Milk Powder Contamination in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Food and Drugs Authority in Saudi Arabia have discovered melamine in batches of Nestle milk powder called NesVita Pro Bones. The contaminated batches are reported to have been manufactured in China in 2007 and 2008. There has been a temporary recall of the product while further testing is being conducted.

Next: Protein Powder

Being suspicious of protein ingredients is not new. Taiwan is now banning import of protein ingredients from China. Are protein ingredients next up to be banned around the world? Will U.S. agencies take a look at protein ingredients imported into the U.S.?

Just as I was reading the article about the protein ingredients in Taiwan, Jenny from General Mills called me back. She wanted me to hear General Mills statement about ingredients from China. She said that General Mills does not import any milk or milk derived products from China. Interestingly she added that General Mills does not use any protein ingredients from China. I asked her about eggs, and while she did not look it up, she assured me that no protein ingredients also meant no eggs or egg products. She said that some General Mills products sold in the U.S. are manufactured in facilities in other countries. She said if the facility used to manufacture the product is outside of the U.S., then the packaging will say what country it was made in.

Test Our Eggs, Please

We need to test the quality of the eggs produced around the U.S. to help ensure the good health of residents. Especially since eggs produced in China and tested in Hong Kong have been found to contain high levels of melamine. This implies that perhaps melamine has contaminated many more products originating from China than previously thought.

I recently spoke with someone at Organic Valley about their eggs (no melamine in their feed, he assured me) and adding melamine to animal feed for chickens. The OV rep said it was very smart to be inquiring about who uses melamine in their animal feed here in the U.S.  

As far as imports are concerned: so we don't import any milk from China... Well, do we import eggs? If so, where are they sold or used? 

Kidney Disease on the Rise

There is a study by the National Institutes of Health reporting findings of a 30% increase in chronic kidney disease over the past decade.

Is it possible that ingesting even low levels of melamine over a decade or so has caused this increase? It's been two years since thousands of pets died from eating pet food tainted with melamine. Melamine is still being added to animal feed and is a part of the human food chain in products like milk, yogurt as well as raw ingredients like vegetable proteins added to our processed foods. No regulating agencies or food manufacturers can really say (if they know they aren't saying) how long melamine has been used in raw food ingredients. Some research indicates that it has been going on for quite a long time; perhaps many decades. It is more commonly used now? And in higher levels?

The FDA is asking manufacturers to do their own testing; they can test some products but don't have the resources to do it all themselves. Despite this, we are not hearing anything about such testing from food manufacturing companies. We are not even hearing about results that prove that low or no levels of melamine were present in foods. If I had a company that used milk protein concentrate, vegetable proteins such as soy or wheat gluten or corn protein, I would be shouting from the rooftops that my product is free and clear of melamine. Just wondering...

Lawsuit: Chinese Milk Manufacturer and U.S. Subsidiary

Chinese families affected by the tainted milk scandal have taken action to sue a milk manufacturer in China and are including a U.S. (Delaware) investment subsidiary of the manufacturer.

China is Third Biggest Supplier to U.S.

David Lazarus of the L.A. Times echoing the sentiment that the FDA is probably too lax in their enforcement, oversight and testing of food products that could possibly contain melamine in the U.S.  

Melamine Will Fix It

This article (on page two) does a good job of summing up how some food producers feel compelled to add melamine over and over, from farm to manufacture, to their products.  

What's going on here?

Instead of destroying containers of melamine-laden milk in China, AFP is reporting that the milk was turning up for sale at universities. What in the world? The Wall Street Journal has more about it here.

More Milk and Dairy Recalls - China

There are new reports of more milk and dairy recalls in China.

FDA wants food industry to get busy

The FDA has been updating their website a lot in the past week. There is now a link that will bring you directly to a "Melamine Information" hub. From there, readers can click on a variety of links. Scroll way down the the bottom of the page and you'll find this link to a "Dear Colleague" letter designed to be read (hopefully distributed in some other fashion as well) by the U.S. Food Manufacturing Industry. It states what the public, politicians, and many resourceful bloggers, have been talking about since pet food in the U.S. was discovered to be contaminated with melamine. Three following bullet points, and the sentence that follows, highlight the concerns of the FDA: 

- Know the precise origin of each milk-derived ingredient. For example, milk-derived ingredients that are sourced from countries other than China could actually originate from China.
- Determine that milk-derived ingredients originating from China are free of melamine and its analogues prior to usage.
- For food manufactured in the last twelve months which might still be on the shelf at retail or in stock elsewhere, determine whether the food might contain any milk-derived ingredients from China. If any such foods exist, verify that they do not contain melamine or its analogues.

In addition, it would be useful for manufacturers to be alert to the possibility that non-milk-derived ingredients from China that are or may be sold on the basis of protein content, such as soy protein, also could be contaminated with melamine.

That last statement points out just how really large this problem is. We know that last year vegetable proteins from China destined as raw ingredients for processed foods for animals and humans were imported into the U.S. The FDA was not able to halt all of these shipments and from what I can tell, the FDA is now recognizing that the tainted vegetable proteins are in our food supply - in foods processed as far back as twelve months ago. That could be breakfast cereals, dry soup mixes,  candy and so on. I assume the FDA could not recall all the shipments last year - not enough resources. Are we lab rats? Is it part of the process that the FDA is using to come up with the 2.5 parts per million level of melamine that they find acceptable in food> For example, determine if that company imports vegetable protein from China for their soup mix, test it for melamine and get results, have there been any reports of illnesses from consuming that food over the last twelve months, and so on.

But this letter is also interesting because it is a request for manufacturers here in the U.S. to inspect their product for milk ingredients too. Again, the FDA doesn't have enough resources to do it all, the scope of what the FDA deals with is so broad, and that is a shame. The Hong Kong test results mentioned in my other post reveal some of the companies that must be getting some milk ingredients from China. Are these companies and others not on the list really going to step up (or just begin) this process to test here in the U.S. and if so will the public hear the results?

Blogging About Melamine

Being sort of new to this whole blog thing and feeling like I can't get my thoughts to the keyboard fast enough, I'm going to send you over here for a few thoughtful comments. 

Results From Hong Kong Tests for Melamine

Today the Center for Food Safety in Hong Kong released the list of food products they tested for melamine, and the results. This link will take you to the portal where you can then select by month and by type of product. They're all interesting; the "Other Food Products" section reveals that products such as Skippy Peanut Butter, Miracle Whip, Dove Chocolates and other well known products were tested. I'm assuming because they contain ingredients (in this case milk ingredients) from China regardless of where they were manufactured. Why else would they be on the list?

Anyone can pick up the phone (or make contact in some way) and call the 800 number on the back of the box of a food item and ask them if any of their ingredients come from China. Most companies will say "Uh ok. Let me read you the prepared statement." It usually includes something like, "...we receive some ingredients from overseas suppliers when necessary to meet our demand." "From China?" "I can't tell you who our suppliers are or specifically where they are located." "Gee thanks." 

So looking at the list of items that were tested in Hong Kong is sort of like the big reveal. Skippy, Kraft, Cadbury, Campbell Soup and a few other well known companies that sell or manufacture food in the U.S. While they are not very forthcoming with their information about the origin of their raw ingredients, I'll venture a guess that some of it comes from overseas, including China.

But recently I contacted the Associated Press with a question I had about Kraft food products. I've been curious about the report I heard about Oreo wafers having been found to have melamine in them as a result of testing done in Indonesia and wondered where does Kraft get all their "milk protein concentrate" from? Even there are no "milk ingredients" in Oreos as Kraft claims, what about the "whey protein concentrate" in their products? And hey, there is "milk protein concentrate" in their Macaroni & Cheese. I also thought where are all these multinational companies getting these ingredients from for their cheesey popcorn, cereal, soup mixes and so on. But back to Kraft. I asked AP the following, in a forum they call "Ask the AP" and received the following answer:

Q: Since Oreos made in China have been found to be tainted with melamine, should we be worried that another popular Kraft product "macaroni & cheese" might also be contaminated? I know melamine has been found in milk products, and I noticed that Kraft "mac & cheese" contains "milk protein concentrate." Is the company, or the FDA, testing it for melamine?
A: Kraft says U.S. consumers don't have to worry about any of its products,
from Oreo cookies to mac & cheese, because the company does not use any dairy ingredients from China in products sold here.
Kraft is also defending Oreos, saying it doesn't use Chinese dairy
ingredients in any Oreo products. The company questions the Indonesian
government's report that Oreo wafer sticks were tainted with melamine. Testing by other Asian governments found no contamination, Kraft said.
The U.S. produces enough milk to meet domestic demand, and no Chinese companies are approved to ship milk, milk powder or similar ingredients here.
FDA officials don't believe China's latest food safety scandal will have widespread impact for American consumers, and instead are focusing on imported products sold at Asian groceries.
The government has also stepped up testing at ports of entry as a precaution.
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
AP FDA/Health Writer
Washington

Thank you Mr. Alonso-Zaldivar for researching my inquiry. I did not know that about U.S. milk production nor did I know no Chinese companies are approved to ship milk, etc., here. I wonder if that is a recent rule or if it has been in place for a long time. 

I am still curious however as to why the list from Hong Kong places Oreo wafers and other Oreo cookies in the list of "SATISFACTORY results of testing melamine". Why doesn't the Satisfactory section say "no melamine found"? 2.5 ppm or less, I guess.  Just sayin'... Is it all that "naturally occurring" melamine...?

My question to the AP did not specifically ask about the vegetable proteins, I know. And I'd love at some point to get the answer on that one, (although I think I already know the answer) and to find out specifically if Kraft IS testing their myriad of products with imported ingredients.

And don't get me started on food labels. Product of USA. Made in USA. Huh?

Get thee to this link

You really have to read From China, With Love: Melamine. While there is no doubt, to me, that we should have a closer eye on China as a food source, if not ban products outright, I am also concerned about melamine added to food from all other sources and origins, including the U.S. Not to mention that the U.S. imports food from other countries, not just China, and those countries might import ingredients from China. 

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