Archive for September, 2008
Latest melamine-tainted product: Lipton powdered milk tea
Sep 30, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Dangerous Banned Foods, Melamine Scare
Lipton Milk Tea recall in some countries, found with melamine
Gosh, I am sorry to keep adding all these articles about melamine, but everyday it seems a new food is added to the banned or dangerous food list!
This is very scary. Obviously many people need better information, because my traffic has shot up since I started posting updates and articles about what foods are banned and the effects of melamine on our bodies.
Here is the latest:
Latest melamine-tainted product: Lipton powdered tea
Where did all the milk tea go?
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2008 – 08:04 AM
HONG KONG (AP) — Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever said today it has started recalling some of its Lipton-brand milk tea powder in Hong Kong and Macau after they were found to contain traces of an industrial chemical.
The recall of four batches of Lipton’s 3-in-1 milk tea powder came after the company’s internal quality check found melamine in the products, Unilever Hong Kong Ltd. said in a statement.
The contaminated products used Chinese-made milk powder as raw material, said marketing director Sharon Hwang for Unilever Hong Kong. She declined to reveal which Chinese brand the company had used.
“In order to comply with local regulations and as a precautionary measure, we are recalling all packs produced … from Hong Kong and Macau markets,” the statement said.
Last week, Unilever has also removed Lipton Green Milk Tea from the Taiwan market because the product used Chinese-made milk.
Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety also called on the public to avoid drinking the contaminated products and alerted all suppliers, importers and retailers to stop selling them. The agency did not find melamine in Lipton products so far.
Responding to the recall, two leading supermarket chains, Wellcome and PARKnSHOP, removed the four contaminated products from shelves.
Dozens of Chinese-made food products have been found to contain melamine, killing four babies and sickening more than 50,000 in mainland China.
The chemical was first detected in infant formula but has spread to dairy and other food products.
Chinese suppliers trying to boost output are believed to have diluted their milk while adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein content.
Health experts say ingesting a small amount of melamine poses no danger, but larger amounts of the chemical, used to make plastics and fertilizer, can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
Unilever Hong Kong Ltd. is a subsidiary belonged to Unilever NV/PLC.
– The Associated Press
Cheese Cracker Recalled-contains Melamine, sold in Taiwan Costco
Sep 30, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Diet and Health, Health and Fitness, Melamine ScareTaipei – A Taiwan company began Tuesday to recall a batch of cheese cracker sandwiches imported from Malaysia after finding the toxic chemical melamine in the biscuits.
The Golden Kestrel Co Ltd ordered the recall after test results at two laboratories showed traces of melamine in the Regimen House cheese cracker sandwich, the company said on its website.
The result from one lab showed the cracker contained 29 parts per million (ppm) of melamine while the other test showed its melamine concentration is 17 ppm.
Taiwan’s permitted melamine concentration is 2.5 ppm.
Golden Kestrel claims that it imported 12,314 boxes of the Regimen House cheese cracker sandwich – two round biscuits stuck together by cheese filling – from Malaysia between April and July. They were sold at the Costco hypermarkets across Taiwan.
Golden Kestrel has removed the cheese cracker sandwiches from Costco, and has been asked to submit import papers and records of the sale of the biscuits to the Taipei City Government’s Department of Health.
Singapore finds five more tainted Chinese foods
Sep 30, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Diet and Health, Health and Fitness, Melamine ScareSINGAPORE (AP): Singapore has found traces of a toxic chemical in five more Chinese-made food products, including the first non-dairy items that had milk as an ingredient, authorities said Wednesday.
Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, known as AVA, said that samples of Dutch Lady-brand banana and honeydew flavored milk, Silang-brand potato crackers and two kinds of puffed rice balls imported from China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
The crackers and rice balls were the first non-dairy products found with melamine, though they listed milk as ingredients.
Last week, authorities suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products after finding melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar, Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk, and White Rabbit-brand chewy candy manufactured in China.
The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.
Melamine has been blamed in China for four infant deaths and illnesses in 54,000 who drank tainted milk powder. Chinese diary products have been banned by countries throughout Asia.
Melamine Crisis hits more global companies
Sep 29, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Diet and Health, Health and Fitness, Melamine ScareTainted milk crisis hits more global companies
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Sep 27, 7:35 AM (ET)
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
(AP) A Philippine police officer carries packs of White Rabbit candies as it was ordered withdrawn aside…
SHANGHAI, China (AP) – Snackers, beware: Your favorite chocolate or creamy treats might contain milk contaminated with melamine.
The list of companies facing potential recalls grew Friday as reports of foods tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which has been blamed in the deaths of four Chinese infants, spread to a widening range of products.
Food companies around the globe are rushing to assess their products and in some cases setting new strategies to prevent problems.
“We have to think about any processed food with milk or protein in it,” said James Rice, a food industry veteran who is now China country manager for Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), the world’s largest meat processor.
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While his company is not affected, for others “that includes biscuits, cake mix, energy bars, anything that should have protein in it,” he said.
Many food companies already were taking special precautions before Chinese milk suppliers were found to be adding melamine to watered-down milk to boost its apparent protein content. The chemical, which is high in nitrogen, can fool tests aimed at verifying protein levels. The compromised dairy products are blamed for sickening 54,000 children.
Some companies learned the need for extra diligence in China the hard way, during a spate of scandals last year from unsafe foods and toothpaste to melamine-laced ingredients in pet food.
But many continued to disregard the risks, said Jeremy Haft, a businessman who runs factories in China in a variety of industries, including medical products, clothing and building supplies.
“I don’t think much was learned from the recalls of a year ago,” said Haft, who has written of his experiences in a book, “All the Tea in China.”
Tokyo-headquartered Lotte Group, a major snack maker, got caught up in the storm Friday after its popular chocolate-filled Koala cookies were recalled in Hong Kong and Macau because of melamine contamination.
Packages of the cookies, still on sale in Shanghai, list whole milk powder as an ingredient.
“We will look deeply into all the details of the manufacturing process,” said Kayh Kim, manager of Lotte China Food’s planning department in Beijing. “We really don’t want to lose our customers’ confidence.”
In Tokyo, a company spokeswoman said Lotte products sold in Japan are not made with Chinese dairy ingredients.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai-based maker of White Rabbit, a popular vanilla-flavored toffee, said it stopped domestic sales after the Hong Kong government’s Center for Food Safety said the candy contained more than six times the legal limit of melamine.
That followed White Rabbit recalls in Britain, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
When rumors of melamine-related recalls of Oreos and other sweets spread by phone text messages and on the Internet earlier this week, Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) hastened to reassure customers that none of its Oreo-brand products contain milk powder from China.
Oreo fillings contain no milk, while Oreo cookies with icing on them use milk powder from Australia, it said. “Regardless of where they are produced, Kraft products are always held to the highest quality and safety standards,” the company said.
As they expand operations in China, targeting its potential market of 1.3 billion people, many foreign-brand food companies still rely heavily on local partners for quality control, experts say.
New Zealand’s dairy cooperative Fonterra discovered the implications when its local partner, Sanlu Group Co., failed to take quick action after Chinese doctors reported that babies drinking its infant formula were developing kidney stones.
“The problem was that Fonterra, right from the start, had no control over what was going on,” said Bruce McLaughlin, CEO of Sinogie Consulting in Shanghai, which conducts market research and investigations.
“The most important thing is that if you’re going to make an investment and have your name tied up with it, you have to have control over what’s going on,” McLaughlin said.
For some, that may mean going it alone.
Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading producer of cocoa, chocolate and confectionary products, set up its own factory west of Shanghai earlier this year. The quality control staff report directly to the Swiss company’s CEO.
The factory is testing milk products from all local suppliers, setting aside any from domestic sources until it is confirmed safe, said Gaby Tschofen, the company’s vice president for corporate communications.
A decision by Japanese beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd. to set up its own dairy farm in China is proving fortuitous: the company’s milk, which went on sale only this month, is selling fast amid the melamine scare.
Asahi Green Source Farm, a venture with fellow Japanese companies Itochu Corp. and Sumitomo Corp., is stocked with more than 1,000 dairy cows from Australia and New Zealand, said Chen Na, a marketing department staffer.
“We already realized the importance of the source of raw milk, since it’s easy for trouble to crop up in a booming market, and we have made every effort to control the manufacturing process for liquid milk production,” she said. “Better safe than sorry.”
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Associated Press researcher Ji Chen contributed to this report.
Melamine found in baby cereral and other products, banned list
Sep 28, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Diet and Health, Melamine ScareBaby cereal latest problem in China milk scandal
(09-26) 17:35 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) –
The list of products caught in China’s tainted milk scandal grew Friday to include baby cereal in Hong Kong and snack foods in Japan, while Taiwan reported three children and a mother with kidney stones in the island’s first cases possibly linked to the crisis.
The Japanese government also said it had suspended imports of milk and milk products from China, where some 54,000 children have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking baby formula contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. Four deaths have been blamed on the tainted milk.
The latest problematic foods were Heinz baby cereal and Silang House steamed potato wasabi crackers. The Hong Kong government said in a statement Friday it found traces of melamine in the products, which were both made in mainland China.
Hong Kong urged the manufacturers to stop selling the products in the Chinese territory. Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Heinz ordered a recall of the baby cereal as a precautionary measure following the government’s announcement, it said in a statement on its Web site.
Hundreds of international food companies have set up operations in China in recent years, exposing them to the country’s notorious product safety problems. Melamine-tainted products have turned up in an increasing number of Chinese-made exports abroad – from candies to yogurt to rice balls.
In Japan, the Marudai Food Co. pulled its cream buns, meat buns and creamed corn crepes from supermarkets a week ago and tests have found traces of contamination in several products, Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry official Mina Kojima said Friday.
So far, there were no reports of health problems stemming from the contamination, she said. Marudai has sold more than 300,000 of the products, most of which are believed to have been consumed.
News of that contamination came after the Chinese territory of Macau said it detected melamine at 24 times the safety limit in products from another Japan-based company, Koala’s March cookies made by Lotte China Foods Co. The company is a member of a Tokyo-based conglomerate, Lotte Group.
An official at Lotte (China) Investment Co. Ltd. in Shanghai said Friday previous inspections had not shown any problems.
“But now that it tested positive in Macau, we find it necessary to do the inspections all over again,” said Guo Hongming, a legal assistant in Lotte Shanghai’s corporate planning department.
Some Hong Kong supermarkets pulled the chocolate-filled cookies off shelves Friday after the announcement by Macau authorities late Thursday. Cookie packages list whole milk powder as an ingredient.
Only some types of milk powder and milk have been recalled in mainland China so far, but the maker of one of China’s most popular candies said Friday it had halted sales because of suspected melamine contamination. White Rabbit candies have already been pulled from shelves around Asia and in Britain.
Ge Junjie, a vice president of Bright Foods (Group) Co. Ltd., was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency that the company was waiting for test results from the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
“We decided to halt all sales of White Rabbit candy, although the test results have not yet come out,” Ge said. Bright Foods’ subsidiary Guangshengyuan produces White Rabbit.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese authorities reported that three children who consumed Chinese milk formula had developed kidney stones, and doctors were checking whether their illnesses were linked to tainted products.
The two 3-year-old girls and a 1-year-old boy traveled frequently between Taiwan and China with their parents, said Liu Yi-lien, health chief of the Ilan county government in eastern Taiwan. One of the girls’ mothers also has kidney stones, he said.
“They have all consumed Chinese milk, but more tests are needed to establish the link to their kidney stones,” Liu said.
The cases are the first reports of illnesses on the island that could be related to tainted Chinese milk products. Six children have also become ill from melamine-tainted products in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
Still, the World Health Organization said it did not expect the number of victims to grow dramatically.
WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said public awareness of the issue meant many young children were getting health checks and avoiding tainted products.
“I think we will see some more cases, but not the high number like so far,” he said. “I think the recall and more thorough investigation and testing are now starting to eliminate some of these contaminated products from coming out to the public.”
On Thursday, the European Union banned imports of baby food containing Chinese milk. The move by the 27-nation EU adds to the growing list of countries that have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products because of the contamination.
Health experts say ingesting a small amount of melamine poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical – used to make plastics and fertilizer – can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
Chinese suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have diluted their milk while adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein levels.
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Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Dikky Sinn in Hong Kong and Annie Huang in Taipei contributed to this report.
This is a great time to try this!
..
What exactly does Melamine do inside the body? What are the effects of Melamine?
Sep 28, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: What melamine does to the body, what is melamineWhat does melamine do in the body?
A Cornell veterinarian told us last year that melamine is not considered to be “a very toxic compound,” but can result in kidney stones and kidney failure especially in small animals. Investigators found crystals made up of melamine and its byproducts in the urine and kidneys of in the dogs and cats that were poisoned last year. Because it formed crystals in the body and was not fully dissolved in urine, the melamine gathered in the kidney, gunking up the organ and forming stones. The pets that died suffered acute kidney failure.
This is what is happening to small children who have ingested melamine.
Who is responsible for this tragedy?
Melamine
Melamine, the cheap compound used to bulk up baby formula in China that has sickened at least 1,200 babies across the country and killed at least two so far, once had a much less dubious purpose and, in fact, can be found in some form in most American homes.
Composed of nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen, the compound was invented in the 1830s by a German scientist and came into fashion as a material used to make plastics and laminates in the late 1930s. When combined with formaldehyde and exposed to extreme heat, melamine creates a moldable material that, when cooled, is virtually unbreakable and dishwasher-safe.
This made it the durable dishware of choice on some U.S. Navy ships during World War II.
After the war, designer Russel Wright and the St. Louis-based company Branchell, among others, developed molded dinnerware out of melamine, known as Melmac, designing sets under names like “Flair,” “Fortiflex” and “Color-Flyte.”
Throughout the 1950s, as Americans started buying processed foods and washing machines, clamoring for anything that conveyed “modern,” colorful melamine bowls and plates became mainstays in kitchens across the country. Unfortunately, Melmac tableware was prone to scratches and stains and so the dishes fell out of favor by the 1970s, as more resilient household plastics were phased in and families returned to ceramic, china and glass-made dishes.
In the past decade or so, Melmac has become popular again, with collectors and savvy eBay dealers selling Wright and Branchell pieces, and new designers using the material for retro-themed household items.
But as melamine experienced a resurgence in American kitchens, the material — in powdered form — has also come into use by certain unscrupulous food companies as a cheap and abundant filler substance for products ranging from livestock feed to pet food — and now, apparently, to baby formula. In some tests used to determine the nutritional value of a foodstuff, melamine shows up as a protein — so manufacturers can use the compound to make their products appear more nutritious.
Melamine is not toxic, but inside the body it can cause kidney stones and renal failure.
In 2007, material containing melamine — but labeled as wheat gluten and rice protein — was shipped from Chinese manufacturers to pet food companies in the U.S. and elsewhere. After a Canadian pet food company announced it was voluntarily recalling food that was sickening pets, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fielded thousands of similar complaints across the U.S. Soon after, a myriad of pet foods contaminated with the tainted gluten and protein from China were recalled from the market, but not before thousands of pets had died from renal failure.
This month, under pressure from the New Zealand government, which had received complaints that a Chinese manufacturer was ignoring reports that its baby formula was sickening infants, China announced an investigation. Days later, it emerged that more than 1,000 babies were sick, many contracting kidney stones, after consuming melamine-tainted formula. At least two babies have died. On Sept. 13, China said that 19 people have been detained in the ensuing probe. Some critics, however, have suggested China knew about the link between the sick babies and malamine-laced formula months ago — well before the Summer Olympics in Beijing — but did not investigate until external pressure left them no choice.
I will continue to update this as I learn more and find more information for you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Melamine in Food Products Manufactured in China
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News reports and the World Health Organization (WHO) state that tens of thousands of infants in China who consumed infant formula contaminated with melamine are suffering from urinary tract stones, kidney damage, and kidney failure. For more information visit the Food and Drug Administration website.
What is melamine?
Melamine is a synthetic chemical with a variety of industrial uses including the production of resins and foams, cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides. It does not occur naturally in food.
Why is melamine dangerous in food?
Animal studies have demonstrated that exposure to low levels of melamine produced no observable toxic effects. Exposures to high levels of melamine, or exposures to lower doses of melamine together with certain other chemicals, have caused urinary tract problems in animals. These have included urinary tract and kidney crystal and stone formation, and kidney failure. Exposures of animals to high doses of melamine over long time periods (years) have been associated with cancer of the bladder.
Should I be worried about food products purchased or consumed in the United States?
The United States does not allow melamine to be used as a food ingredient. Most reports of melamine in food products and of health problems related to melamine in food products have centered in China. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working together with local, state, federal, and international agencies to ensure the safety of the American food supply including broadening its domestic and import sampling and testing of milk-derived ingredients and finished food products containing milk, such as candies, desserts, and beverages that could contain these ingredients from Chinese sources. As of October 6, 2008, FDA testing of milk- based products imported into the United States from China had found melamine contamination in only a few products (e.g., White Rabbit Creamy Candies and Mr. Brown’s coffee mixes). For current information on whether food products purchased in the U.S. might pose a concern about melamine, visit the Food and Drug Administration website.
Why are infants particularly affected?
Infants may be more affected than other people because formula is their primary food source and they therefore consume more melamine per unit of body weight than older children and adults who consume a variety of foods.
What should I do if I believe I or my child may already have been exposed to melamine, for example, during travel to China?
See a doctor right away if you or your infant has any of the following symptoms: stomach pain; vomiting; fever; irritability or excessive crying; blood, crystals, or particles in urine; painful urination; little or no urine; swelling of hands, feet, or face.
If I’m pregnant or breastfeeding and think I may have been exposed to melamine, would it be toxic to my baby?
If you are pregnant and have already ingested some of these listed products or you are breastfeeding while ingesting the listed products, discontinue their use. Effects on the unborn child are unknown. Melamine only stays in the body for a few days. The effects on the kidneys of the formula-fed infants in China are thought to result from continuous use of the products containing relatively high concentrations of melamine over many days.
Should my child or I be tested for melamine exposure?
Laboratory tests for melamine in blood serum and urine exist but are still investigational and not yet commercially available. Because many people are exposed to very small, nontoxic amounts of melamine from different sources in the environment and industry, detection of melamine in the body would not necessarily predict future illness.
How long does melamine stay in the body?
Scientists do not know exactly how long it takes the human body to eliminate melamine. Animal studies suggest that excretion is fairly rapid—for example, half of the total quantity of melamine consumed was eliminated in 4 hours in pigs and 3 hours in rats.
How should health care providers treat potential melamine exposures?
The most important action is to stop any ongoing exposure. Specific laboratory and imaging studies can be used based on the patient’s symptoms, for example to evaluate kidney function or urinary stones.
What is CDC’s advice for travelers to China?
Because of uncertainties related to dairy products in China at this time, CDC recommends that you do not consume any dairy products produced in China, including all brands of infant formula, milk or other drinks that contain milk products, food, such as yogurt or ice cream that could be milk-based or contain a large amount of milk or milk products. Many foods and drinks including candies, crackers, and desserts may contain milk or milk products. Ingredients on the food or drink label that suggest milk or milk products include milk, milk powder, whey, lactose, and casein. Additional advice for travelers is available in Travel Notice: Melamine in Chinese-Manufactured Infant Formula.
Walking 10,000 steps a day to lose weight
Sep 28, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Celebrity Weight Loss, Diet and Health, Health and Fitness, Lose 10 pounds, Weight lossI just finished reading Valerie Berinelli’s book “Losing it and gaining my life back one pound at a time.”
I enjoyed it. She writes in a friendly conversational manner. The one thing that really stuck out for me
was when she talked about her Jenny Craig Diet plan and how she had to walk 10,000 steps a day and use a Pedometer. I have been meaning to get one those and track how many steps on the treadmill I am walking. I just bought one from Amazon that has over 1800 reviews and 4 stars! That has to be good.
In a quest to burn the extra calories, walking seems to be the easiest way. Experts have revealed that walking 10,000 steps a day can help you drop those unwanted pounds faster than just about any other method of weight loss. Not only that walking will also help you keep the weight off for a longer period of time as it builds your muscles while keeping your heart at a fat-burning rate.
Quick facts about walking 10,000 steps
Use a Pedometer: For counting the number of steps that you have covered the best approach is to have a pedometer which can help you easily keep track of the distance you have covered throughout your day as well as the number of steps that you have taken. (A pedometer is a small box-shaped calculator that you can clip to your belt or pants pocket in the same way you would wear a beeper.) While purchasing for a pedometer, doubly ensure that you select a model that has both distance and well as individual step readings. This will be helpful for you to learn how many steps go into one mile.
You can increase steps to your count choosing the stairs over the elevator or walking to your colleague's desk rather than sending an email.
Calculate the Time it takes: Using either you pedometer or a counting method, calculate the approximate time it takes for you to traverse a specific distance, such as a mile. Calculate this number several times on several different days and average the figures together. You will then be able to determine approximately how long it will take you to walk a portion of your steps if you choose to spend a set amount of time walking them off. For example, if you know that you can walk all 10,000 steps in an hour, then you can elect to dedicate an hour everyday to walking your steps. But if spending 1 hr is not sufficient then break then you can add up increments of ten minutes at a time until you reach your goal.
To break the monotony select two-three routes to follow, and do the measurement a Route Measure a route based on the time and distances it takes you to walk your 10,000 steps. Go for a long route for days when you have a surfeit of energy, a short route for days when you are tired, and a mid-length route for days when you are energized but busy.
Jakob Culver is founder of the website – http://thefitnesslife.com and has a solid background in weight loss and fitness.
To find out more information about this topic or health and fitness visit =>http://thefitnesslife.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jakob_Culver
The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by
Sep 27, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Before and After, Celebrity Sags and Bags, Diet and Health, Diet books, Fad Diets, Just like us, Lose 10 pounds, Weight loss
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Food and Products banned from Melamine Scare
Sep 27, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Banned Products, Diet and Health, Health and Fitness, Melamine ScareMore new products you would not even expect found with melamine. This is truly a crisis.
I do not understand why there is not more in the news about this.
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Taiwan bans melamine-tainted additive ammonium bicarbonate from China
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| Taiwan News, Website Editorial Staff 2008-10-18 04:12 PM |
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I love to go the Asian stores in my local area here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I always buy certain candies that I love there so I was very concerned if my chewy candy and chocolates
were part of the banned foods. I did manage to find a list from Singapore, and Malaysia.
I have included a USA today article about candy sold here in America.
Chinese candy sold in U.S. has harmful chemical
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
New Zealand says one of China’s most popular candies – a kind frequently sold at Asian markets in the United States – contains dangerous levels of the industrial chemical melamine.
In an extension of the broadening scandal in China over contaminated milk, testing by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority found 180 parts per million of melamine in White Rabbit Creamy Candies.
The agency’s website called the contamination “unacceptably high” and advises consumers to avoid the candy. Melamine levels were high enough to cause health problems, such as kidney stones, in some consumers, according to the agency.
That amount is about 1 milligram of melamine per candy, estimates Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University. “It’s not much, but it shouldn’t be there at all,” she says.
The candies are manufactured in Shanghai by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food.
News of the levels come as the scope of the milk adulteration scandal in China widened, with four infants dead from contaminated baby formula and at least another 53,000 sickened.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is sampling and testing White Rabbit Creamy Candies and other Chinese “milk-derived ingredients and finished food products containing milk,” such as candies, desserts and beverages, says spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. No contaminated products have been found on U.S. store shelves, she says.
The candy, a chewy, milky taffy, comes in small cylinders about half the size of a AA battery, wrapped in a white waxed paper. The ingredients are corn starch syrup, cane sugar, butter and milk.
Candy from China makes up just 0.7% of the candy sold in the United States, says Susan Snyder Smith of the National Confectioners Association in Vienna, Va. No figures are available for how much White Rabbit Creamy Candy is sold here.
On Monday, 99 Ranch, a large Asian supermarket chain with 26 stores on the West Coast, removed White Rabbit candies from its shelves, says spokeswoman Jennifer Tsao. Other Asian markets across the United States have also pulled the candies.
Consumers exposed to tiny amounts of melamine shouldn’t worry, says Angelika Tritscher of the World Health Organization. “Melamine at low doses is actually not considered to be very toxic.”
Melamine or its IUPAC name 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine, is an organic base with chemical formula C3H6N6. Since it is only slightly soluble in water, when it is illegally used in milk industry, melamine will be dissolved in formaldehyde (carcinogenic/cancer causing) or other organic solvents before mixing into the milk!
Melamine is sometimes illegally added to food products in order to increase the apparent protein content. Standard tests such as the Kjeldahl and Dumas tests estimate protein levels by measuring the nitrogen content, so they can be misled by adding nitrogen-rich compounds such as melamine.
Although melamine by itself is nontoxic in low doses, but when combined with cyanuric acid (at times, present in drinking water) it can cause fatal kidney stones/urinary problems. Below is some references of the melamine tainted food. All these references are received via email and I am consolidating for the sharing purpose. I urge all the food authorities to work with WHO to compile and share a complete list of banned food or recalled melamine tainted products to protect the life of innocent consumers.
According to an email received, the following food are recalled from shelves in Singapore:
1 M&M
2 Snickers
3 Mento’s Yoghurt Bottle
4 Dove Chocolate
5 Oreo Wafer Sticks
6 Dutchlady Sterilised Milk
7 Wall’s all natural mango
8 Mini Poppers Ice Cream
9 Magnum Ice Cream
10 Moo Sandwich Ice Cream
11 Mini Cornetto
12 Youcan Ice Cream
A longer list that includes brands and descriptions of melamine tainted food products recalled provided by Food Technology Research Centre in MARDI, Malaysia:
1 BAIRONG GRAPE CREAM CRACKERS
2 DOVE H/NUT ALM & RAISIN CHOC
3 DOVE HAZELNUT CHOC
4 DOVE MILK CHOCOLATE
5 Dreyers Choc Cake Ice Cream 887ml
6 Dreyers Choc Cake Ice Cream 887ml
7 Dreyers Cookie & Cream Ice Cream 887ml
8 Dreyers Cookie & Cream Ice Cream 887ml
9 Dreyers Mint Chip Ice Cream 887ml
10 Dreyers Mint Chip Ice Cream 887ml
11 Dreyers Rocky Road Ice Cream 887ml
12 Dreyers Rocky Road Ice Cream 887ml
13 Dreyers Strawberry Ice Cream 887ml
14 Dreyers Strawberry Ice Cream 887ml
15 Dreyers Toast Almond Ice Cream 887ml
16 Dreyers Toast Almond Ice Cream 887ml
17 Dreyers Vanilla Ice Cream 887ml
18 Dreyers Vanilla Ice Cream 887ml
19 DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA
20 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF PLAIN
21 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC
22 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY
23 DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW
24 DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW
25 DUTCH LADY STER MILK PLAIN
26 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC
27 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY
28 DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA
29 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SESAME CRACKERS
30 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SALTINE CRACKERS
31 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM S ONION CRACKERS
32 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SEAWEED CRACKERS
33 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL BUTTER BISC
34 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL SEAWEED BIS
35 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL CNUT
36 GINBIS ANIMAL BISCUIT
37 Koala Cocoa Biscuit 40g
38 Koala Cocoa Biscuit 40g
39 KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 18S
40 KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 5S
41 KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 18S
42 KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 5S
43 Lotte Koala Cocoa Funpack 210g
44 Lotte Koala Cocoa Funpack 210g
45 M & M Chocolate Peanut 200g
46 M & M Chocolate Peanut 200g
47 M&M CHOC CANDIES PLAIN%
48 M&M CHOC CANDIES PEANUT%
49 M&M CHOC CANDIES-PLAIN
50 M&M CHOC CANDIES-PEANUTS
51 M&M FUNSIZE MILK
52 M&M FUNSIZE PEANUT
53 M&M Chocolate Candies Plain 200g
54 M&M Chocolate Candies Plain 200g
55 MEIJI UJIKINTOKI 2978
56 MEIJI UMAKABO CHOCOLATE
57 MEIJI FAMILY PACK-GREEN TEA
58 MEIJI CHESTNUT & REDBEAN
59 MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT PROMO PK
60 MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT
61 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILK MALT
62 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILK WALNUT 6S
63 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILKMALT 6S
64 Monmilk CHOCOLATE MILK 6S
65 Monmilk COFFEE MILK 6S
66 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT
67 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT MILK
68 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT MILK 6S
69 Monmilk HI CAL MILK
70 Monmilk HI CAL MILK 6S
71 Monmilk MILK DELUXE 12S
72 Monmilk PURE MILK
73 Monmilk PURE MILK
74 Monmilk PURE MILK 6S
75 MonmilkBREAKFAST MILK WALNUT
76 NABISCO IN A BISKIT CHICKEN
77 NESTLE NES D/STICK MINI VANILLA
78 NESTLE NES DISTICK MINI CHOCO
79 NESTLE MILK & BERRY STARS CRL
80 NO FRILLS WAFER BLUEBERRY
81 NO FRILLS WAFER CHOCOLATE
82 NO FRILLS WAFER PEANUT
83 Orion Fresh Pie 138g
84 Orion Fresh Pie 138g
85 Orion Tiramisu 138g
86 Orion Tiramisu 138g
87 PEI TIAN CREAM BISCUIT
88 Rabbit Milk Sweet 150g
89 SILANG NATURAL OAT CRACKER
90 Snicker Candies Funsize 240g
91 Snicker Candies Funsize 240g
92 SNICKERS PEANUT CHOCOLATE%
93 SNICKERS SNACKSIZE BARS PNUT 5
94 TAKE ONE BABY BITES 24S
95 TAKE ONE BABY BITE CK VG
96 TAKE ONE BABY BITE CARROT
97 Vitasoy Chocolate Drink 4s 125ml
98 Vitasoy Chocolate Drink 4s 125ml
99 Vitasoy Melon Soya Bean Milk 4s 125ml
100 Vitasoy Melon Soya Bean Milk 4s 125ml
101 Vitasoy Q Soya Milk 4s 125ml
102 Vitasoy Q Soya Milk 4s 125ml
103 WANT WANT MILK CANDY
104 Want Want Flavoured Milk 250ml
105 Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 1L
106 Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 6s 250ml
107 Yili Hi Cal Milk 1L
108 Yili Hi Cal Milk 6s 250ml
109 Yili Pure Milk 1L
110 Yili Pure Milk 6s 250ml
111 Youcan Masterbean Multipack
112 Youcan Passion Multipack
113 Youcan Silk Sliced and Passion Strawberry
114 Youcan Stawberry Multipack
115 Youcan Traditional Sesame Multipack 4s
116 Youcan Unusual Multipack 4s
To identify the save milk products including milk powder/beverages/milk added food listed by Malaysia Health Ministry, please refer here.
Some simple tips:
1. Check the label of the milk products. They shall includes food that contained milk in smaller quantity as well like beverages, yogurt, cheese, soya milk or cookies.
2. If you have doubt of the products like cake, bread or candy, stop eating or buying them. Better be save and sorry.
3. Read, check out and keep abreast with the latest news.
4. If possible, breast fed your baby.
5. Search for alternative protein or buy safe raw food e.g. tofu or meats and cook/eat at home.
FDA bans milk-flavoured candy from China
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered its offices in border provinces, ports and airports to temporarily ban the entry of milk-flavoured toffee from China, for fear that the candy may possibly contain melamine, according to FDA Secretary-General Chatree Banchuen.
Milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine has sickened more than 54,000 children in China, while nearly 13,000 infants have been admitted to hospital, 104 in serious condition with kidney stones and agonising complications. Four babies died.
Mr Chatree said some consumers had expressed worries that the popular White Rabbit brand of milk-flavoured toffee imported from China with an edible inner wrapping may also contain melamine.
Because of the threat of additional contamination he ordered FDA officials on high alert and banned the import of the category of toffee candies for the time being. Testing of toffee samples in the market is being done to determine whether it can be safely consumed.
As for the infant formula milk powders that are available in Thailand’s markets, the FDA chief said he was confident that the products were free of melamine as most of the products were produced from raw materials imported from New Zealand and European countries.
However, dairy product for adults — including yogurt — may use milk powder from China, but less than 10 per cent, he said, which could pose minimal risk.
Mr Chatree also recommended that consumers avoid milk-flavoured toffee from China until the authorities complete their assessment and confirm that there is no contamination.
Melamine, usually used to make plastics and fertiliser, can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. It has been found in candy, buns and milk cartons sold internationally.
Since the scandal broke earlier this month, Bangladesh, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan have placed at least partial import bans on Chinese dairy products.
FDA expands checks for Chinese milk products
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration has expanded its checks for possible melamine-contaminated food products from China to include candy and other items, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Chinese authorities are trying to roll back exports of milk products contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.
Infant formula tainted with the chemical has put nearly 13,000 Chinese babies into the hospital with painful kidney stones. Four have died.
“The FDA has expanded its Asian market sampling and import surveillance assignments to include additional products such as dairy-based candies, dairy-based desserts and other such products reported to the agency as having been tested in other countries and found positive for melamine or its analogs,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said by e-mail.
“We are testing and we continue to test the products. So far, the FDA has not found any positive samples in the products it has tested.”
Melamine, which can be used to cheat quality checks by mimicking food protein, has been found in candy, buns and carton milk sold to other countries and regions, unleashing fear in markets already shaken by a string of “made-in-China” scandals last year.
China has the world’s third-biggest dairy sector by volume, after India and the United States, the Chinese dairy products industry association recently estimated.
Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan have already banned Chinese milk products.
The FDA says is has contacted the companies that make infant formula for distribution in the United States and been assured that none import formula or source materials from China.
Inspectors have also visited Chinese markets and stores to look for imported Chinese infant formula.
“Additionally, FDA is sampling and testing milk and milk-derived ingredients and finished food products that could contain these ingredients from Chinese sources. Milk-derived ingredients include whole milk powder, nonfat milk powder, whey powder, lactose powder and casein,” the agency said in a statement last week. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Writing by Maggie Fox, Editing by Will Dunham)
Cookies With Melamine Found in Netherlands
By VOA News
30 September 2008
Officials in the Netherlands say two types of Chinese-made cookies have been found with elevated levels of the industrial chemical melamine.
The Dutch Food Safety Authority said Tuesday the chestnut and chocolate flavored cookies from the “Koala” brand are now off the market because of their melamine concentration.
New melamine-tainted products are being announced on an almost daily basis.
In South Korea, officials say the chemical was found in Nabisco Ritz cracker cheese sandwiches and in rice crackers made by the Chinese company, Danyang Day.
Since the melamine scandal broke in early September, more than 50 governments around the world have either banned or recalled Chinese-made products containing milk.
The World Health Organization has issued guidelines to help authorities decide on the health concerns of melamine levels in food.
Chinese authorities warned earlier this month that tons of melamine-contaminated milk powder were exported to Taiwan.
Already some 53,000 children have been sickened in China and four have died after drinking milk or milk products laced with the chemical.
China’s official Xinhua news agency says police in northern China have arrested 27 people in their investigation of the milk scandal.
Police tell Xinhua that melamine was being produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations.
The chemical which is used in making plastic, is believed to have been used to make foods such as watered-down milk appear to be higher in protein.
Lose weight using a treadmill workstation desk!
Sep 27, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: Fad Diets, Health and Fitness, Just like us, Lose 10 pounds, Weight lossThis is such a cool idea. Featured in the NYT health section.
Workers in office using treadmill desk workstation
I Put In 5 Miles at the Office
Chris Machian for The New York Times
Walking 9 to 5 Zandra Hooks, right, and Kirk Hurley can answer phones and do computer work (not to mention burn calories) on their Walkstations at Mutual of Omaha.
By MANDY KATZ
Published: September 16, 2008
TERRI KRIVOSHA, a partner at a Minneapolis law firm, logs three miles each workday on a treadmill without leaving her desk. She finds it easier to exercise while she types than to attend aerobics classes at the crack of dawn.
Andrew Shurtleff for The New York Times
Dr. Joe Stirt on his home-office treadmill.
Brad Rhoads, a computer programmer and missionary in Princeton, Ill., faces a computer monitor on a file cabinet and gets in about five miles a day on a treadmill while working in his home office.
“After a while, your legs do get kind of tired,” said Mr. Rhoads, 40, who started exercising in March, when doctors advised him to lose weight after open-heart surgery.
Ms. Krivosha and Mr. Rhoads are part of a small but growing group of desk jockeys who were inspired by Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. In 2005, Dr. Levine led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.
To incorporate extra movement into the routines of sedentary workers (himself included), Dr. Levine constructed a treadmill desk by sliding a bedside hospital tray over a $400 treadmill.
Without breaking a sweat, the so-called work-walker can burn an estimated 100 to 130 calories an hour at speeds slower than two miles an hour, Mayo research shows.
Enthusiasts began following Dr. Levine’s example, constructing treadmill desks that range from sleekly robotic set-ups to rickety mash-ups that could be Wall-E’s long-lost kin. But the recent introduction of an all-in-one treadmill desk from Details may inch work-walking into the mainstream, as dozens of businesses invest in the hardware to let their employees walk (and, ideally, lose a little weight) at work.
Since last November, about 335 Walkstations, have been sold nationwide to companies including Humana, Mutual of Omaha, GlaxoSmithKline and Best Buy.
The Walkstation, which Dr. Levine helped develop, costs about $4,000 and comes in 36 laminate finishes with an ergonomically curved desktop. Its quiet motor is designed for slow speeds, said David Kagan, director of marketing communications at Details, a division of Steelcase.
STILL, to most, work-walking is “a freaky thing to do,” said Joe Stirt, 60, an anesthesiologist in Charlottesville, Va., who works and blogs in his off hours while walking up to six hours a day in his home office.
Mr. Stirt’s site, www.bookofjoe.com/2007/10/treadmill-works.html, is one of some dozen work-walking blogs, including www.treadmill-desk.com and treadmill-workstation.com.
“I know lots of people who are using them,” Dr. Stirt said of the treadmill desks. “But there are probably a hundred times more who we don’t read about on the Internet.”
There is even a burgeoning social network (officewalkers.ning.com), with around 30 members, that Mr. Rhoads started in March.
To the uninitiated, work-walking sounds like a recipe for distraction. But devotees say the treadmill desks increase not only their activity but also their concentration.
“I thought it was ridiculous until I tried it,” said Ms. Krivosha, 49, a partner in the law firm of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand.
Ms. Krivosha said it is tempting to become distracted during conference calls, but when she is exercising, she listens more intently.
“Walking just takes care of the A.D.D. part,” she said.
Still, work-walking can require crafty maneuvering. When colleagues drop in on Bruce Langer, another work-walker, he pivots, then keeps striding backward while facing them.
“It’s more polite and, from a workout standpoint, it works different muscles,” said Mr. Langer, a vice president of Tealwood Asset Management in Minneapolis.
In 2005, Salo, a professional placement firm in Minneapolis, contacted Dr. Levine after fashioning its first treadmill unit. (Employees called the cobbled-together unit “the Frankendesk.”) By 2007, Salo had become a test site for early Walkstation models and now has 16.
At Mutual of Omaha’s 150-person call center in Omaha, four Walkstations have been in use since July as part of a small company study to figure out whether work-walking could maintain productivity while reducing employees’ cholesterol, weight and blood-sugar levels. Sixteen subjects of different ages, weights and fitness levels work-walk two hours a day, said Peggy Rivedal, the manager of employee health services. A similarly diverse control group works the old-fashioned way.
After leaving the military two years ago, Kirk Hurley, 40, a customer service representative at Mutual of Omaha, gained 75 pounds. In two months of work-walking two hours a day, he has lost 16 pounds.
“You don’t really feel the physical strain on your body because your mind’s occupied with your work,” he said.
Treadmill desks will not likely replace the sit-down kind any time soon. In corporate settings, they are usually in open areas where employees can just jump on. At a few firms, including Salo, they have replaced conference tables.
SOME business colleagues arrive at meetings with walking shoes in hand, said Amy Langer, a Salo founder (and Mr. Langer’s wife).
But not every employee has the enthusiasm to keep work-walking day after day. Take the trial Walkstation at Humana, a health insurer in Louisville, Ky.
After a year on site, the treadmill is in use about 60 percent of the workday, mostly for conference calls, said Grant Harrison, the vice president of consumer innovation. Many workers, he said, may “try it out, but they don’t make it a part of their daily life.”
Nor does everyone have the coordination to walk and work, said Andrew Wood, the director of ergonomics and corporate services for Muve, a weight-management consultancy affiliated with the Mayo Clinic.
“If you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, this may not be the workstation for you,” Mr. Wood said. But it should be a piece of cake for most people, he added.
James O. Hill, an obesity researcher and the director of the University of Colorado’s Center for Human Nutrition in Denver, shares this opinion: “There are not very many people who can’t walk,” he said. “You should have a doctor’s note to not walk.”
Will work-walking free you from the gym forever? Not if you’re seeking serious weight loss or peak cardio-respiratory fitness. “Walking on the treadmill could be enough to prevent weight gain, but it’s not going to melt the pounds off,” Dr. Hill said.
Still, something is better than nothing, say workwalkers like Mr. Rhoads.
“At least a little bit of exercise will just be part of my day and part of my working,” he said. “The one thing I always do is work.”
Correction: September 25, 2008
An article last Thursday about desks that include treadmills stated that Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, invented the first known treadmill desk. After the article was published, Seth Roberts, an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed out that he had created such a desk in 1996, eight years before Dr. Levine.
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