WARNING! The Truth About Melamine
Lyle Loughry
January 2009
March 2007 taught the world a new word, melamine. Although melamine has been around for years in the use of making plastics and fertilizers, very few consumers had even heard of the word. But, in March 2007 when thousands of pet owners learned that unscrupulous Chinese suppliers used melamine to boost the protein analysis of some common pet food ingredients to earn a few more dollars, melamine became a household word. After the pet food horror, melamine went silent for a few months; but in 2008 became a topic of concern all over again when it was discovered to be in everything from baby formulas, to candy (M & M's), to powdered cheese – various recalled products worldwide.
The worry for US consumers is not only what product will be recalled next (due to melamine contamination), but also if there have been melamine contaminated products that have slipped into the US, unnoticed. Currently only 1% to 3% of all foods and drugs imported into the United States are inspected by the FDA. This means that anywhere from 97% to 99% of all imported food and drugs are not inspected; including 97% to 99% of all imported potential melamine risk products from China. Reports of milk poisoning in China are becoming so frequent that some people are afraid to look at the daily news reports. They change almost daily, and no one seems to be able to tell us, for sure, what to eat and not eat.
For the purpose of this ALERT, we are defining "poisoned milk" as milk powder mixed with melamine. For a more detailed on the dangers of
milk, go to the Featured Article section of this website, and consider the article, The Truth About Milk and soy.
Melamine is an industrial chemical, and is used in the production of melawares, fertilizers, and resistant board products used in home decorating. Melamine is added to milk powder because it is cheaper than milk, and has the same nitrogen-containing protein that milk does. Combining the two lowers the cost, and gives the businessman more profit. It's all about MONEY!
Melamine doesn't have any smell, so it's not easily detected. Even though the FDA has downplayed the melamine risk, they have announced recently the development of a method for simultaneously detecting residues of melamine and cyanuric acid in infant formula. Cyanuric acid a weak acid that is marketed as a chlorine “stabilizer” for swimming pools. The method, developed by MercK, uses a varient of liquid chromatography, combined with mass spectrometry, and the combination can precisely detect and separate even minute quantities of melamine and cyanuric acid.and. But where does the new mother, or anyone for that matter, get this information. We have to rely on the "powers to be," and when is that available.
On September 30, 2008, the COOL law - - Country of Origin Labeling - - was enacted, requiring COOL information for certain beef, lamb, pork, chicken, goat, veal, wild and farm-raised seafood, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng sold in the United States. However, the COOL Law does not require any potential melamine risk products or ingredients to provide country of origin information to consumers. So much for the "powers to be." As the law currently stands, consumers have no way of knowing if any ingredient in their coffee creamer, dried cheese, pet food, or any of hundreds of other potential risk items, originated from China.
The widespread use of melamine in milk powder was first discovered in 2007, when cats and dogs in the US began to die, suddenly. It was found that pet food from China contained Melamine, and the scandal widened. Beginning in 2008, China began to experience an abnormal increase in cases of kidney stones in infants. In August of 2008, China Santu Milk Powder tested positive with Melamine. In September 2008, the New Zealand government requested that China vigorously check out this problem, and within a month, numerous food products in Taiwan were also being tested for Melamine. Some countries have initiated recalls, but The FDA still has been reluctant to make this a priority issue here in America.
We know that when Melamine is ingested, it remains in the kidney, and it forms into stones that block the tubes. Pan is eminent, and the victim cannon urinate, causing the kidneys to swell. Although surgery can remove the stones, it can cause irreversible kidney damage that can lead to loss of kidney function. This, in turn, can require kidney dialysis, or even lead to death, due to uremia. Dialysis, sometimes referred to as "blood washing," involves filtering all of the body's blood into a dialysis machine, and then back into the body, after "washing." The process takes four hours, and it is necessary, absent a kidney transplant, to repeat the process once every three days, for the rest of the patient's life.
Dialysis is more serious for babies, because the baby's kidney is very small, and the baby drink a lot of milk powder. It doesn't matter how much Melamine a human ingests, the important point is that, "It cannot be digested or assimilated!" China currently has thirteen thousand hospitalized infants being treated.
CAUTION: Until a lot more is known about the Melamine issue, it would be wise to avoid any food that contains dry milk or creamers, in stores, snack bars, restaurants or coffee shops. Infants should be nursed, if possible, or switched to other substitutes. Share this article with friends so they will be aware of the risk of milk poisoning.
It would be helpful for the consumer to know where products originate. Consumers have the right to know these things, but sometimes big business, governments and other beaurocracies, never get around to informing the consumer. Product packaging will often have country of origin or made in information, but Chinese businessmen know that consumers around the world are becoming scared of products made in China, so in many instances, they no longer show in which country their products are made.
Please inform your family and friends so they can become aware of this very real threat to their health.
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