Is it just Melamine added in the milk?
So far, we have been told that Melamine was the toxin in those formula and milk products from China and those Chinese companies added Melamine to boost the protein readings after diluting real milk, which cut production costs.
However, a newspaper article[1] disclosed that Melamine is not cheap enough to save money on food production. An investigation suggested that it is not pure Melamine but the waste coming from Melamine production that was added to those food products. Such waste is called ‘protein power’ or ‘protein extract’ in China and one of the suspects arrested over this milk scandal has been found to have sold tons and tons of ‘protein powder’ to other companies.
According to the article, the waste from producing Melamine contains melamine as well as urea (commonly seen in fertiliser), ammonia, acetic acid, activated carbon and sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is one of the powerful cancer promoting food ingredients.
An anonymous article[2] from China offered another explanation. Although the claim has not been confirmed, it is worth looking into. Perhaps those who study relevant areas can help us here. The author claimed to be an ex-worker in the Chinese industry and that he/she has never drunken a drop of milk since he worked in the milk company.
He/she made the same point about the cost of Melamine and how it wouldn’t really save a lot. He/she claimed that those companies use water from local rivers or wells and it was urea that was added into the milk because it is cheaper and more soluble than Melamine. The reason why it was Melamine that got detected was the high temperature applied during the milk and milk powder production would turn urea into Melamine and various other things and also take away the distinctive smell of urea. He/she reckons that Chinese government’s and their press’ firmly sticking to Melamine is because they are covering the fact that there may be other more toxic staff.
Both articles point to the same thing: there may be more horrible things than ‘Melamine’ in food from China. Please note the combined toxicity of Melamine and Cyanuric acid[3].
After so many food crises caused by China and all the delays or cover ups, they have proven themselves to be unethical and untrustworthy. I have participated in the ‘China Free’ campaign. If they can poison babies, what else can’t they do? So even if their food is safe now, their government and business should still be boycotted.
I think they need to start labeling products from China saying, “Made in China – With What??”
Exactly!
But after all that’s happened, I personally wouldn’t trust whatever Chinese companies label on their products or tell customers any more. They didn’t label ‘Melamine’ on their milk related products, did they? It’s probably easier not to buy or import anything from China…