Milk for the Guinea Pigs

Is China trying to kill the world one kid at a time?

I have never before had occasion to pose this question, for never before today have I realized what China has been doing to the world's children. 

First, there was the global controversy about children's toys that were tainted with lead. Then, the issue about candies and biscuits from China that allegedly contain formaldehyde. Today, health officials all over the world, plus the millions of dairy consumers are panicking because of the Chinese milk products that are contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. 

Melamine as defined by Wikipedia is "an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses." This chemical is used to produce melamine resin, a substance used for making fabrics, glue, dry erase boards, and flame retardants. This makes me wonder how milk manufacturers came up with the wonderfully stupid idea of adding the chemical to infant milk formula. Are they simply testing melamine's toxicity level and went for infants instead of guinea pigs? Or maybe they wanted to know if the global market would fancy some nitrogen-flavored milk.

Reports about the 53,000 infants who became ill having been fed with the contaminated milk formula have alarmed the whole world deeply and have prompted the normally immobile health and government officials of the Philippines to examine China-manufactured food products. The Department of Health, for instance,  have revoked the licenses of importers from China and banned the sale and distribution of milk products from the said country.

The officials from Bureau of Food and Drugs, on the other hand, have so much on their plates these days for they are busy examining milk products circulating the local markets to check for melamine content. It actually came up with a list of products that are being tested for melamine. I've tried calling the BFAD hotline to check for updates, but I failed to reach a real person. I assume that the bureau has forgotten to came up with a list of its other phone numbers.

In my opinion, I think the two departments should have checked imported products -- be it food, clothing, or toy -- ages ago to ensure that contaminated imports can no longer enter the Philippine territory. What is really scary about the melamine scandal is the glaring fact that our local officials are relying on other neighboring countries to act upon the issue.

Thailand and Singapore have already distributed the list of products that are contaminated with melamine. This country's health department, however, refused to issue any list. The only thing it has done for the past few days is to remind consumers about not purchasing milk products from China.  Without an official list, consumers can become flummoxed about what to buy and what not to buy. Adding to the confusion were the text and e-mail messages containing a list of popular brands that allegedly have melamine. 

The head of the DOH has announced in national television that consumers have nothing to fear about melamine contamination as long as they do not buy any milk product from China. His words are a comfort for the guinea pigs. I am still, however, alarmed.