Last week, when the news of melamine in Sanlu milk broke out, my Chinese-speaking friend and I were at the preschool, discussing his latest bite by a fellow classmate.
When we asked the school the brand of milk they fed the kids, they assured us they used, “Nestle” (hai chau). I just found out that Nestle also tested positive for melamine here.
I think the school has switched to soya or almond milk in the meantime.
Back home, I immediately thought of the 100% hot fresh milk I had JUST ordered delivered to our home on a daily basis. At RMB4/bottle, I paid RMB120 for 30 bottles to try out this month.
When I called to cancel, the delivery man assured me that it’s milk straight from the cow, without ANY processing or additives. He even showed me the positive local newspaper reports inspecting their milk factory and test reports, which are all in Chinese of course.
I miss my morning milk but wonder if should drink it tomorrow? One bottle’s in the fridge.
Shit…I should have listened to my Chinese neighbour. She suggested that I go down to the local market which has a corner dedicated to some cows and goats. I can buy a bottle of milk for RMB6 milked straight from the animals!
Not used to 100% FRESH MILK, I politely declined as I may not be able to take the taste or smell. She laughed and pressed me to give it a try, telling me that even the local Chinese DO NOT trust their local products 
Now to the smiling Fonterra rep below…
(Photo from the Star)
I also worried about Lucas’ supply of Fernleaf milk from Malaysia bought earlier this year. Fernlead is produced by FONTERRA, the 43% shareholder of SANLU milk! As I don’t have cable TV, I’m trawling the net now for news on Fernleaf. PLEASE let me know of any news ok.
Are they even safe??? That’s what he drinks 3x a day!!!
Today, I don’t see any updates on the Fonterra news section. Excerpt from the Sept 15 media statement from Fonterra CEO, Andrew Ferrier, reads:
The San Lu Board, on which we have three directors, was first advised on August 2 that there was a problem with the contamination of infant formula. This was the first Fonterra knew of this issue.
At that point Fonterra pushed hard for San Lu to immediately conduct a recall of affected product.
San Lu, in conjunction with the Chinese Government authorities, immediately implemented a trade recall of infant formula.
San Lu, again working with the Chinese health authorities, then instituted a full public recall of all infant formula.
Now the Chinese Government is recalling all San Lu products.
The process and investigation is being handled by the Chinese Government Ministry of Health. But it is our understanding that it has now been confirmed that the source of contamination was the raw milk. San Lu purchases this raw milk from third parties.
It is also my understanding that its been established that the possibility of contamination via the production, storage and sales process has been excluded.
Well, great…you can blame it all on the government of China but the milk carries YOUR BRAND.
YOU knew something was wrong with on August 2 – where is your legal and moral obligation to share this news with the public?
Thousands of babies are suffering now because of this vow or pact of silence.
Check out this article about parents’ anguish in the Irish Times.
The media is focused on China but what about the international quality procedures? Firms like Fonterra can’t just escape scot-free. FORBES mentions this here.
Recall that the toy scandal eventually led to Mattel issuing a public apology due to poor design issues, absolving China of the fury leashed out by mostly US-based parents who bought the lead-tainted toys.
If the chains of McDonald’s CAN assure the very same big Mac, cheeseburger, fries and Coke all over China (and elsewhere), this shows that NOT all food in China suffers from poor quality controls.
Now that the scandal has spread to milk-related products like ice-creams, yoghurt, candy etc, I’ve got to recheck almost EVERYTHING in my fridge and cupboards.
Thankfully, I’ve been VERY STRICT about chocolates and candy with him – only lollipops and gummies. We’ve also stopped eating ice-cream sold by KFC and McDonald’s, using his cough as an excuse.
Yesterday, my weekly maid told me about the stampede at Walmart during the weekend. It’s already a CRAZY CROWD there on regular weekends so I shudder to think of how it’s like with angry, frustrated and fearful parents.
Hordes of parents thronged the hypermart with cans of formula milk, demanding for refunds and exchanges. Because the Walmart staff were a bit slow to respond, some parents (in their frustration, fear and anger) pounded and yelled at the entrance, demanding for service.
In the end, the Walmart staff had to use trolleys to block the entrance and exit – controlling the crowd coming in and the ones going out.
I can understand their frustration – formula mik is HIGHLY EXPENSIVE here, with imported brands costing around RMB100-200 per 900 g. The poorer people turn to breastfeeding, which I think is best and safest.
Initially, my maid thought of keeping her son close to her in town, far away from her family in Guizhou. She thought that with the money she could earn, she’d put him in a daycare center so that she and her husband could see him everyday.
Her mother advised her to leave him in the country as their working lives would be disrupted should he fall sick. In the end, she sent him back with a heavy heart.
Now, she’s really thankful she took her mother’s advice because her son is safe from the tainted milk! He’s growing really well feeding on their own home grown chickens and ducks, eating their eggs and if he wants some milk, his grandmother would pull up a nearby cow or goat and let him have his fill 
My heart goes out to the Chinese mothers – some are beating themselves up for not breastfeeding or being able to breastfeed since they need to WORK!
Earlier this week, the local Fujian and CCTV channels broadcast Premier Wen Jiabao visiting kids in hospitals, smiling consumers at the supermarket and dutiful employees removing cans of tainted milk from supermarket shelves. All to assure the local and international folks that everything is SAFE.
We can very well see that this is definitely NOT the case.
I am disappointed in China – I WAS so proud of being a Chinese during the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. I was SO impressed by the cultural and technological display of splendour.
What were you thinking??? Whatever you did then, NOBODY is going to recall or relish those beautiful moments of glory. Everyone’s only going to remember this now.
Haven’t you heard of the Maly proverb “Kerana nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga”? (English version: One rotten apple spoils the barrel)
EDITED: This article in the Boston Globe sums up my feelings now.
If this milk madness isn’t enough, we’re expecting Typhoon Hagupit either tonight, tomorrow or the day after. It’s already really windy now and excruciatingly HOT (pressure build-up)!!!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Yalor… so what they hosted the Olympic when the people has no ethics at all??? I can’t believe they do that even after so many boo-haha in the news lately about product recalls.
Because of money they do the most despicable!
I’m really katak di dalam tempurung..I had no idea what was going on..till my aunt told me how thankful she was I was still breastfeeding.
I need to stick my head out once in a while, huh….
thanks for this post, KC…
It’s such a sad case of putting profits above anything else.
Hi KittyCat, I love French toast….only had it two days ago.
How you doin’? Keep well and best regards, Lee.
I just sent a box of powdered formula to my wife in China. Enough to last about a month.
Just to let you all know, cow milk alone is not all that nutritious so your kids are not missing out that much. (the main nutritional value is the calcium and added vitamin D which can be obtained by drinking “bone soup” and sitting out in the sun 15 minutes per day)
Now, on the other hand, iron is a much needed mineral that many Chinese lack in their diet.
You might remember the melamine was also the chemical used in last year’s tainted pet food scandal when many pets were died. So the pattern I see is that melamine would be used any where the producer has an incentive and low ethics threshold to want to fool the nutritional analysis into indicating higher protein content. (processed meat, tofu, soy, milk, egg products, cheese etc.)
Also, liquid products (milk etc) are a double whammy since melamine needs to be dissolved in formeldehyde (yuck! a dead body preservative) before mixing into the liquid.
The people who did this, did this intentionally (exchange of other people’s lives for money) and when you have such intentional collaboration, internal quality control is of no value.
I am sad to see a pervasive “low level” consciousness among many Chinese people. The milk scandal is just one high profile symptom of this. Other symptoms are: paranoia, sense of lack, feelings of overwhelm and hopelessness. However, raising the consciousness would show symptoms of charity, self control, honesty, and being capable of feeling emotions reulting in wisdom and peacefulness.
I am thinking of traveling to China to speak about these things.
FONTERRA SAYS ITS DAIRY PRODUCTS SOLD IN MALAYSIA SAFE
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/bnm/20080916/tbs-milk-fonterra-ceeeaba.html