[199], David E. Gumpert, San Francisco Chronicle, An article published in the San Francisco Chronicle likened the regulatory failures of the milk scandal to the distressed assets in the subprime mortgage crisis, and questioned whether regulators in either case ever understood or truly monitored the extent of the danger. [90], Since the scandal erupted, sales have fallen by 30–40% on a comparative basis, according to the Chinese Dairy Association. [179], On 16 September, the AQSIQ tests on baby milk powder produced by 109 companies showed 69 batches from 22 companies to be melamine-contaminated; the State Council attempted to reassure that formula produced by most companies in China was safe. He remarked: "If this product had gotten into the United States, it would have been 'game over' for a lot of products in China. [186], A group of 90 lawyers from Hebei, Henan and Shandong—the three worst affected provinces—had made pro bono offers to assist victims, and a list of their names was published. [168] Formally, the State Council released its initial findings,[46] and a top-level official apology of the incident both came on 21 September. It said leading government officials in Shijiazhuang city had failed to report the contamination to provincial and state authorities (until 9 September) in violation of rules on reporting major incidents involving food safety. More than 53,000 infants have been diagnosed with severe traumas such as … Prior to injection, solutions were filtered through a 0.2-µm Millex®-HV filter (Millipore). [153], Author Qin Geng (秦耕) said: "The big picture in this case was the interest of one-party rule above anything, not that they would put the safety of the people first". Tainted samples were found among 21 other suppliers, where concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 619.00 ppm. [209], Because of the high Chinese demand for quality Australian products, major Australian retailers implemented tin limits to control sales of baby formula, but reports of daigou shoppers flouting the system with people taking multiple tins of the formula before they’d been placed on shelves, and the daigou shoppers stripping shelves in groups of up to eight people, before Australian mothers could access the baby food. The chemical is not water-soluble, and must be mixed with formaldehyde or another chemical before it can be dissolved in milk. [132] WHO's representative in China, Hans Troedsson, said the issue of who knew what and when was critical "... Because if it was ignorance, there is a need to have much better training and education ... if it is neglect, then it is, of course, more serious. (Import Ban on Milk Items from China Extended Till June 2016) According to the World Health Oraganisation, "Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white … Their new products are conspicuously labelled "safety inspection passed" to allay consumer fears. [116] Because of a great public outcry, the Import and Export (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2013 was passed in Hong Kong, prohibiting the unlicensed export of powdered formula, including milk and soya milk powder for infants and children under 36 months. [185], In 2012, Jiang Weisuo, a 44-year-old general manager of a dairy products plant in Shanxi province, was rumoured to have been murdered in Xi'an city. [81] Mengniu's CFO attempted to reassure consumers by offering a no-quibble refund on all products, and by drinking liquid milk in front of reporters in Hong Kong. Co Ltd, Dalian Chemical Industries and Tianjin Red Triangle International Trading Co, and did not suspect adulteration. [162] One citizen voiced concern that President Ma Ying-jeou's promise for closer ties with China would bring in more tainted products to Taiwan. [94], Tokyo-headquartered Lotte Group, a major snacks maker, recalled its Koala's March cookies in Hong Kong and Macau because of contamination, and promised to "look deeply into all the details of the manufacturing process" to preserve customer confidence. With an ion-pairing reagent in the mobile phase, melamine is well retained. Powdered milk produced in the plant was mainly sold in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, with only a small amount sold in Qinghai. [7], Melamine is used to manufacture melamine-formaldehyde resin, a type of plastic known for its flame-retardant properties and commonly employed in countertops, dry-erase boards, etc. "We took special quality management measures aimed at food supply for the Games. Melamine dealers said after Sanlu, the government started clamping down on melamine sales to food processing companies or to manufacturers of animal feed. These new reference materials are available in 4 different approximate concentrations (1 ppm, 400 ppm, 1,000 ppm and 5,000 ppm melamine). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (also called high-pressure liquid chromatography) is a solution-phase technique for fractionation of …Learn More, American Lab is Powered by Labcompare, Wu Heping, secretary general of the Heilongjiang Dairy Industry Association noted that between 75% and 90% of raw milk in some provinces had failed to reach the old protein level standard (in place since 1986) in 2007 and 2008. For milk powder samples #6-8, spiked samples were prepared by adding 40 µL of the stock standard solution of melamine to the 15-mL centrifuge tubes together with the weighed sample, and then following the second procedure above. ", "Where an Internet Joke is not just a Joke", "Retailers crack down on baby formula limits amid parent pressure", "Sri Lanka biscuit maker says withdrawing product to clear doubts", "China's contaminated food scandal widens", "Hong Kong tests more China food after egg scare", "Hong Kong finds third egg sample tainted with melamine", "Chinese protein powder contains melamine: DOH", "Report: China's animal feed tainted with melamine", "Melamine: Khong Guan, Khian Guan biscuits recalled", "Biscuit ingredient tainted with melamine", "Taiwan government urged to locate melamine-tainted leavening agent", "China melamine scandal prompts mass chicken cull", "Hong Kong finds melamine in yet more China eggs", "China detains three in new toxic milk scare", "Shanghai dairy shut after melamine scare: report", "Melamine tainted milk re-emerges in northwest China plant", "Tainted Dairy Products Seized in Western China", "Lower milk standard to ward off melamine use", Recalled Product – A Consumer Newsletter About Product Recalls, Alerts & Warnings, 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak, 2017–18 South African listeriosis outbreak, 2018 Australian rockmelon listeriosis outbreak, Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008_Chinese_milk_scandal&oldid=996146008, Economic history of the People's Republic of China, Articles with dead external links from April 2014, Articles with dead external links from June 2016, Articles with dead external links from January 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Making and supplying melamine-laced "protein powder", Aiding and abetting her husband Gao Junjie, This page was last edited on 24 December 2020, at 20:24. It said: "the number of companies with melamine-tainted milk accounted for 20.18% of the total of powdered milk companies in China; the number of tainted batches accounted for 14.05% of the total batches tested. [145] Parents of two such victims, one from Henan and one from Guangdong, filed writs against Sanlu despite government pressure. [173] On 11 October, Deputy Health minister Liu Qian stated that all the foreign companies' application for compensation for dairy products recall would be dealt with on a commercial basis, although government may use diplomatic channels if necessary, if problems were encountered. [143], Poorer consumers reliant on local infant formula, which was approximately half the price of imported brands, had been left without alternatives to feed their children. [83], On 1 December, China's Ministry of Health issued an update, saying nearly 300,000 babies were sickened after consuming melamine-contaminated infant formula. [79] On discovery of contamination, the three major producers were all stripped of their status as 'Chinese national brands'. "[203], Access Asia, a Shanghai-based consumer consultancy, said Fonterra was a classic example of western executives in China "believ[ing] advice in business books that they must avoid making their local partners 'lose face' at all costs". "[197], The similarities between China today and New York 150 years ago shouldn't come as a great surprise. [14], Zhang Yujun (alias Zhang Haitao), a former dairy farmer from Hebei, produced more than 600 tons of a "protein powder" mixture of melamine and maltodextrin from September 2007 to August 2008. "[205], David Bandurski, journalist and researcher at China Media Project, criticised the crippling media controls by the state combined with "runaway commercial greed", and said that the censorship "suppresses information critical to the well-being of ordinary Chinese". "[224], Public concerns have resulted in demand and egg prices falling throughout the country. [138], On 4 October, the Ministry of Agriculture announced it had drawn up an emergency rescue plan with the Ministry of Finance to give special subsidies to dairy farmers seriously affected by the lack of demand following the contamination scandal; local governments had already drafted policies to stabilise the dairy industry; 150,000 officials had been sent to overhaul the entire supply chains from cattle feed to milk collection; 18,803 milk-collecting stations had been registered and checked by these officials. [37], From 2005 to 2006, an agent, Jiang Weisuo, from Shaanxi Jinqiao Dairy Company in northwest China reportedly publicly discussed his fears about unauthorised substances being added to competitors' milk. It has also been employed as a non-protein nitrogen, appearing in soy meal, corn gluten meal and cottonseed meal used in cattle feed. The New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra, which owned a 43% stake in Sanlu, said they were alerted to melamine contamination on 2 August (almost a month before the issue became public), and have said to have pushed hard for a full public recall. It has also been employed as a non-protein nitrogen, appearing in soy meal, corn gluten meal and cottonseed meal used in cattle feed. Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group, Shanghai Panda Dairy, Qingdao Shengyuan Dairy, Shanxi Gu Cheng Dairy, Jiangxi Guangming Yingxiong Dairy, Baoji Huimin Dairy, Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy, Torador Dairy Industry (Tianjin), Guangdong Yashili Group, Hunan Peiyi Dairy, Heilongjiang Qilin Dairy, Shanxi Yashili Dairy, Shenzhen Jinbishi Milk, Scient (Guangzhou) Infant Nutrition, Guangzhou Jinding Dairy Products Factory, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, Yantai Ausmeadow Nutriment, Qingdao Suncare Nutritional Technology, Xi'an Baiyue Dairy, Yantai Leilei Dairy, Shanghai Baoanli Dairy, and Fuding Chenguan Dairy. He and eight other traders, dairy farm owners and milk purchasers who bought the powder from him were arrested in early October, bringing the total to 36. [46] According to the People's Daily, Sanlu wrote a letter to Shijiazhuang city government on 2 August 2008, asking for help to "increase control and coordination of the media, to create a good environment for the recall of the company's problem products ... to avoid whipping up the issue and creating a negative influence in society". However, insiders believe this will not stop adulteration because milk price still depends on protein content. "[34], Contaminated products found in the China AQSIS tests include baby formula products produced by the following companies, in order of highest concentration found. WHY ADD MELAMINE TO MILK POWDER? [76], On 16 September, the AQSIQ released test of samples from 491 batches of products sold by all 109 companies producing baby formula. [221] Independent regulation was lacking or ineffective as local industries were so intertwined with local officialdom. None of those companies without professional ethics or social morals will be let off. [77] Mengniu recalled all its baby formula, and trading in its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was suspended on 17 September. "[107], PRC Customs said exports of dairy products and eggs in 2007 were valued at US$359 million, a year-on-year increase of 90 percent. The government will put more efforts into food security, taking the incident as a warning. [146] Chang said that Henan's justice department had ordered 14 Henan lawyers to stop helping the kidney stone victims, saying it had become a political issue. Nestlé Chief Technology Officer said the centre was equipped with "highly sophisticated analytical tools for detecting trace amounts of residues and undesirable compounds like melamine or veterinary drugs or natural toxins". In an effort to prop up sales and retain their market share, dairy firms have cancelled their common accord not to use promotions to fight the sales decline: substantial discounts (including BOGOF), free gifts and other point of sale incentives were being offered to shoppers. The Association estimates the financial effect of the order of ¥20 billion, and forecasts that confidence may take up to two years to be fully restored. [189], An official said that central government had issued instructions placing the cases on hold, pending a decision on how to handle the cases in a unified manner. [147] On 20 October, the parents of one baby who died from contaminated milk appealed to New Zealand for justice on TV ONE. [224] Prices at a large Beijing wholesale market dropped 10%,[225] and prices fell by 10% the day after news of the contamination broke in Hong Kong. [60] Local Party Secretary Wu Xianguo was fired on the same day. [69] Several defendants have appealed. 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