Milk Contamination Update - September 2011

Articles in the September 2011 editions of China Today and NewsChina magazines (neither available on their English-language websites) both address recent food safety scandals.

So far in 2011, per these sources and other news outlets, Chinese consumers have put up with contaminated pork, dyed steamed buns (made with cardboard), recycled bread, recycled cooking oil, contaminated duck, poisoned bean sprouts, noodles, and peppers, seen watermelons explode in their fields due to applications of artificial growth hormones, and pork cuts that glow in the dark.

And as we’ve linked on the weninchina.com Formula Concerns page, tampering with China’s milk supply continued well after the 2008 tragedies became common knowledge.

The China Today article lists various regional and local law-enforcement initiatives put forth to encourage the public to report tampering and punish producers who violate the law, inferring that food safety standards in the People’s Republic are similar or better than international and US regulations.

In contrast, the NewsChina article cites a domestic expert saying Chinese dairy products “some of the worst in the world” and the majority of milk available “is no better than ordinary water.”

This article reports the regulations on bacterial density in raw milk were changed in 2010 to allow up to 2 million microorganisms per milliliter – 20 times more than the American standard, and 70 times higher than the Danish regulation. The minimum requirements for protein content were also relaxed and are now well below international standards.

NewsChina claims in the article these changes were in the interest of the two largest dairy companies, Mengniu and Yili (who together control over half the Chinese market), to allow them to use lower-quality, lower-priced raw milk supplies which can be processed at high temperatures, as opposed to traditional pasteurization. The high-temperature method allows the milk product to be shelf-stable for up to 3 months so it can be distributed nationally, but it also requires adding protein and thickening agents. (The melamine added to raw milk in the 2008 scandals was to make the milk appear to pass the protein-standard tests.)

The article notes disagreement among Chinese dairy-industry experts – milk processors cite the low quality of raw milk coming from independent farmers as the reason for needing lower standards, but others say the low prices being paid by the processors are keeping farmers from improving farm conditions and equipment that would create better-quality supply. NewsChina notes Mengniu and Yili have greater spending on advertising and distribution than on efforts to improve their supply chain quality.

Until this market imbalance significantly changes – as it did in Western countries over the 20^th Century – to include dairy price supports, farmer-led co-operative production organizations, and independent and rigorous public health authorities, the presence of stiff laws will not prevent further scandals. The China Today article acknowledges this, quoting Xu Hu, deputy director of Public Order Administration of the Ministry of Public Security: “…the cost of lawbreaking is perceived as low, and the law will not really protect consumers and potential victims.”

For families traveling to China for adoption, it is still recommended to heed the 2008 milk powder / infant formula warnings, and bring formula from home or international brands picked up in Hong Kong. For adults and older children just visiting, don’t avoid milk products (like ice cream) outright, but as with any food, pay attention to your senses – if something seems not right, eat something else.

Gotta disagree with Anthony Bourdain (in one small way)

My wife and I went to listen to Mr. Bourdain a few weeks ago as he swung through the Twin Cities on a speaking tour. In person, he's the same guy as he is on the Travel Channel and in his books; intelligent and inquisitive, the 'bad boy' who really does care about ideas and words and authentic work.


Most of the hardcore foodies, restaurateurs, and hospitality workers of our city were in attendance that night instead of being on the job. They were looking for a good time from their hero and he certainly delivered, with frank talk about the compromised state of the food and media businesses, meditations on what it means to do something meaningful, and crazy travel anecdotes.


He advocates forcefully that the whole point of travel is to know a place and its people as they are, not as mere entertainment, and that a traveler shouldn't be plastic-wrapped from his or her surroundings, fed only the familiar food, media, and interpersonal interaction.


That means you as a traveler need to take people and experiences as they come. And getting back to food (it was a food talk), eating what the locals eat, where they eat it, and not demanding your familiar foods from home.


We liked his analogy of "when you're at your grandma's house, even if you don't particularly care for her cooking, when she makes you dinner, you eat it, because you love her and want to show respect." He also points out that you're much more likely to get better quality and safer food from the local cook sweating it out at the stand down the street, who serves his neighbors every day the foods they like to eat, than at the international hotel, where the  local staff doesn't have the familiarity with Ceasar salad, and they know you're gone in two days.


(The only time I got sick in China was from an undercooked room-service shrimp and pork stir-fry, so I'm nodding my head in agreement.)


He also delivered indictments of the fast-food industry regarding factory farming, marketing to kids, and nutritional deficits. From that he was adamant about never patronizing fast-food chains, ever.


And there's where the headline of this post kicks in. I'm pretty sure that you, reading this blog and the articles at weninchina.com, do patronize a McDonald's, Taco Bell, or Burger King on occasion. I do too.


And I know you may be anxious about the food you'll encounter on your trip to China. Tony and I would both encourage you to be brave and "just try it;" if you've gone to the trouble of flying halfway around the world it would be wrong not to experience food the way your hosts enjoy it.


But in our time in China, my wife and I witnessed numerous families - bright, intelligent people who triumphed over homestudies and government bureaucracy - utterly afraid of walking two blocks down the street to McDonald's to get a cheeseburger. Not because of thoughts of what was in the burger, but anxiety of figuring out how to order. Would they make fools of themselves in a big crowd?


My belief is that if I can help you walk those two blocks and order something you're familiar with - and interact with local people - then you're a lot more likely the next day to walk one block further to that little bakery or noodle shop, or stop at the grocery store. So yes, my little language cheat sheet definitely gives you the words you need to order Combo Meal #2.


Getting out of your hotel and onto the streets is the best possible way for you to soak in your child's local culture, and every interaction will give you more memories and experience to draw upon as you work with your child to help her learn who she is as she grows up.  I think Tony would agree with me on that one.


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Since we are talking about Chinese food, I have just posted new articles about Chinese Noodles (the original fast food) and Bao, those steamed buns with the great fillings.  There's also a great article in this month's issue of the travel magazine Afar about xiao long bao, the "soup dumplings" famous in Shanghai and Taiwan.

Formula

On September 11, 2008, Chinese parents were hit out of the blue with an announcement saying their baby formula was potentially contaminated, and their children might be at risk of kidney failure.

In the days since, we have learned that hospitals were reporting unusual renal health problems among infants as early as March 2008, and that Sanlu, one of the leading producers of formula, had known about the problem in early August - before the Olympics started - but did not reveal it to the public nor the government until one of their foreign partners alerted the New Zealand government. We have also learned that 20% of the formula manufacturers in China have similarly contaminated product, and that even some brands of ice cream, yogurt, and liquid milk have been compromised.

It has been determined that some farms have been watering-down the milk they provide to dairies in an effort to cheat the system, and that they have added the industrial chemical melamine to skew test results to make it appear as if the diluted milk has adequate protein. Melamine is the same chemical that killed hundreds of animals in the 2007 scandal around Chinese-manufactured pet food. It affects kidney function, eventually causing large stones and ultimately failure with continued exposure.

Traditionally, the advice given to parents traveling to China to unite with their adopted child was to buy extra Chinese formula, and use it when back home to transition over to Western-produced product. (That's what we did with our daughter - even using the Sanlu brand.)

However, on September 12, the US FDA issued a health advisory explicitly stating that Chinese-manufactured infant formula should not be used. The brands the FDA lists as inspected and approved are:

Abbott Labs PBM Nutritionals

Mead Johnson Solus

Nestle SHS/Nutricia

The Canadian government, and the Australia-New Zealand Food Standards authority, have also issued similar communications.

What this means is that traveling parents must now purchase and pack their own formula for the entire trip. It's extra bulk in your luggage - something else will need to stay home - but essential for your piece of mind, and your child's health.

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An expanded version of this article will be published on our main site at weninchina.com, along with additional links to government sources and news articles.