Must Read: Tainted Chinese Products Criminal Timeline

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Thu Oct 02, 2008 at 10:59:58 AM PDT

In my previous piece on melamine I wrote in favor of a total ban on Chinese food products. Harsh, yes, and they're still at it, covering it up as authorities are scrambling to point fingers at milk producers and unlucky factory managers. I'm pissed off at the Chinese authorities, having lost one of my Labradors to renal failure earlier this year due to bone-shaped treats made there.

Chinese officials aren't exactly motivated by the desire to serve the people because they aren't elected by the people. Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao both have skins thicker than the Great Wall of China. Have they no shame?  

To be cross-posted on DKos

A Total Ban on Chinese Food Imports Should Be in Place. Now!

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Fri Sep 26, 2008 at 08:57:33 AM PDT

This morning I read that even baby gorillas in various Chinese zoos are sick due to having been fed melamine-tainted milk. When and where will this stop? Apparently, like the financial crisis, we haven't heard the end of this calamity.

Update:  Just got this in my email box

   The scope of the contaminated Chinese infant formula scandal has widened to include milk-derived ingredients. Some of these ingredients may have entered the United States for use in processed foods. Please ask the Food and Drug Administration to stop the import of dairy ingredients from China until this situation is under control.

   While the U.S. doesn't import fluid milk or infant formula from China, we do import milk-derived ingredients that are used in many processed foods such as cookies and chocolates. According to USDA figures, this year the U.S. has imported two million pounds of casein and other powdered milk proteins from China.  This includes 293,000 pounds that were imported in July, when some Chinese authorities were aware of the melamine contamination yet failed to act.

   In order to protect their citizens, dozens of nations around the world are banning all dairy products from China. Please ask FDA Commissioner von Eschenbach to take similar proactive measures to protect American consumers.

   Thanks for taking action,

China's Milk Crisis

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Sep 20, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Third baby dies in China milk crisis

SHANGHAI -- China's troubles with tainted baby formula grew into a national crisis today as health officials reported that a third infant had died, the number of illnesses skyrocketed to 6,244 and products from 22 companies tested positive for contamination with the industrial chemical melamine.

The number of infants sickened after ingesting the tainted powdered milk was five times more than what the government reported Monday. The new figures showed that 1,327 babies remained hospitalized, with 158 suffering from acute kidney failure, China's health minister, Chen Zhu, said at a news conference today in Beijing