Chinese Baby Formula Contained Melamine
September 16th, 2008Via: New Zealand Herald:
Chinese police have arrested two brothers suspected of adding an industrial chemical to milk they sold to a company that produced infant formula that has killed two babies.
The news came just hours after Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said he was happy with the way the NZ dairy giant had acted over the crisis, which has affected more than 1200 babies.
“I can look myself in the mirror and say Fonterra acted absolutely responsibly in this one,” he said.
Contaminated milk powder made by Chinese dairy company San Lu was publicly recalled last week.
Dairy co-operative Fonterra – the world’s biggest dairy exporter – paid US$107 million for 43 per cent of San Lu in 2006 and has three directors on the seven-member board.
The two brothers, surnamed Geng, run a milk collection centre in Hebei province and are accused of adding melamine, a chemical used in plastics, to the milk to make it appear higher in protein, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
They sold about three tons of contaminated milk a day, the report said.
Chinese investigators say melamine may have been added to the milk to fool quality tests after water was added to fraudulently increase the milk’s volume. Melamine is rich in nitrogen, and standard tests for protein in food ingredients measure nitrogen levels.
Fonterra is a disgrace.
(woops, i forgot, Greed is Good (TM))
There have been deliberate food contamination atrocities coming out of China for several years, predating Fonterra’s $100 million investment in a “dairy company” (SIC) there.
Three Fonterra members on the board, oh, but no one told the board.
Corporate Goverance for Dummies, Chapter One: U R an Ostrich!
Compliance for Dummies: Chapter 1: Mass Murder is OK as Long as the Chinese Govt Says So!
Testing for melamine? No dairy companies anywhere in the world tests for melamine!
How about testing for fitness for human consumption, Mr. Andrew Obsene Salary Ferrier?
Or is that too much to expect from the world’s largest dairy exporter?
Way too hard, obviously.