December 05, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- -When is enough, enough? Sometimes reading news stories can be unsettling and then sometimes it can just make you damn angry. Here in America we live with a multi level media colossus that spews out garbage on every level, they too also lie who just ignore the truth. We are all familiar with Fox news 24 hour running propaganda network but they have to get these stories from some where, they can’t make them all up. They would if they could but they’re just not smart enough.

In 2007 thousands of family pets worldwide died due to melamine tainted wheat and rice protein imported from China. American pet food companies sales were devastated by the poisonings. I personally will never buy Iam’s products as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow, they’ve saved an estimated ¼ penny per can by using Chinese wheat gluten in their products rather than domestic but just for fun lets look at what melamine is and what it does.

Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen. It is commonly used to make plastics, counter tops, glue and a host of other industrial processes. It is not approved by any national or international governing body for use in food, food products or food processing.

So how could this highly toxic chemical end up in our food supply?

At the time of the pet poisonings, everyone, the Chinese, the American government and the pet food companies all feigned complete shock and dismay. Then a single Chinese suppler was singled out for an accidental contamination but as the mass die offs of family pets continued unabated it became clear that more than one Chinese supplier was responsible.

The Chinese company blamed had initially claimed complete innocence and was cooperating in the investigation. The US Congress held hearings in last April but resisted the public’s call to regulate the now self-regulating pet food industry.

As universities continued to study what mystery chemical was killing family pets by the thousands and how it had accidentally slipped passed the self regulated pet food industry Cornell reported and verified that it was melamine in March of 2008.

By April 1st both Cornell and the FDA announced that the presence of melamine had been confirmed. The chemical was found in the suspected wheat gluten in raw concentrations as high as 6.6 percent. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian said, "There was a sizable amount of melamine. You could see crystals in the wheat gluten."

Thousands of dead dogs and cats all with melamine in their systems thousands of samples of pet food all contaminated with high levels of melamine and what does the FDA report to the public? What is their official position? Despite the presence of the industrial chemical in both the food and in the animals, the FDA has made it clear that they are still in the middle of an extensive investigation, and "not yet fully certain that melamine is the causative agent."

Then media silence, they just wait for the story to fade away, just a terrible accident the wheat gluten was only used to thicken the gravy in the wet pet food products they claimed. But it didn’t go away instead it reemerged in even a worse form. The poisoning reemerged this time in infant baby formula manufactured in China. By the end of September 94,000 infants have been injured worldwide. Andrew Ferrier the head of New Zealand’s dairy giant Fonterra claimed, "In this case we frankly have sabotage of a product," perhaps that explains why Fonterra waited more than a month to announce a recall.

Ferrier offered, "that unknown parties were behind the industrial sabotage." Fonterra owns 43% of the Chinese Sanlu Group responsible for the tainted infant formula. While Mr. Ferrier sticks to his claims of industrial sabotage New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark blamed Chinese officials for the almost six-week cover-up.

"They have been trying for weeks to get official recall and the local authorities in China would not do it," she said. "At a local level … I think the first inclination was to try to put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall."

The fears of contaminated baby formula swept across Asia and prompted fears of tainted Cadburys chocolates and other products made with milk. Comments on Chinese internet forums such as sina.com suggested that Government and Sanlu officials had colluded to cover up the scandal because of central Government pressure to ensure that no bad news blighted China's hosting of the Beijing Olympics, which finished on August 24. Sanlu is China's biggest milk powder producer and is majority state-owned.

From claims of one off industrial accidents to accusations of industrial sabotage the scandal spreads to include corporations and even governments as the promises of "never again" still reverberate in our ears. But there is a dirty little secret in the industry and an open secret in China. According to the World Health Organization, "In China, where adulteration has occurred, water has been added to raw milk to increase its volume. As a result of this dilution the milk has a lower protein concentration. Companies using the milk for further production (e.g. of powdered infant formula) normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine increases the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content."

It’s not accidental, it’s not industrial sabotage it is quite intentional and goes on to this day. Your Food and Drug administration with a budget of two billion dollars would certainly never tolerate the intentional adding of toxic industrial chemicals for the purpose of fooling quality control tests in infant formula would they?

Small Melamine Amounts in Formula Are Safe, FDA Says

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The industrial chemical melamine is safe in baby formula in small amounts, U.S. regulators said, revising their earlier recommendations. The Food and Drug Administration’s discovery of melamine and a byproduct of the chemical in two U.S.-made formulas doesn’t pose health risks, said Stephan Sundlof, director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on a conference call today with reporters. The FDA had said before finding the contamination that melamine may be harmful in infant formula in any amount.

In China, officials said melamine was added to milk illegally to artificially boost protein readings. The FDA said that wasn’t the case with the U.S. samples. Melamine is approved for use in some food containers and may leach from packaging, Sundlof said.

"I don’t know the reason it is appearing in some products and not others," he told reporters. "I really don’t want to speculate on why it is in some and not in others because the real answer is that we don’t know at this point." The FDA began testing infant formula in September and has so far analyzed 74 of the 87 products it has collected. None of the samples contained both melamine and a related compound, cyanuric acid. After reviewing the samples and animal studies, the agency decided that either melamine or cyanuric acid alone is safe in formula at 1 part per million or less.

Nestle SA’s liquid Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron tested positive for melamine in as much as 0.14 parts per million, and cyanuric acid was found in Bristol-Meyers Squib Co.’s powder Enfamil Lipil with Iron, in as much as 0.249 parts per million, Sundlof said.

No Safety Determination

The FDA still doesn’t know what level is safe if both compounds are present in formula because the combination has been linked to more buildup in the kidneys. For other foods, that level is 2.5 parts per million.

The FDA may not know a safe level but I damn sure do, that level is zero! We are not talking about fines or losing high paying positions here but about jail door slamming hard time. To knowingly import products potentially harmful to the weakest members of the American public is a crime against humanity. That the Federal bureau assigned to protect us answers with "we still don’t know what level is safe" but bring it on anyway is inexcusable. Just more of the globalism follies, So just when is enough, enough?

"Dead babies can take care of themselves"

(Alice Cooper)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21382.htm

Just more proof that China is trying to poison everyone.

Just say NO to chinese products!

I will edit to say that the FDA doesn't give a crap either!

I don't understand this whole bit about melamine and any controversy. I was told back in the early 80's not to EVER COOD anything in a melamine plastic dish as the melanine is poisonous and could seep through due to acids in tomato based products and/or heat. So if I KNEW nearly 30 years ago about melanine, one would think that the FDA and China knew it was poisonous, toooooo!!! I'm just a joe-blow!!!

This whole thing makes me so mad. And my daughter's dog was next to death from Iam's dog food. 1/4 cent savings per can???? A freakin' can of Iam's costs so much more because it's supposed to be quality and the markup is horrendous, so in the long run 1/4 cent per can didn't change a thing except their bottom line.

And, there was a head of some Chinese manufacturing company put to death in China over the lead business as he knowingly cut corners, so they say. Severe stuff!!! But, I assume he was also a scapegoat. This crap is still going on.

Part of me buys into the "China is trying to kill us", but that also makes NO SENSE considering 98% of the world buys from them, so why would they go out of their way to kill those who bring them MONEY???

Sorry, lots of thoughts, lots of tangents, lots of anger.

China is still a communist country. There are lots of reasons to do this. To control the world maybe?? Who knows, but I wont' give my son anything made in China.

There are still plenty of things in things we use daily, like BPA in plastics that are very harmful to our children. It makes me sick to know that the FDA knows how bad these things are, and still allows companys to use it.

For how many years have we listened to the republican chant government is the problem and not the solution? This is what you get when you cut funding to the government, less inspectors to catch these criminals and they know it. The odds of being inspected are slim to none. Thanks republicans you trashed our coountry from top to bottem.

Obama will save you...have no fear

Look at all the pesticides and hormones in our food products. Many have been proven to be toxic, yet they're still SAFE for us to consume. I can't understand how people actually believe them when they say these toxins are ok in small amounts. It's obvious they lower safety standards to accommodate these contaminated products for profit. Or wait...Is there really any standards anyway? They don't care about us. This is how our government controls the population.

Funny how the FDA said U.S. formula was safe and that no levels of that chemical was acceptable.

Then, gee they find it in U.S. brands and then tell us the amounts are so low we shouldn't worry.

Another example of big business owning the FDA.

big business owns everything

big business === world bank === federal reserve

agreed,

They have damn near destroyed this country for profit.
The amazing thing is that there are people that hate america so much that they still support them.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

Thomas Jefferson

we tried that for 8 years and it was a complete failure

EVERYBODY wants their cake and eat it, too! NOBODY wants to sacrifice or pay up! That's why we're in the mess we're in! IMO

<---- ) government employee)

Its so funny in our little cow town the fireman and policeman are all anti tax types and hard core rethuglicans. I find it funny that people who make their liveings off of taxes are so against taxes, untill their renewal levies come up that is.

I work hard and am good at my job. I haven't had a raise in like three or four years! But, I do ok. That's not the point. What grips me is that people want all these service from the government, good roads, safe food and drink, help for the poor, health benefits, but hate the government...and don't want to pay for the services! And, we just sit back and let money be scwandered every day! Come on, people, money does not grow on trees!

Umm excuse me, but safe food and drink shouldn't have to be bought, it should be a given!! Thats rediculous!! People can't stand the government, because things that should be done because it's the ethical thing to do, isn't.

You think it's ok to give billions to these banks and car companys, but screw the poor and the children consuming poison everyday.

...gulp !!!!!

amen hellkitten
and i thought this was gonna be an alice cooper thread

hell no the fda doesn't care any more. for the most part they are all just a bunch of overpaid, over "perked" pissed of people about the fact they didn't get as big of a cost of living raise as they should have. the fda is just a bunch of people. who is the fda's watchdog. talk about a open hole for terrorists to get through. yikes. you got a bunch of people who feel under paid with the ability to take a few bucks to allow passage of some crap into this country, yikes! God save the queen bee, we may need to re-populate soon!

Yesterday I was helping my neighbores son stack fire wood on his moms patio. The old lady next door is rather helpless. I have lived next door to her and her husband for 20 years. Her husband has passed away though 3 years ago. Since then I have helped maintain her yard and cut her fire wood with the help of her son who lives in another town. Its been a group effort to keep her in her home and yard that is far to big for her to do herself especialy with her medical conditions. Anyhow as I was working with her son we conversed on the current events of the day, he is a rush Lymbaugh fanatic by the way and swallows the propaganda hook line and sinker. I bite my tounge being I need to keep things pleasant being we chop wood together ,etc etc. anyhow he has just gotten laid off. He blames the government for not letting business take care of itself and to many government regulations. I gently pointed out this baby forumula disaster and said I wish they had more money to do food inspections. He again blamed this latest episode on the government. I finaly told him "gary its not the government at fault, the government has been run by big business. They buy politicains and then tell them what to do. We will never get this country back on its feet untill we get campaign finance reform and get the politicians free of the PAKS. We need to change how we finance elections and free them so they can work for us. to my suprise we found a point of agreement