In the midst of last week's recall of a tainted baby formula product manufactured by China's largest dairy producer, questions are being raised as to whether the Chinese regime knew of the problem weeks earlier, and suppressed public knowledge of the poisoning in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.
The product, a powdered-milk formula manufactured by Sanlu Group, has caused illness in 432 babies, kidney stones in more than a hundred infants, and two infant deaths, according to China's state-run media. Batches of formula were found to be contaminated with melamine, a chemical often associated with the manufacture of plastics.
According to Chinese media, in March 2008, some consumers had already reported a problem with Sanlu tainted milk powder to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
New Zealand's Fonterra Farmer’s Cooperative, a joint venture partner holding 43 percent stock in Sanlu Group, found out about the contamination on August 2—six days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony—and requested more than once that Sanlu immediately recall the contaminated formula, but said they were denied by local Chinese authorities.
"We together with Sanlu have done everything that we possibly could to get the product off the shelf," Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said in a video conference 15 Sept.
"We as a minority shareholder had to continue to push Sanlu. Sanlu had to work with their own government to follow the procedures that they were given," he added.
New Zealand's Prime Minister, Helen Clark, was contacted by Fonterra Sept. 5 and became directly involved in calling for a full public recall three days later by ensuring Beijing authorities were informed.
Leading up to the Beijing Olympics, China's communist regime issued a list of 21 topics banned from Chinese media—eight of which dealt with food safety scandals.
Connection With Beijing Olympics
The "People’s Net" (www.people.com.cn ) reported that journalists asked Sept. 13 whether Chinese authorities delayed reporting this incident on purpose due to the simultaneous occurance of the Beijing Olympics, since this problem had been discovered before the Olympic Games.
Gao Qiang, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health replied, “It is true that the government of Hebei Province only received the report from Shijiazhuang City government on September 8. On the same day, the provincial government had already started to investigate on this case.”
Gao continued, “I think their reactions to this incident was pretty fast, it has nothing to do with the Olympic Games.”
Ms. Han from Gansu Province, where most of the baby cases had been reported, said that it can’t be forgiven if someone delays reporting the information of tainted baby formula because of political or economical reasons, nor could it be understood or accepted.
“How stupid it is!" Ms. Han states. "I think it should not be that way. Just think about it, those are all lives. They are our kids—the next generation. How could someone do something like that? I was frightened and also very mad when I heard about it.”
As to why authorities and the manufacturer waited for more than a month before announcing a recall, Mr. Li from the Sichuan earthquake disaster area said that as a consumer, he can’t accept a delay on reporting the incident regardless if it had anything to do with the Olympic Games.
Food Safety Problem
According to a Sept. 13 report from China's state-run media Xinhua.net, starting from March 2008, Sanlu had continually received complaints from consumers suffering from urinary problems. Simultaneously, the Sanlu Group conducted an internal investigation, the scope of which covered children who had consumed the product, the quality of their products and milk suppliers. In July, kidney stone cases were found in Guangdong Province, with questions arising about the quality of Sanlu formula.
During the same month, more parents from Changsha, Nanjing, and Beijing submitted complaints. Xinhua's report claimed that Sanlu group had taken some action, including the recall of products from supermarkets and the sealing up of products in storage.
In March 2007 in the U.S., a large number of dogs and cats died from eating pet food imported from two Chinese manufacturers in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. Soon after, it was revealed that melamine was added in some of wheat protein powders and rice protein powders imported from China. The Chinese regime arrested several Chinese people and coverage about the incident then fell silent.
The U.S. government subsequently asked to inspect relted pet food manufacturing sites, but only saw wrecked factory buildings demolished by bulldozers.
In plant or grain protein-based animal feeds, adding 1 percent melamine can increase measured protein content by 4 percent, at very little cost.
Mr. Liao Xinbo, vice director of the Health Department in Guangdong, said in his article published Sept. 13, “I think hundreds of millions of Chinese people, without knowing it, have been eating pork, beef and chicken which are fed with melamine-tainted feeds. [They have also been] drinking adult milk powders with the melamine added for many years. Unknowingly, everyone has been contaminated with melamine.”
“The Sanlu scandal reflects that the problem of food safety in China is very serious. We are not sure if there is anything we can eat safely.” Liao added.
One Sanlu staff member admitted to a Xinhua reporter, “This is a 'soft rib' in the entire industry. Unfortunately, it was Sanlu who was caught this time.”
Read the original article in Chinese.