Toxic baby formula: Gee, who could have guessed?
By Gina Spadafori
September 11, 2008
Um, maybe the thousands of people whose pets were killed in 2007, that’s who.
From the without-peer Elizabeth Weise, of USA Today:
Reports in Chinese newspapers say that Chinese infant formula has been linked to kidney problems in babies there because the formula contains melamine — the same industrial contaminant that poisoned thousands of dogs and cats in the USA in 2007
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that no U.S.-approved baby formula is manufactured in China. However there is a “grey market” for Chinese-made formula that is sometimes sold in Asian markets in the United States, says the agency’s Siobhan DeLancey
Melamine is a by-product of plastic manufacturing. It can be used to mimic high-protein additives such as wheat and rice gluten.
This story is still developing.
“Um, maybe the thousands of people whose pets were killed in 2007, that’s who.’
Gina, you could not be more correct!
Comment by Carol V — September 11, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
Gee but I thought China executed the one guy and bulldozed the mela-factory to the ground in the night. There’s *still* a problem? Color me astonished.
Comment by slt — September 11, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Here is another link about this story…
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story.....china.html
Comment by Carol V — September 11, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
FDA should be checking every nutritional drink that is on the market in the U.S. - NOW!
Wonder where Abbott, for example, sources
ingredients for product in their nutritional lines.
Milkshake anyone?
Babies in the Coal Mine.
Comment by Nadine L. — September 11, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/c.....014863.htm
another link….since June…speechless…
Comment by Carol V — September 11, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
From what the “experts” have told us—-doesn’t there have to be more in this than melamine for kidney stones to form? They said it was the combo of melamine and cyanuric acid…so there must be more to this I think..
Comment by Carol V — September 11, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
Just one more reason for the dogs and I to eat home made, home grown (or locally grown) food.
Scary thing is how astonishingly difficult it is to find food not made or processed in China in stores. I was in the seafood aisle last week trying desperately to find fish that didn’t come from China. I was stunned to find that even the perch, walleye and salmon came from China. I ended up going to a different store where I knew I could get US perch and Canadian walleye - and didn’t pay much more for it.
I would suggest that those of us who are displeased by this sort of thing try harder to vote with our pocketbooks. Money talks.
Comment by Janeen — September 11, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Janeen, try to find ANYTHING that doesn’t come from China.
We are paying for our (natural) instinct to save money. We bought their cheap stuff because it was cheaper. Buying cheap stuff (with Walmart’s predatory practices) led to the demise of the US manufacturing sector. The cheap stuff became cheap crap that doesn’t last. But, even if you are willing to pay more for higher quality, you can’t find goods of higher quality. Because no one is making higher quality goods anymore.
Comment by EmilyS — September 11, 2008 @ 6:11 pm
This is the biggest reason why I do not carry products made in China and will not give my pets products made or sourced in China. There are still so many pet products in specialty stores (as well as the big box stores, but I stopped having faith in those LONG ago) that are made in China. This past year there were 100% chicken treats that were again recalled. Guess where they were made?!
It’s time for consumers to demand to know where their products come from and for retailers to start being more selective. In addition to the safety issues, how do we expect to turn this economic slump around if we aren’t buying things that are produced HERE by people who need jobs HERE.
I research all the products I carry and, when I can, I tour the facilities where they are made and form relationships with the people who started these companies. There are options out there and yes, sometimes these are slightly more expensive options. However, we know who makes them and we know they are paying fair wages and not cutting corners. I was astonished to find that some well known and well respected brands that I had high hopes for were still sourcing ingredients from China. Their labels still say “made in the US” and the most disappointing thing was that their email response to me started out with how they share my concerns, etc, etc, and then IN A SMALLER FONT they said they could not guarantee their foods would not contain ingredients from China. They finished up the email with the same font from the first paragraph! I was rather insulted. Like I wouldn’t read the “fine print” in the middle?!
Why can ingredients be sourced elsewhere and still have the “Made in the USA” label? This is incredibly misleading for consumers who do not know that they need to take the extra step of contacting each company directly.
I agree with Janeen. Our pocketbooks are the only thing that speak. If we don’t buy it, stores won’t carry it. While exclusively carrying pet products that I can track the origins of is in many ways a financial risk for myself, its a risk that I am willing to take and others need to consider if we want to make a change it the health of our pets and the health of our economy.
Comment by Amy — September 11, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
So…
they couldn’t put it in the pet food, so now they’re putting in baby formula?
What’s wrong with these people???
Comment by Marcy — September 11, 2008 @ 9:49 pm
Good for you Amy. Hopefully more people in businesses will begin thinking as you.
Comment by VJ — September 12, 2008 @ 4:47 am
FDA’s Health Information Advisory 9/12/08
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/.....01883.html
Comment by Nadine L. — September 12, 2008 @ 8:26 am
Yup, I’m “absolutely shocked”. :(
Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — September 12, 2008 @ 9:19 am
According to this link to the news article..it has been known to the company for six months now…..even more disgusting than I first thought..
http://www.chinastakes.com/story.aspx?id=656
Comment by Carol V — September 12, 2008 @ 9:25 am
Yes and they say they have been trying to recall it all since then but yet there is still 700 metric tons of the stuff floating out there? Good job getting it back…NOT. But one thing thats really bugging me is the point Carol V made above. All the FDA releases are saying melamine caused the problem in the babies in China and it can cause kidney disease but yet I clearly remember reading FDA saying during the pet food recalls that melamine by itself wasnt toxic. So is this not true anymore, or was there some other toxin in the powdered baby milk or what? It would be good to know as it could potentially change what the pet food recalls were about……
Comment by Sandi K — September 12, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
I have been reading this blog (and loving it) for ages now. Love the people, the posts, the doggies and the awesome chickens. We lost our beloved old 17+ year old kitty last year from the toxic pet foods. We removed all commercial pet foods from our remaining two kitties and fed homemade and their own symptoms disappeared (frothy yellow vomit, etc etc). I’m firmly convinced that despite his advanced age the tainted pet food is what stole my soulkitty Bear from me. And now they’re killing babies with this crap…what is wrong with China?
The only way this will change is if we stop buying their dangerous products. If they cannot sell the cheap potentially deadly stuff they will be forced to either go out of business or make decent quality stuff to sell to companies. (Not that i’d ever trust chinese goods again anyway though. Toooooo many incidents for this to all be just a few isolated greedy bastards…toxic pet food, toxic pet and child toys, toxic baby items like bibs, deadly drug adulterations, unfit for consumption fish and other foods…it’s the entire philosophy over there that’s the problem I think.)
Comment by annie may — September 12, 2008 @ 8:51 pm
Just like the reported number of sick and dead pets eventually rose, the number of affected babies is rising - jumped today from 13 to 95.
http://afp.google.com/article/.....R3gu0XvXuA
Comment by Nadine L. — September 12, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
AP reports 140 babies on 9/13.
http://ap.google.com/article/A.....gD935N7UG1
Comment by Nadine L. — September 13, 2008 @ 4:15 am
432 babies ill and counting:
http://afp.google.com/article/.....Ya9ImTbV3g
Comment by Nadine L. — September 13, 2008 @ 9:15 am
I bet you can multiple that by at least 10 and still not have the real number.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — September 13, 2008 @ 9:23 am
How about 100…(700 tons of it!) And it was sent to Taiwan, too.
And get this:
“Irrespective of melamine, infant formulas prepared in China shouldn’t be put on the market, the agency said. All their manufacturers (such as Nestle USA, PBM Nutritionals and SHS/Nutricia of Liverpool, England) are asked to register with the FDA and, also, to meet a series of requirements. Not even one Chinese corporation has complied with those requirements.”
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news.....24262.html
Comment by Nadine L. — September 13, 2008 @ 9:29 am