Update on Melamine

Wow, it's been awhile since I last blogged, but there are so many things I want to write about!
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So I had dinner with my friends one night (this was around two weeks after the melamine issue was out) and we were talking about the issue. I know it sounds random that we talk about world issues during dinner, but instead of discussing how concerned we were about the situation- my friends were mocking how the situation is really magnified by the media.

Remember last week when I said candies such as the White Rabbit candies, Cradbury chocolate, and even M&Ms were affected? This morning I was watching the news during breakfast and they just announced that even the dimsum cakes you eat when you go yum cha contain melamine! However, I guess it isn't such a big of a deal because current studies have shown that you have to eat high dosages of foods that contain melamine to actually develop kidney stones. Take for example the White rabbit candies, this would mean that you have to eat 10 FULL PACKS to start developing kidney stones. Seriously, come on, I don't think anyone who's in the right mind would even do that. Similarly, many of the other foods that have been recalled have to be eaten in high dosages in-order to be poisoned. Personally, I think that melamine is toxic, but we do not need to eliminate every single food that is suspected of having this substance.
Four children have died and about 13,000 remain in hospital, 104 of them reportedly in a serious condition.
On Monday, Li Changjian, the minister in charge of product safety, resigned over the milk scandal as he is one of the culprits held responsible. His agency has admitted that Sanlu, the company responsible for poisoning nearly all the children, had been exempted from government product testing. I am amazed by how one decision made by the government can affect so many. So far, 12,892 children had been admitted to hospital, of which 104 were in a serious condition, while 39,965 had received outpatient "clinical treatment and advice'' and 4 babies have died. Seriosuly, I hope China has learned a big lesson through this problem. After this, I'm quite sure that everyone across the world has lost faith and confidence in China's manufactured products. Thinking back, it's not been the first time this has happened, and I wonder when China will seriously take these issues to heart and make change. Last year, there was a whole wave of food safety scandals that involved pet food, toothpaste, seafood and after that, the Chinese government did set stricter controls especially on foods that were going to be exported. What I think China really needs is a cultural shift. People need to move away from the mindset that things have to be produced quickly in great quantity with the cheapest methods. I hate to say it but I guess it is the Chinese mindset. People have to stop going for shortcuts and going for the shrot term benefits. Even though it might be costly and expensive, it eventually will pay off because it would benefits the people and themselves. I think we need a cultural shift in order for China to take it to the next level. People in China need to realize (themselves) what they are doing inorder for change to happen. This issue has caused the death of 4 babies and has affected the lives of 53000 children. If China doesn't tackle the problem sooner or later, in the long run, it will really hurt the Chinese economy(especially China's exports). I certainly hope this won't be an ongoing problem for China becuase I have beleive China is capable of doing better.

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On a lighter note, Halloween's coming soon, so are you guys still going to go trick-or-treating? Are you guys worried that you'll receive candy that is tainted with the toxic chemical? Maybe you guys should just throw away all the milk-related candices, then you'll be fine! :D

I can't believe it! Melamine again!

:O Hey everyone I know this is kind of late, but can you believe that the milk contaminant issue (melamine) has gone so far that even our biscuits are affected! I'm especially concerned because thsit ime the biscuits that contained high levels of melamine were the ones I often ate: Lotte's Koala cookies. Three samples of Lotte Koala biscuits 200g family pack have been found to contain melamine! The Center for Food Safety today said that the levels detected in the four samples ranged from 3ppm to 68ppm. All shops have now stopped selling this product and the importer has recalled them. You guys know which product I'm talking about right? These biscuits are the koala shaped, chocolate flavored biscuits that are packaged in a green pentagon box.

I still remember 3 days ago when I was walking home, I walked past 7-11 and I saw thsoe biscuits onsale! I was so tempted to buy them but since I didn't want to spend my money on junk food, I didn't. However the week before when i had to go to a volleyball tournament, I bought a whole big box for teammates and I eat together! Oh no, I'm hoping I didn't cause the whole team to develop kidney stones....

The thought of how something we eat everyday can suddenly become so harmful to our bodies scares me. I mean, who would have ever thought that such products that we eat daily would have toxic chemicals in them? Sometimes I really hate how China has such loose saftey regulations on their exported food. I mean, it's not the first time such incidients have happened. I recall in year 2004 there was the "big headed disease" in China due to tainted milk (again). More than 200 babies were affected and developed swollon heads. This is the seconmd time that China has tried to fake results through and babies have ended up being malnourished; except this time developing kidney stones. When will there be a day where we won't find anything wrong with products produced in China? I honestly wonder when there'll be a day where China will produce high quality, safe goods so I won't have worry what I'm eating or using is safe.

This time it has hit me because this time the food contaminted was something I ate myself. To be honest, I wasn't really that affected by the fact that babies were developing kidney stones. I did feel bad for the parents who had to take their kids to the doctors, but I wasn't that concerned because it didn't affect me. Now that something I ate is recalled and toxic, I'm starting to realize hwo important food regulations are.

BUT just to let you guys know I'm not going to go to a public hospital to get my kdineys checked. Seriously, if you guys watch the news we know that there are very long lineups of parents infront of public hospitals every single day! And whats so surprising would be that these parents start lining up since 5am in the morning! Some parents in Hong Kong are just overly paranoid and lining up to get their sons and daughters checked even when they know there's nothing wrong. Maybe I just don't understand just because I'm not a parent myself.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic but why do we always have to act when it's too late, when people are already suffering? We always end up trying to fix the affects the consequences of the problem instead of digging down to solve the root and cause of the issue. Maybe it's time to change the way we deal with problems. After this, I really hope China will have much stricter food regulations and hopefully, such issues will never happen again.