Beware & Protect Yourself 01 (May 08 - Dec 08)

[blid2def]

Chinese dairy knew milk fault weeks before recall

Full report: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080913/ap_ ... _recall_24

Excerpt:

Chinese dairy knew milk fault weeks before recall

By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer 52 minutes ago

BEIJING - A Chinese dairy that sold milk powder linked to kidney stones in infants knew it contained a banned chemical weeks before ordering a recall, the health minister said Saturday.

.. snip snip ..

Chinese officials defended the speed of their response to the country's latest product safety disaster. They said authorities were only told of the contamination Monday, even though Sanlu received complaints as early as March and its tests found melamine in August.

"For a comparatively long time, the Sanlu Group failed to report this incident to the government," said Health Minister Gao Qiang. "The Sanlu Group should shoulder major responsibility for this."

.. snip snip ..

Officials are investigating whether word of the contamination was suppressed, said Vice Gov. Yang Chongyong of Hebei province, where Sanlu Group is located.

[kennynah]

if this was true.... Bastards!!!! Anyways, the wife is also very skeptical of made in china products
I saw this documentary that alledged a "dua ba pao" china seller actually faked the pork with using processed paper cardboards mixed in food flavourings. Knn, these MFs really no conscience

[winston]

I saw this documentary that alledged a "dua ba pao" china seller actually faked the pork with using processed paper cardboards mixed in food flavourings

The reporter for that documentary was later arrested for faking the story. I think his superiors were also fired..

[winston]

China finds more brands of tainted baby milk

• Hong Kong chain recalls Chinese ice bar in new scare
• 69 China firms found making dangerous milk powder
• Contaminated milk powder brand Sanlu not imported into S'pore

BEIJING : Chinese officials have found 22 companies produced baby milk tainted with a toxic chemical, state television said Tuesday, in a dramatic escalation of a scandal that has left two infants dead.

Milk powder contaminated with a chemical used to make plastics has sickened more than 1,200 infants in a health scare that erupted last week and prompted a nationwide investigation into the extent of the problem.

The contamination was originally thought contained to the Sanlu brand, with the company apologising on Monday for the scandal.

But state-run CCTV said in its nightly news broadcast Tuesday that more products have been discovered with the chemical melamine, and that all, including the powder made by Sanlu, have been pulled from shelves.

In an indication that markets outside mainland China could be affected, a Hong Kong supermarket chain on Tuesday recalled a yogurt ice bar found to contain melamine.

The Wellcome chain said the product was the Yili Natural Choice Yogurt Ice-bar. Yili is a dairy manufacturer in China's Inner Mongolia region.

The scandal is the latest to rock China's food industry, which has been tarnished by a series of health scares over dangerous products, including those to export markets, in recent years.

"In order to ensure the safety of the milk products, the relevant government departments have pulled them from shelves, sealed them, recalled them and destroyed them," CCTV said in its report.

China's top product-quality watchdog would dispatch inspectors to all milk-product manufacturers to contain the spreading health threat, CCTV said.

The moves were meant to "uncover the causes, pursue those responsible and severely deal with them in accordance with the law," it said.

The government has said milk collectors, who gather milk from dairy farmers, deliberately added melamine to make it appear the milk had more protein.

Sanlu, however, had blamed dairy farmers.

Police have arrested four suspects, at least two of which have admitted adding melamine to milk, according to state press, in reports that warned more sick babies were expected to be reported.

The 22 companies mentioned by CCTV included Torador Dairy Industry, a China-Australia joint venture in the northern city of Tianjian. Calls to Torador on Tuesday evening went unanswered.

They also included Guangdong Yashili Group, the report said, which exports its products to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Yemen.

However, it said tests of Yashili export products showed no melamine traces. The report made no further mention of possible contamination of exports.

Melamine, which is used for making plastics and glues, is being blamed for causing kidney stones in the affected babies, a condition normally rare in infants, but which gives rise to a range of health risks.

The two infant deaths occurred in May and July, the health ministry said.

The government has criticised Sanlu for not going public sooner once babies began to fall ill in March in northwestern Gansu province.

Tests in early August began to show melamine in Sanlu's product, but the scandal only broke in Chinese media last week.

Sanlu has fired its chairwoman and its general manager, state media said.

Four local government officials, linked with agriculture and quality control, were also sacked on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency said.

Andrew Ferrier, the head of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, which owns 43 percent of Sanlu, said Fonterra knew of the contamination in early August and pushed for an immediate recall but that Sanlu was slowed by Chinese rules.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said her government learned of the contamination problem September 5, then "blew the whistle" three days later by informing Beijing after local Chinese officials refused to act.

- AFP/vm

[millionairemind]

Somebody better pay for this!!! We are talking about children here!

China tainted milk scandal spreads: Exports tested
AP - Wednesday, September 17

BEIJING - China's latest product safety scandal _ tainted milk formula blamed for killing two Chinese babies and sickening 1,200 _ has expanded to include more foods, with state media reporting some formula produced by companies involved was exported.

State broadcaster CCTV reported on its evening newscast Tuesday that a nationwide inspection of the 175 Chinese companies making baby milk powder showed that 22 of them had traces of the industrial chemical melamine in their products.

One company, Guangdong-based Yashili, exported its products to Bangladesh, Yemen and Myanmar, CCTV said, but added that initial testing of samples of the company's exports turned up no trace of melamine.

In Hong Kong, food inspectors ordered a recall after melamine was found in an ice cream bar made by Shanghai Yili AB Foods. The amounts of the chemical found "would not pose major health effects from normal consumption of the bar, however, small children should not eat it," the Center for Food Safety said in a notice posted on its Web site.

The widening scandal is an embarrassing failure for China's product safety system, which was overhauled to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.

It is also the second major case in recent years involving baby formula. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients.

The company at the heart of the food scandal, Sanlu Group Co., has apologized for the tainted milk powder, which the Health Ministry says was spiked with melamine. The company says suppliers who sold the raw milk apparently added the chemical, normally used in plastics, to make the milk appear higher in protein.

Zhang Zhenling, Sanlu's vice president, apologized Monday but did not explain why the company took so long to inform the public about the contamination despite receiving complaints as early as March and having tests confirm the presence of the chemical in early August.

The company went public with the information after its New Zealand stakeholder, Fonterra, told the New Zealand government, which then informed the Chinese government.

Sanlu's General Manager Tian Wenhua was fired and dismissed from the company's board of directors as a result of the scandal, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Communist Party officials as saying in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where the company is based.

In total, four men have been arrested in relation to the tainted milk, spokesman Shi Guizhong with the Hebei Provincial Security Department was quoted as saying by Xinhua on Tuesday.

Vice Health Minister Ma Xiaowei told reporters that 1,253 infants had been sickened _ mainly after developing kidney stones. Two infants also died after drinking the formula.

[winston]

Chinese armchairs linked to French eczema outbreak

A French retailer said it has withdrawn a range of Chinese-made armchairs and sofas from sale after hundreds of buyers complained of developing a painful rash.

Retail giant Conforama withdrew the chairs, on sale since 2005, in July after a doctor warned they could be linked to an outbreak of eczema in one of his patients, spokeswoman Isabelle Hoppenot said.

She said some of the chairs, made by the Chinese company Link Wise, contained too much of an anti-mould substance, and that ''in some people they can cause allergic reactions.''

French newspaper Le Parisien said a dozen people had been hospitalized in a serious condition after buying the chairs.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[sidney]

Why does making profits overshadows a person's conscious?

[winston]

Open the windows after you enter your car

In brief, the above article says: According to research done by a U.C., the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener will emit Benzene, a cancer causing toxin (carcinogen). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. May also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benezene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benezene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benezene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level. The people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxin.

It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for the interior to air out before you enter. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is difficult for your body to expel.

[winston]

Just received an email that mentioned that we should always try to use the left ear when using the mobile.

Supposedly, if you use the right ear, it will affect the brain directly.

I use ear phones though..

[winston]

Reminds me of people who thought that they are being protected from UV just by putting on some sun tan lotion...

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WHO warns against use of electronic cigarettes

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday against using electronic cigarettes, saying there was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit.

First made in China and sold mainly over the Internet in countries including Brazil, Britain, Canada and Israel, they have grown in popularity despite a lack of regulatory approval, it said.

A typical electronic cigarette is made of metal tube with a chamber which holds liquid nicotine in a rechargeable cartridge. Users puff on it but do not light it, leading some to use it to evade smoking bans in public places, according to the WHO.

However, they inhale a fine mist of nicotine into their lungs, "plus potentially many other toxic compounds which we are not sure of", said to Douglas Bettcher, acting director of the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.

"The World Health Organization knows of absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever that would confirm that the electronic cigarette is a safe and effective smoking cessation device," Bettcher told a news briefing.

"Toxicological tests and clinical trials have not been performed on this product," he said.

The electronic cigarette has yet to be shown to be a legitimate therapy like nicotine gum, patches or lozenges that help wean smokers from nicotine addiction, the U.N. agency said.

"If the manufacturers and marketers of the electronic cigarette want to help smokers to quit, then they should operate within proper regulatory frameworks, Bettcher said. This meant rigorous clinical and toxicological studies must be carried out.

The WHO was greatly concerned that some manufacturers had used the WHO name or logo on their package or website, falsely implying endorsement, Bettcher said, declining to name names.

The agency was contacting health authorities in its 193 member states to alert them of "these bogus, untested false claims". Turkey had already banned sales, he said.

( Winston's comments: I like countries like this. They do what is right unlike some others, who does not have any confidence to act ).

The WHO agency had become aware only this year of the spreading use of electronic cigarettes worldwide.

"It has really taken countries and the WHO by surprise. It has been a product that appeared very suddenly on the market in a short period of time," Bettcher said.

In 2003 WHO members clinched a treaty calling for stronger warnings on cigarette packages and limits on advertising and sponsorship. Some 160 countries have ratified the landmark pact.

Tobacco use is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide, contributing to 5.4 million deaths from heart disease, stroke and other diseases annually, the WHO says.