Chickens killed due to melamine scare and concerns
China melamine scandal causes slaughter of thousands of chickens
Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:45pm IST
By Ian Ransom
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese farmers, hurt by a spreading melamine scandal, slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens, state media said on Friday, as authorities in Shanghai began checks on feed producers for local fisheries.
Shanghai’s Livestock Office would check more than 100 feed producers in the city, and promised tests for the city’s seafood products if any feed were found to contain melamine, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said on Friday.
Melamine is a compound used in making plastic chairs and other things, but is often added to food to cheat nutrition tests.
At least four children died and tens of thousands were made ill from drinking milk formula adulterated with melamine this year.
The melamine scandal has since spread to other dairy products, sweets and chocolate, prompting recalls of Chinese-made food around the world.
A rash of cases involving melamine-tainted eggs exported to Hong Kong and South Korea, and sold in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, have aroused fears of how prevalent the compound is in Chinese animal feed.
Melamine was banned in feed last year in the wake of a pet food scandal that was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States last year, but has since been found in chicken feed used by major egg producers in northern China.
Public fears about food safety have seen egg prices plummet in local markets, and wholesalers refuse stock not carrying melamine inspection certificates.
Plunging demand in Beijing had prompted dozens of farmers in Baoding to slaughter tens of thousands of chickens in recent days, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Amid the growing scandals, China's health ministry has urged officials to quickly fix the country's problem-ridden food safety system.
DISJOINTED
The World Health Organisation's food safety chief, Jorgen Schlundt, last week called China's food-safety system "disjointed" and said poor communications between ministries and agencies may have prolonged the outbreak of melamine poisoning.
"Coordinate and cooperate to investigate and punish major incidents," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Chen Zhu as saying.
Some 2,390 children remain in hospital after suffering kidney stones and other complications from drinking melamine-tainted milk formula, the ministry reported on Wednesday.
At the peak in late September, up to 22,000 infants were in hospital on any one day after being found sick from melamine. ,
The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said the scare had exposed long-standing failings in food-safety regulation.
"The right to safe food and appropriate nutrition is every citizen's right, but one after another food-safety incident is challenging this right," it said in a commentary.
"For this reason, food safety has become a national topic."
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley)
Body Paint added to list with Teas and Cakes. Australian Melamine Recall List
Body Paint Joins Tea, Cake on Australian Melamine Recall List
Sexy body paint set banned , found to contain melamine
By Robert Fenner
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set, described by its maker as the sensual way to indulge a sweet tooth, joined Orion cakes and Kirin tea on the list of products recalled in Australia because of contamination with the chemical melamine.
“Consumers who may have bought this product are advised not to consume this body paint, which should be disposed of safely,” Australia’s food safety regulator said in a statement.
Milk tainted with melamine, which is used to make plastics and tan leather, has been blamed for the deaths of four babies in China and the sickening of 53,000. China’s Sanlu Group Co. and 21 companies were found to sell contaminated dairy goods, leading to recalls or restrictions on products made with Chinese milk in more than two dozen countries from Japan to France.
The Australian importer of Boxer Lovers voluntarily recalled the chocolate-flavored body paint, the seventh product withdrawn from the market, following advice from Canadian and U.K. authorities, Food Standards Australia said.
Other products recalled by Australian importers include White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Kirin Milk Tea, Orion Tiramisu Italian cake, Dali Yuan brand first milk and Lotte Koala biscuits.
Cadbury Plc, the world's largest confectioner, recalled its Eclairs product last month and remains the only manufacturer to withdraw products in Australia because of melamine.
What exactly is melamine?
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. Melamine resin is a very versatile material with a highly stable structure. Uses for melamine include whiteboards, floor tiles, kitchenware, fire retardant fabrics, and commercial filters.
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