Chinese workers removing milk productsTHE CASE
Melamine is a relatively insoluble basic organic compound with a high nitrogen content. The name melamine is a catchy trivial name for the chemical compound 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine also known as cyanuramide.
MelamineIt can be used to fool some of the traditional tests used to determine the protein content of food. For example if milk has melamine added to it it can then be diluted with water and still appear to contain the mandated protein level. Similarly it can be added to fish food and livestock feed to enhance the protein assay. A melamine derivative, cyanuric acid, has also been used.
The abuse of melamine by incorporating it into animal and human foodstuffs has a long and sorry history in China. In early 2007 there was an international scandal involving pet-food sourced in China that contained huge amounts of melamine.
In September 2008 melamine was detected in many brands of baby formula with high melamine content. All over China and in a number of other countries thousands babies and children were getting sick and in some cases dying. Because melamine is basic and only sparingly soluble it can crystallise in the urinary tract where it precipitates into kidney and bladder stones. Animal studies have indicated that it may even cause bladder cancer. The amount of melamine detected varied from 2.5g grams /kilogram for a Sanlu product down to an almost acceptable 1.4ppm for a Hong Kong Nestle product. Because of the wide usage of melamine based plastics a small amount (parts per billion) can often be detected in the food chain.
The Chinese authorities have known about the current baby-food scandal for at least four months, but chose to hush it up for the sake of the Olympics.
Our regulatory authority, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has determined that there is no wide spread melamine contamination of milk based products in Australia. There may be small quantities of Chinese sourced products containing a small amount of melamine such as lollies being sold in Asian stores.
White Rabbit lollies
Apparently White Rabbit sweets (seven White Rabbit sweets are equivalent to one cup of milk) are being investigated.
MY VERDICT
Does this bear a scary resemblance to the heparin scandal? see
HEPARIN recall - why was the TGA not pro-active?
and
ENOXAPARIN the latest victim of the heparin debacle
The parallels are
1. The products were sourced in bulk from China
2. Somewhere in the supply chain someone thought it would be a good idea to add a contaminant to trick assay procedures.
3. The contaminant was deleterious to human health.
4. The scam continued for months before being detected.
The moral of the story is if you want to be safe, buy local.
