Thursday, September 25, 2008 Malig: Beware of Chinese milk, candies By Jun A. Malig Cognition
SINGAPORE'S Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has found through its laboratory tests that the "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" from China is laced with melamine.
The agency has found two other China products to be contaminated with melamine: the "Yili Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavored Ice Confection" and the "Dutch Lady" strawberry-flavored milk.
The city-state is strictly implementing the ban of all milk products from China that include milk, ice-cream, yogurt, chocolates, biscuits and sweets -- as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.
Melamine is an organic compound that is often combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a synthetic polymer, which is fire resistant and heat tolerant. Uses for melamine include whiteboards, floor tiles, kitchenware, fire retardant fabrics, and commercial filters.
So why did some crooked Chinese traders decide to add melamine to their milk products? To fraudulently increase the volume of milk diluted with water, as melamine causes a false increase in protein measurement by increasing the nitrogen levels in the milk.
It was reported that about 20 percent of the dairy companies tested in China sell products laced with melamine.
Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones that can lead to bladder cancer.
In our country, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) have advised the public against infant formula and milk from China. But I doubt that the government, with all its in-your-face inefficiencies, will be able to effectively control the entry, distribution and consumption of Chinese milk, milk products and candies.
Enterprising traders and racketeers seem to always find ways to circumvent rules and remain undetected in this part of the globe.
Perhaps concerned agencies should ensure that these dangerous products would not land into the hands of so enterprisingly unscrupulous local traders who can easily convert them into cheap powdered milk chocolate goods or candies that can be bought from sari-sari stores.
Last year, several schoolchildren fell ill in the Visayas after eating milk candies imported from China.
The sale of imported Chinese food products was later banned at school canteens in response to reports that the goods contained cancer-causing formaldehyde.
Among the products tested and found to contain formaldehyde were White Rabbit milk candies and Yong Kang Foods grape biscuits.
Formaldehyde is a chemical compound widely used in industrial manufacturing and a number of other industries.
Many folks are familiar with formaldehyde in the form of formalin, an aqueous solution of formaldehyde used as an embalming preservative. This chemical is toxic and known to cause cancer.
Last year, it was found out that White Rabbit milk candies were tainted with formaldehyde. This year it was discovered that the same are laced with melamine.
Should we expect other toxic ingredients from these Chinese candies in the future?
