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Explosives chemical found in US
baby formula
AFP
April 3, 2009 The CDC study, which was conducted in 2006 and published last month in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, said perchlorate could inhibit the absorption of iodine by the thyroid and lead to growth and developmental problems in infants. For the study, researchers tested samples of baby formula which they had picked up in a local shop. The two most tainted brands, both cow's milk-based formulas with lactose, had a nearly 90-percent share of the US powdered baby milk market in 2000, the report found. Mixing the tainted baby
formula with perchlorate-contaminated water -- which is present in
more than half the 50 US states, according to the study -- could
boost "the resulting mixture's toxin content above the level the
Environmental
But the CDC researchers told AFP: "Most infant formulas mixed with perchlorate-free water (for the study) contained perchlorate at levels below EPA's conservative estimate of the highest daily dose of perchlorate that sensitive persons can receive over a lifetime without experiencing an adverse effect." No attempt had been made to keep the findings of the study quiet, the researchers told AFP. The sample size of the study was too small to allow generalizations to be made about entire brands of formula, they added. The study did not name any of the formula brands that were tested. FDA Draws Criticism After Chemicals Are Found in U.S.-Made Baby Formula
By Lyndsey Layton Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration yesterday for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States. "This FDA, this Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're talking about babies. About the most vulnerable. This really makes me angry." The FDA found melamine and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in samples of baby formula made by major American manufacturers. Melamine was found in Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron made by Nestle and cyanuric acid was detected in Enfamil Lipil with Iron infant formula powder made by Mead Johnson. A spokesman for Nestle did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails for comment yesterday. The FDA has been testing hundreds of food products for melamine in the aftermath of a scandal this year involving Chinese infant formula tainted with melamine. Chinese manufacturers deliberately added the chemical to watered-down formula to make it appear to contain higher levels of protein. More than 50,000 Asian infants were hospitalized, and at least four died. The FDA collected 87 samples of infant formula made by American manufacturers, tested all but 10 of them and held a conference call Monday with manufacturers to alert them to the preliminary findings, FDA spokeswoman Judy Leon said. She said she did not know when the agency was planning to inform the public. The test results were unearthed by the Associated Press, which had filed a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act. Leon said the amounts discovered are safe and that parents should continue to feed formula to their children. "We know that trace levels do not pose a risk whatsoever," she said. That contradicts the agency's recent statements about melamine, including a position paper that was on its Web site yesterday that asserted there are no safe levels of melamine for infants. "FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns," the document said. Agency scientists have maintained they could not set a safe level of melamine exposure for babies because they do not understand the effects of long-term exposure on a baby's developing kidneys. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that infant formula is a baby's sole source of food for many months. Premature infants absorb an especially large dose of the chemical, compared with full-term babies. The FDA thinks the melamine and cyanuric acid got into the U.S. formula as a byproduct of manufacturing and not as a result of tampering, Leon said. Melamine is found in plastic food packaging and in cleaning solutions that are sometimes used in food processing equipment. The FDA spokeswoman said no illnesses have been linked to melamine consumption in the United States. But Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, said that may not be true. "Given that this is not a problem that American doctors are used to dealing with, we can't be sure that if a small number of these cases developed, the connection would be made," said Halloran, who wants the formulas to be recalled from store shelves. "We just don't know." Halloran said it is also possible some babies are receiving a variety of infant formula and could be ingesting melamine in one bottle and cyanuric acid in another bottle, creating a dangerous mix. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who is on the House Commerce and Energy Committee, is also seeking a recall. "Until they establish a safety standard, how can they say what's safe?" he said. "They need to pull this." Critics said the FDA's reassurances about products carry less weight after the recent controversy over bisphenol-A, a chemical found in plastic baby bottles, dinnerware and the linings of food cans. The FDA dismissed a growing body of scientific evidence that has linked BPA to health problems even as worried consumers stopped buying BPA-containing products. Instead, the FDA relied on two industry-funded studies that concluded that BPA did not pose a health risk. Last month, the agency's science advisory board said the agency should no longer maintain that BPA is safe. You can Comment at Hearlink Blog Over 1,000 melamine babies still in China hospitals
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*What foods are to be
avoided? DO remember, the 1st 3 digits are one of those between 690 & 695 inclusive, then it is a product MADE IN CHINA
You can Comment at Hearlink Blog |
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*What to do nextOctober 31, 2008
WARNING: Tainted Chinese Milk products found on US shelves
By chris rice
More than a dozen countries have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products--the latest was France which does not import Chinese dairy products but has halted imports of Chinese biscuits, candy or other foods that could contain Chinese dairy derivatives. The government described the measure as a precaution.
U.S. and European consumer safety officials urged Beijing to better enforce product safety standards.
20 million TONS of Chinese manufactured milk powder and products containing milk powder were imported into the US from China this year.
The US...is the ONLY country...that has NOT banned food products containing milk powder manufactured in China off its shelves.
British supermarket chain Tesco removed Chinese-made White Rabbit Creamy Candies off its shelves as a precaution amid reports that samples of the milk candy in Singapore and New Zealand had tested positive for melamine--an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizer.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" was ordered off of shelves after tests showed it was contaminated. White Rabbit is among the best-known candy brands in China and one of the few exported widely. The United States is among 40 nations that import the candy.
Chinese baby formula tainted with the chemical has been blamed for the deaths of four infants and the illnesses of 53,000 others in China. Health experts say ingesting a small amount of the chemical poses no danger, but melamine can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
VoteStrike.com has found halloween candy manufactured in China with milk powder widely being sold in US stores.
China, the FDA, the Bush administration, and corporate America -They are heartless, so we are asking citizens to NOT SHOP November 2, 3, 4, and the 5th 2008.
Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants have added it to milk products to make it seem to have a higher protein level.
Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/WARNING-Tainted-Chinese-M-by-chris-rice-081029-891.html
You can Comment at Hearlink Blog
| China's budding food industry faces scrutiny By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY 5-22-2007 |
The importation of ingredients from China contaminated with an industrial
chemical has rocked American food regulators, along with possibly thousands
of U.S. families who lost a cat or dog to tainted pet food.
Serious questions about China's reliability as a food source have been raised as two major U.S. government agencies — the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration — investigate the tampering that led to the feed given to thousands of pigs, millions of chickens and an untold number of farmed fish being contaminated with melamine, which is used to make plastics. But experts say that although U.S. food brokers were duped by faked wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate — ingredients in many pet foods that were laced with melamine to boost their apparent nitrogen content — the threat to American consumers is diminished because China supplies a small percentage of this country's food.
CHINA'S FOOD:
Filth, residue are top reasons for rejection
The overall dollar figures for food imports into the USA from China are high — $29 million worth of fresh or frozen fruit and $131 million worth of fresh or frozen vegetables in 2006, according to the USDA. But "the share of the U.S. food supply that comes from China is tiny, probably less than 1%," said Fred Gale, a senior economist with the China team at the USDA's Economic Research Service.
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Christopher Ranch
"It's really kind of a small basket of goods that we do import in large quantities, primarily because China's really doing well in the markets in nearby countries," said Mechel Paggi, director of the Center for Agricultural Business at California State University, Fresno. China grows half the world's vegetables and 15% of the world's fruit. Even though 90% of its production is consumed by the Chinese people, there's still a lot left over to sell abroad. The country has made a major push to become a global exporter of fruits and vegetables since the 1990s, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). China's competitiveness is bolstered by its low costs, a processing industry that's growing and government policies encouraging fruit and vegetable production. The total export value of Chinese fruits and vegetables more than doubled between 1992-1994 and 2002-2004, from $2.3 billion to $5.1 billion, according to USDA data. Most of that is going to nearby Asian neighbors, not to the USA. But that doesn't mean the average American isn't eating food from China, and some surprising ones at that. If you season with garlic, sip apple juice, spread honey or savor fish dishes, there's a good chance you're buying food from China. Garlic: More than 50% China produces 75% of the world's garlic, according to the FAO. Last year was the first year in which U.S. consumers bought more garlic produced in China than garlic grown in California, said Bill Christopher, owner of Christopher Ranch, a major grower of garlic in Gilroy, Calif. California grows "99.9% of U.S. garlic," he said. "There were roughly 150 million pounds of fresh and peeled garlic from California sold in the U.S. in 2006 and 170 million pounds from China," he said. Chinese garlic is easily recognized, he said. "In California we cut the roots off but we leave a little bit of a brush. In Chinese garlic they cut the root plate off flat, with no brush." Apple juice: 45% About 40% to 45% of the apple juice consumed in the USA comes from China, said Shannon Schaffer of the U.S. Apple Association, an industry group. About 74% of all apple juice is imported, and 55% of that comes from China, he says. China is the No. 1 apple producer in the world and the leading apple juice exporter. "They grow about 47% of all the apples on the planet. We (U.S. farms) grow about 11%," he said. Because of USDA concerns about the introduction of new apple pests and diseases, China isn't allowed to export apples to the USA, but it is allowed to export apple juice concentrate because processing eliminates some of the health concerns. Honey: 19% China is also the world's largest producer of honey and the largest single importer of the golden sweet to the USA, said Bruce Boynton of the National Honey Board. Almost 19% of the honey consumed in the USA comes from China. Americans ate 400 million pounds of honey in 2006, 70% of which was imported. Much of China's population is still engaged in rural agriculture, of which bees are an integral part. The second-largest exporter to the USA was Argentina, which supplies about 16% of honey consumed here, Boynton said. Seafood: 16% Almost 80% of the seafood eaten in the USA is imported, 5 billion pounds overall. Sixteen percent of seafood eaten by U.S. consumers came from China in 2005, almost 1 billion pounds, said Stacey Viera of the National Fisheries Institute, an industry group. That portion of the U.S. seafood market was worth nearly $1.5 billion in 2005, she said. Chinese seafood quality and cleanliness isn't always up to the standards of the USA, said George Haley, director of the Center for International Industry Competitiveness at the University of New Haven. High levels of dangerous bacteria and traces of unapproved antibiotics, chemicals and dyes have caused seafood shipments from China to be stopped at the U.S. border. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-21-food-imports-china_N.htm USA TODAY You can Comment at Hearlink Blog Go to Ascension - Solutions
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