More contaminated foods from China
As an update to yesterday’s discussion about undeclared ingredients in medicine and other products from China, here’s the latest FDA advisory, warning the public not to consume certain dairy products because of possible melamine contamination.
A list of the products and a brief discussion of the dangers of melamine follows.
Products included in the FDA import-alert.
- Fresh and Crispy Jacobina Biscuits New!
- Koala’s March Crème filled Cookies
- YILI Brand Sour Milk Drink
- YILI Brand Pure Milk Drink
- Blue Cat Flavored Drinks
- White Rabbit Candies
- Mr. Brown Mandehling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
- Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
- Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
- Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
- Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
- Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend instant Coffee (2-in-1)
- Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)
- Infant formula manufactured in China
Sciencebase blog has a concise review of the “melamine scandal.”
- Thousand of babies in China who were fed formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine suffered kidney failure.
- There have been several fatalities.
- Melamine was added to artificially inflate the protein levels.
- “Melamine in the food supply is China’s big open secret.”
More on contaminated food products from China is here.
The bottom line?
Melamine has been described as a trimer of cyanamide (see photo) — a cyanide-containing molecule. Chronic exposure to melamine can lead to bladder or kidney stones, acute kidney failure, and even bladder cancer, according to the Sciencebase review.
11/26/08 10:15 JR
