread to a widening range of products.

Food companies around the globe are rushing to assess their products and in some cases setting new strategies to prevent problems.

"We have to think about any processed food with milk or protein in it," said James Rice, a food industry veteran who is now China country manager for Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor.

While his company is not affected, for others "that includes biscuits, cake mix, energy bars, anything that should have protein in it," he said.

Many food companies already were taking special precautions before Chinese milk suppliers were found to be adding melamine to watered-down raw milk to boost its apparent protein content. The melamine is blamed for killing four Chinese children and sickening 54,000.

Some companies learned the need for extra diligence in China the hard way, during a spate of scandals last year from unsafe foods and toothpastes to melamine-laced ingredients in pet food.

But many continued to disregard the risks, said Jeremy Haft, a businessman who runs factories in China in a variety of industries including medical products, clothing and building supplies.

"I don't think much was learned from the recalls of a year ago," said Haft, who has written of his experiences in a book, "All the Tea in China."

Tokyo-headquartered Lotte Group, a major snacks maker, got caught up in the storm Friday after its popular chocolate-filled Koala cookies were recalled in Hong Kong and Macau because of melamine contamination.

Packages of the cookies, still on sale in Shanghai, list whole milk powder as an ingredient.

"We will look deeply into all the details of the manufacturing process," said Kayh Kim, manager of Lotte China Food's planning department in Beijing. "We really don't want to lose our customers' confidence."

In Tokyo, a company spokeswoman said Lotte products sold in Japan are not made with Chinese dairy ingredients.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai-based maker of White Rabbit, a popular milk-flavored toffee, said it stopped domestic sales after the Hong Kong government's Center for Food Safety said the candy contained more than six times the legal limit of melamine.

That followed White Rabbit recalls in Britain, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.

When rumors of melamine-related recalls of Oreos and other sweets spread by phone text messages and on the Internet earlier this week, Kraft Foods Inc. hastened to reassure customers that none of its Oreo-brand products contain milk powder from China.

"Regardless of where they are produced, Kraft products are always held to the highest quality and safety standards," the company said. Oreo fillings contain no milk, while Oreo cookies with icing on them use milk powder from Australia, it said.

As they expand operations in China, targeting its potential market of 1.3 billion people, many foreign-brand food companies still rely too heavily on local partners for quality control, experts say.

New Zealand's dairy cooperative Fonterra discovered that when its local partner, Sanlu Group Co., failed to take quick action after Chinese doctors reported that babies drinking its infant formula were developing kidney stones.

"The problem was that Fonterra, right from the start, had no control over what was going on," said Bruce McLaughlin, CEO of Sinogie Consulting in Shanghai, which conducts market research and investigations.

"The most important thing is that if you're going to make an investment and have your name tied up with it, you have to have control over what's going on," McLaughlin said.

For some, that may mean going it alone.

Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, the world's leading producer of cocoa, chocolate and confectionary products, set up its own factory west of Shanghai earlier this year. The quality control staff report directly to the Swiss company's CEO.

The factory is testing milk products from all local suppliers, setting aside any from domestic sources until it is confirmed safe, said Gaby Tschofen, the company's vice president for corporate communications.

A decision by Japanese beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd. to set up its own dairy farm in China is proving fortuitous: the company's own high-quality milk, launched just this month, is selling fast amid the ongoing melamine scare.

Asahi Green Source Farm, a venture with fellow Japanese companies Itochu Corp. and Sumitomo Corp., is stocked with more than 1,000 dairy cows from Australia and New Zealand, said Chen Na, a marketing department staffer.

"We already realized the importance of the source of raw milk, since it's easy for trouble to crop up in a booming market, and we have made every effort to control the manufacturing process for liquid milk production," she said, adding, "Better safe than sorry."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/26/business/AS-China-Tainted-Milk-Quality-Control.php

[NYer]

Nothing like Chinese Take-out ...