Noon International: Food Trading Import Export

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China Milk Is Major Problem

It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh milk or powdered milk there is a serious problem. According to James Rice in an article in Bloomberg “It’s not commonly known in China, but fresh milk is not fresh. It’s 50 percent fresh milk from cows and 50 percent reconstituted from powder.” Can any infants in China be safe from melamine?

The FDA has now taken action and inspecting at ports of entry to keep out the tainted milk products, the Associated Press reported. It will also be issuing alerts this weekend warning consumers of the potential hazards and to not consume or not buy any milk products from China over the internet, AP said, citing Judy Leon, a spokeswoman for the FDA.

Keep your babies healthy, no milk products from China.

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And More Melamine Contaminated Milk

In another article from Bloomberg they now state that The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has order a recall of 69 infant-milk products made by 22 dairy companines after it was found that they contained melamine. The GAQSIQ has order immediate destruction of all the products.

The GAQSIQ stated that no product produced after September 14 is contaminated and that none of the dairy products supplied for the Olympics was tainted (not sure how they can make this statement with any certainty).

The quality-control agency said no contamination was found in milk products made after Sept. 14, and that the dairy supply for the Beijing Olympics was untainted by melamine.

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The China fake milk (laced with melamine) problem continues to grow. Now it has been reported that another large producer YiLi has problems with their yogurt ice cream. In Hong Kong according to Bloomberg, Wellcome stores has pulled all of Yili’s Natural Choice Yogurt Ice-bar with Real Fruit after finding that the product was produced with melamine. All other products from Yili for the moment remain unaffected.

Why do they use the melamine? What is the attraction? They like to use it because the melamine mimics protein, and can have give it a boost, making it appear as the protein content is higher. Higher protein at the risk of our infants, a great trade off??

On another note Fonterra a 43% shareholder of Sanlu, the first to be discovered using the melamine in powdered milk, is apologizing to China consumers and promises to recall all milk product produced prior to August 6.

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The China powder milk saga (laced with melamine) continues. More that 1200 have been reported as showing symptoms of kidney failure. More than 400 are still hospitalized with more then 50 in critical condition and at least 2 deaths.

Sanglu the processor has been trying to cover up the contaminated milk even though they have been pressured by food giant New Zealand based Fonterra a 43% stakeholder in Sanlu Group.

According to Ms. Clark of Fonterra they have been pressuring Sanlu to recall the milk back in the early part of August. Perhaps they neglected the request because of the Olympics, or perhaps its just the standard protocol in China to cover it up. Regardless the local authorities would not recall the product. Ms. Clark stated “I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall.” Meanwhile Fonterra’s hands were tied and helpless to do anything (or were they?).

It appears that Sanlu had exported 25 metric tons in August to Taiwan which has now put a ban on all powdered milk from China. At present no reported problems have been announced in Taiwan. So far Taiwan is the only country to be know of importing the powdered milk.

Will the cover ups never end? Why so late to react? Did the China government know? Did the government discourage a recall during the Olympics? Who else is involved in the cover up?

Beware, beware, beware!!! Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware).

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Another China melamine scare.

China fake powdered milk, which thus far 1 infant has died from and with over 400 cases of infants reported suffering from kidney problems from the milk, appears to be contaminated with melamine the same chemical that was found in the Menu Foods pet food last year, according to China authorities.

Sanlu Group the largest supplier of powdered milk received complaints last March but failed to report it to the proper authorities. Another China supplier cover up.

China authorities have reported that 19 people have been detained in the fake powdered milk containing melamine since the investigation started.

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China Xinhua news has reported another possible “fake milk powder” incident. Infants from over 7 provinces have been suffering from kidney stones after drinking a powdered milk formula (Sanlu brand). In one hospital in Gansu province, thus far, 14 possible baby infant victims from the fake milk have been reported as suffering from kidney stones. There have been similar reporting in other provinces as well (Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Anhui, NIngxia and Shaanxi).

The scare has rekindled fears from the last incident in 2004 when 13 babies in Anhui province died after drinking the fake milk powder which was found to contain no nutritional value.

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If you believe in the environment then don’t eat Organic.

If we truly want to fight the greenhouse effect and carbon dioxide emissions then we shouldn’t be eating organic.

What? Organics are not friendly to our skies? Yes, Organic is supposedly good for our health, less pesticides, but is it good for the environment? In a recent article I read in Wired magazine (Joanna Pearlstein), June 2008 they presented a good case for not eating organic.

Consider the following for Dairy cows:

• Dairy cows are not feed hormones thus about 8% less milk is produced per conventional.
• It takes 25 Organic cows to produce what 23 conventional cows produce.
• More cows means more greenhouse gas emissions
• A single Organic cow puts out 16% more greenhouse gases than conventional.
• A double whammy - more cows more greenhouse emissions.

The article goes on to talk of Organic steers (and/or grass fed cattle) versus conventional and the story is the same. More methane gas emissions.

What are we to do?

Become a vegetarian. According to a research project by the University of Chicago, meat diets emit 1.5 more tons of greenhouse gases per year then the vegetarian diet.

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It is interesting that we are led to believe that organic vegetables are more nutritious then conventionally grown vegetables. A recent study by Dr. Susanne Bügel and colleagues from the Department of Human Nutrition, university of Copenhagen, shows there is no clear evidence that organic is more nutritious. The study looked at carrots, kale, peas, apples and potatoes, ingredients that are common and found in most households.

The study analyzes 3 different growing conditions:

• Growing vegetables on soil which had low input of minerals
  using animal manure and no pesticides.
• Growing vegetables applying a low input of nutrients using
  animal manure and pesticides, as much as allowed by
  regulation.
• Growing vegetables using a high input of nutrients through
  mineral fertilizers and pesticides as legally allowed.

All the crops were grown on the same or similar soil on adjacent fields at the same time, thus no variance of growing conditions. They were all harvested at the same time as well. (The organic was grown on established organic soil)

After harvest, the results showed no differences in the levels of major and trace elements for the three different methods of growing.

The three different groups of vegetables and fruits were were then fed to animals over a two year period of time. The intake and excretion of various minerals and trace elements were monitored. Again the results showed no difference in retention of the elements regardless of how grown.

Dr. Bügel’s conclusion, there is no systemic difference between organic and conventianal growing methods.

In the end, organic appears to be a lifestlye choice with no added benefit. Read the study here: Is Organic More Nutritious Study

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The China State Council has approved the implementation of the Ministry of Health to take over all the duties of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the South China Morning Post reported on Monday. The Ministry of Health will now become the sole supervisor for food, public health and pharmaceuticals.

The move supposedly is to bolster safety and eliminate corruption and bribery (former head of SFDA Zheng XiaoYu was executed last July 2007 for taking bribes).

It is not clear at this time what implications, if any, this will have on Chinese exporters of frozen foods. Will the MOH have the staff to monitor and regulate food safety? Will it lead to more corruption? Time will tell.

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