Friday, February 18, 2011

China on alert for leather protein in milk supply

As of 2008, six children in China have been killed and over 300,000 have reported illness due to melamine and hydrolyzed leather protein found in dairy products. The industrial chemical melamine and toxic substance leather protein have been illegally used by dairy producers to increase the protein in their milk supplies. Once authorities found out about the melamine being used in dairy producer's milk, random checks began to take place and in 2009 the Chenyuan Dairy Company was shut down due to findings of toxic leather proteins in their milk. However Leather Protein was not the main substance used as a dairy additive. Originally melamine was the main additive of choice but once it became too easy to detect, dairy producers had to find another alternative. Leather protein is an actual protein and comes from the cow so it cannot be detected as an additive. Authorities who have tried to look out for this leather protein say it is not known to be dangerous but the China Daily Newspaper said the chemicals found in this protein could pose serious risks to the health of children and adults. As of last year 7,406 batches of tested milk were all free of melamine and leather protein but last year 2,132 tons of melamine contaminated milk that was supposed to be destroyed ended up back in the hands of people due to the government's lack of destruction enforcement.

After reading this article, I do believe that the authorities efforts to randomly check for melamine and leather protein was an important step in controlling the damage that dairy producers were doing to their consumers. Six deaths and over 300,000 cases of illness just from milk is a big deal. I do not think that random checks were enough in this case. Checks should have been done daily to ensure there were no chemicals or toxic substances being placed in the milk that people drink on a daily basis, especially for infants that consume milk as their only food intake, multiple times a day. As for the 2,132 tons of seized melamine, contaminated dairy products that were supposed to be burned and buried but never were due to the government's lack of effort, this was extremely slack on their part. If you are going to address a problem and take action to solve the problem, why do a half-way job? China may have made a few steps in the right direction but they still have a ways to go.

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