From Melamine To Methomyl in One Swift Blow!

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 15:16:57 PM PDT

How's that again? Pesticides in vegetables? And all along Monsanto & all have been telling us that pesticides are safe.

The incredible thing is that the article in question was posted on the staid Chinese state media! The story pulled quite a few punches. Admitting that the Greenpeace China report had found

"widespread traces of pesticides - including some that are banned"

"the key source of the problem may be produce coming in from outside the city, which is hard to regulate."

R.I.P Bessie, Melamine Casualty.

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Wed Apr 01, 2009 at 09:29:07 AM PDT

Late Night Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 21:00:00 PM PST

• Chinese-made milk powder produced by Danone is officially melamine-free.

• The LA Times provides slow cooker food safety tips.

• Organic Consumers Association offers up an excerpt from Toxic Sludge is Good for You. It's one of my favorite books, and I highly recommend checking out the excerpt - if not the entire book. Reading it makes you feel like you turned the light on and just now discovered that you'd been fumbling in the dark before now.

• Also from Organic Consumers Association, why does the Washington State WIC claim organic milk has no nutritional benefit?

• Check this out: You can make seed-starting pots from newspapers.

• Natasha Chart is into Pigs Gone Wild. No, it's not a sick video of pigs on spring break. Apparently wild pigs in Texas as causing $52 million per year in crop damage.

• Civil Eats applauds Dannon for going rbGH-free... but scolds Kansas for trying to ban rbGH-free labels.

• Marion Nestle recommends a few books on meat: Righteous Porkchop by Nicolette Hahn Niman and Raising Steaks by Betty Fussell.

• Nestle also comments on growing portion sizes in The Joy of Cooking.

• Should Bay Area residents choose local pork or Midwestern pork? The Ethicurean has a full-fledged debate with Bonnie calling for eating local and Samin Nosrat taking the other side.

Central Food Safety Agency Being Formed

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 02:01:53 AM PST

The commission's task would be "to strengthen the country's food monitoring system, whose low efficiency has long been blamed for repeated food scandals," the report said.

[...]

Experts have said a key reason for ... regulatory shortcomings is that too many different agencies have jurisdiction over the food industry.

Absolutely, and it's about time!  Even though it's fading from the headlines, the peanut salmonella outbreak is still ongoing, and the number of sicknesses continues to grow as one of the largest food recalls in history continues.

As Jill asks in the title of her Alternet article published yesterday, how do we know what's safe to eat?  Well unfortunately, we're still going to have to wait a bit for that here in the US...

Because the country currently setting up that central food safety agency is China.  Where at least 70 people were just sickened from eating tainted pork -

Investigations showed the suspect pork bought from local markets was contaminated with clenbuterol, a drug often given to people to treat asthma but also commonly used to cut body fat.

Cases of clenbuterol being given to pigs in China to reduce their fat have been recorded, but it is a banned food additive because it can be fatal for humans, the China Daily said.

One of the worst cases involving clenbuterol occurred in Shanghai in 2006 when 336 people were hospitalised after eating pig meat or organs contaminated with the additive, according to the paper.

Remember Melamine?

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Fri Feb 13, 2009 at 10:56:32 AM PST

Well, it hasn't got away, not just yet. If you recall, Fonterra, the NZ company that had a 40% plus share in Sanlu, the Chinese dairy company behind the scandal (I'd say there were more than one but that's me) is not alone! Turns out another New Zealand dairy company is involved in a safety inquiry involving milk products in China,  the Otago Daily Times reports.

Chinese food safety authorities are reportedly investigating an additive used in a premium brand product of Mengniu Dairy, China's leading dairy producer. The additive, called osteoblast milk protein (OMP), "uses ingredients imported from the Waikato-based Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company," the New Zealand-based newspaper reports.

I smell a large rat here. Shifting the blame perhaps?

"A report by Inner Mongolian quality inspectors after a field trip clearly states the quality and safety of OMP," Mengniu said in a statement. However, China's food safety watchdog has launched an inquiry into the products of Mengniu, as well as Dumex, which is part of the Danone Group.LOL! Danone? Now where did we hear that name lately??

Two Chinese Death Sentences For Melamine In Milk

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 11:56:35 AM PST

Additionally:

Three other defendants, including a top dairy company executive, were sentenced to life in prison, another defendant received a suspended death sentence, and 15 others were given jail terms ranging from two to 15 years.

I think the most telling quote in the article is this:

"I feel sorry for them, but they are just scapegoats," said Liu Donglin, 28, who said his 21-month-old son suffered from kidney stones after drinking tainted milk formula. "The ones who should take the responsibility are the government, like the quality supervision bureau and the Health Ministry. I spent nearly $3,000 taking care of my son and the government only compensated me with $300."

My 2008 Food Products Hall of Shame Awards

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Sat Jan 10, 2009 at 13:27:27 PM PST

China is not alone in my books. Case in point: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that last year 76 million Americans were struck by food-borne illnesses, and more than 300,000 were hospitalized. Sadly about 5,000 each year succumb to microbial infections.

Follow me to the Rogues' Gallery of Food Awards.

Illegal Honey Trafficking?

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 02:24:45 AM PST

• Big shipments of contaminated honey from China are frequently laundered in other countries -- an illegal practice called "transshipping" -- in order to avoid U.S.import fees, protective tariffs or taxes imposed on foreign products that intentionally undercut domestic prices.
• In a series of shipments in the past year, tons of honey produced in China passed through the ports of Tacoma and Long Beach, Calif., after being fraudulently marked as a tariff-free product of Russia.
• Tens of thousands of pounds of honey entering the U.S. each year come from countries that raise few bees and have no record of producing honey for export.
• The government promises intense scrutiny of honey crossing our borders but only a small fraction is inspected, and seizures and arrests remain rare.
• The feds haven't adopted a legal definition of honey, making it difficult for enforcement agents to keep bad honey off the shelves.

More headlines:
Antibiotic use could taint honey's reputation as a miracle drug
Experts call for better U.S. standards for honey
U.S. honey producers don't have it easy, and some say industry board isn't helping
Don't let claims on honey labels dupe you: If it's made in America, it's likely not organic

If your farmers' market is like mine, you can get some fantastic honey there. Given how sleezy the larger global industry appears based on these articles, it's a relief to know I can buy truly organic and truly local honey from people I know and trust.

Melamine Trials in China a Farce: Who are they Kidding?

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 15:08:52 PM PST

The trial: Tian Wenhua, the 66-year-old former general manager of the now bankrupt Sanluin stood in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court whose trial ended on the 31st of December but no verdict was announced.

China's food supply "safe" says U.S. Agriculture Secretary

by: Deep Harm

Thu Dec 04, 2008 at 13:43:33 PM PST

From the "What Are They Smoking?" department, this just in: The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said yesterday that he is "very confident that the food available to customers here in China is high quality and safe." (Also reported here.) The comments by Ed Schafer included no mention of the melamine contamination crisis in China that sickened thousands of infants there.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong reports finding illegal levels of melamine in eggs imported from China. The levels, as high as 4.7 parts per million, are nearly twice the US limit for melamine in food for human consumption (except for a 1 ppm limit for infants). Notably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with the Food and Drug Administration, has regulatory authority over eggs sold in the U.S.

Chinese Melamine Scandal Far More Widespread Than Thought

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 08:12:58 AM PST

A statement posted on online government media overnight said that 294,000 babies and young children had suffered "urinary system abnormalities" after drinking formula milk from Sanlu, the company most seriously affected, and other brand names.

It now says as many as six infants died and up to 294,000 suffered from urinary tract ailments including kidney stones. That figure is a lot higher than had previously been reported. More than 850 children are still being treated in hospital; at least 150 of them are said to be seriously ill. Why? Last year, China's dairy industry was worth $18 billion. That's a whole lot of dairy products.

More Melamine Found, this time in Africa

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Wed Nov 26, 2008 at 13:24:04 PM PST

The recent discovery of abnormal quantities of melamine in some ice creams and bulk milk powders marketed in the country has raised fresh fears over safety of dairy products. It has left many critics wondering whether the toxic chemical has been in the system long before now and responsible for the increasing cases of kidney failure.

Bulk milk powder, usually imported from China, is used in making almost all confectioneries from bread, meat pie, cake, candy, chocolate, ice cream, yoghurt, biscuit, sweet to mention but a few.

In recent times, melamine, a plastic-making industrial compound that was added to milk powder to cheat quality tests, has been found in cartons of milk and some dairy exports in China. It has also been shown that the chemical sometimes accidentally leaches into the food supply in low levels, from things like plastic dinnerware. It can also seep in from some pesticides and fertilizers.

Reports of melamine in US infant formula withheld by FDA

by: Deep Harm

Tue Nov 25, 2008 at 19:52:15 PM PST

The FDA just can't get its story straight on how much melamine is in the U.S. food supply and how much of a threat it poses to Americans.  According to the Associated Press, the FDA has been sitting on test results that reveal low levels of melamine in infant formula produced by U.S. companies. Melamine contamination of milk produced in China caused the deaths of four Chinese infants and hospitalized more than 50,000 infants.

Dem. Congresswoman Raps FDA On Melamine Risk Guidelines

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Thu Oct 09, 2008 at 11:50:18 AM PDT

Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), chairwoman of the Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement about the FDA's announcement that, despite potential harm to the kidneys, some melamine would not raise health concerns:

"While other countries throughout the world, including the European Union, are acting to ban melamine-contaminated products from China, the FDA has chosen to establish an acceptable level for melamine in food in an attempt to convince consumers that it is not harmful. Not only is this is an insult to consumers, but it would appear that the FDA is condoning the intentional contamination of foods."

From China, with Love: Melamine

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 12:05:38 PM PDT

Companies worldwide have been scrambling to establish independent testing of their products after it emerged that Chinese testing was utterly unreliable. Melamine was found in candy in four Connecticut stores this week, a state official said Wednesday. Days after contaminated White Rabbit Creamy Candy was found in California, Connecticut Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said tests found melamine in bags of the candy sold at two New Haven stores, a West Hartford market and an East Haven store.

How much Melamine can your body tolerate? Results below, with a comprehensive list of banned products so far.