China investigating kidney ailments in babies

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Posted on 19th February 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 2/19/2009

By AUDRA ANG
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese health officials are investigating a growing number of cases of kidney stones in babies, state media said Thursday, months after a tainted milk scandal in which hundreds of thousands of children who drank melamine-contaminated formula suffered similar ailments.

While the Health Ministry has not directly linked the new cases to dairy products, parents are blaming formula made by Dumex Baby Food Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of France’s Groupe Danone SA. Dumex insists that its products are safe, and health officials said tests showed they are free of melamine, an industrial chemical.

The China Daily newspaper said Thursday that the Health Ministry has asked all local health bureaus to begin epidemiological research on kidney problems in children, including checking their eating habits and living environment.

“We’re trying to find out why the number of kidney ailments among babies has risen drastically,” Ma Yangchen of the ministry’s press office was quoted as saying. The report did not say how many children have become sick, when they became ill or what triggered the investigation.

A woman who answered the telephone at the Health Ministry said there was no official statement on the matter.

The ministry’s investigation reflects government efforts to restore public confidence after milk tainted with melamine, used in the production of plastics and fertilizer, was linked to the deaths last year of at least six Chinese babies and illnesses of nearly 300,000 others.

The scandal, which unfolded in September, was one of the country’s worst food contamination crises. It involved the products of China’s biggest dairies and underscored the government’s problems with policing product quality.

State media have said that officials started looking into Dumex because of overseas media reports last month that about 48 Chinese babies suffered kidney-related illnesses after drinking the company’s milk. It did not identify the reports.

Dumex has insisted that all its products are safe. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision said over the weekend it had tested 932 batches of dairy products produced by the Danone subsidiary since mid-September “and all are melamine-free.”

It also said no melamine was found in more than 1,700 batches produced before mid-September, when the dairy scandal broke.

Dumex’s main China office in Shanghai had no immediate comment Thursday.

Jiang Yalin, a mother in the southwestern province of Guizhou and the leader of a parents’ group, said her daughter drank only Dumex milk after she turned 1 and fell sick about two months later. She cried constantly at night, even in her sleep, and started having problems urinating, Jiang said.

When Jiang took her daughter to the hospital in September after reading about the tainted milk scandal, doctors said the child had stones as big as rice grains in both her kidneys.

“I was stunned. I felt helpless and angry,” Jiang said in a telephone interview.

The girl has since recovered and Jiang says doctors have declared her healthy.

Jiang said she has compiled a list of more than 100 babies — the youngest only a couple of months old — who fell sick after drinking Dumex and may file a suit against the company.

“I must figure out what exactly it was that harmed my daughter. I must know,” Jiang said.

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Associated Press researcher Xi Yue contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

3 more girls suffer kidney stones in Macau

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Posted on 11th November 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 11/11/2008

HONG KONG (AP) _ Macau authorities say three more children in the Chinese gambling enclave have developed kidney stones that may be linked to Chinese milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.

A government statement says the three girls aged from 4 to 8 are in stable condition and do not require hospitalization.

The Monday statement says the children attend schools where authorities provide students with free milk produced by Yili Industrial Group Co.

Yili is one of several Chinese dairies implicated in a scandal on the mainland in which melamine-laced dairy products have killed four infants and sickened more than 50,000.

Melamine is used to make plastics and fertilizer.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

China blames tainted ginseng injection in 3 deaths

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Posted on 14th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/14/2008

BEIJING (AP) — A ginseng injection contaminated by bacteria caused the deaths of three people using the medicine to treat thrombosis and heart disease, state media reported Tuesday.

Tests on samples of an herbal injection showed the product had been “tainted by bacteria,” the State Food and Drug Administration and Ministry of Health said in a joint statement issued Tuesday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The injection sickened six people in southwestern Yunnan Province. Three of the patients died in the hospital and the others remained under observation.

The statement did not identify the type of bacteria, and only said the investigation in continuing into how the contamination took place.

The medication is an extract from the herb Ciwujia, a type of Siberian ginseng, which is injected into patients who suffer from thrombosis and heart disease.

On Monday, the drug safety agency ordered the drug’s producer, Wandashan Pharmaceutical Company in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, to recall all of its Ciwujia injection products.

China’s pharmaceutical industry is highly lucrative but poorly regulated, resulting in companies trying to cash in by substituting fake or substandard ingredients. In recent years, a string of fatalities blamed on counterfeit or shoddily made medications have been reported.

The troubles also extend to regulatory bodies. Last year, amid an uproar over the safety of Chinese exports, the country’s former top drug regulator was executed for taking millions of dollars in bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 people.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Settlement to be argued in big pet food case

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Posted on 14th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/14/2008 5:08 AM

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press Writer

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) _ Thousands of pet owners whose dogs and cats died last year after eating contaminated pet food traced to China could be close to a $32 million settlement.

A federal judge in Camden was to hear oral arguments on the final proposal Tuesday. The court also will consider any filed objections.

The settlement allows pet owners to apply for expenses associated with deaths and illnesses, including the costs of veterinarians, time missed from work to care for sick animals, replacement pets, burial expenses and even property damaged because animals got sick.

In addition to the $8 million they had already agreed to pay owners of sickened pets, the pet food companies would put up $24 million for the settlement.

The case began in March 2007, when companies that make or sell pet food — including Menu Foods Income Fund, which makes dog and cat food under about 90 brand names from its base in Streetsville, Ontario — agreed to settle lawsuits with pet owners.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration later found that the food contained melamine, a chemical used to make plastics. The chemical was traced to contaminated wheat gluten imported from China.

In April, lawyers for representing plaintiffs and dozens of companies announced they had struck a deal for pet owners in the United States and Canada.

Under the terms, even those who did not keep any receipts for either the pet food or the costs of the pets’ illness and death could get up to $900 per animal.

If any money is left after all plaintiffs are paid, it would go to animal-welfare charities.

But the agreement did not include any money for the humans’ pain and suffering from injuries to their pets. That has upset some pet owners.

One, Donna Elliott, of Fries, Va., for instance, sent U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman a picture of her late boxer, Abby.

“How do you answer the statement on the claim form, what was the value of your pet?” she asked. “My companion was everything in the world to me.”

In one court filing, the parties that struck the settlement explained: “This settlement does not pretend to do what it cannot — which is to make people fully whole for their incomprehensible losses,” the filing said. “The settlement is, however, a reflection of strenuous efforts to secure the maximum economic relief available.”

As of Sept. 30, more than 9,500 people in the United States and Canada had made claims, while just over 100 people had preserved their rights to sue separately. Relatively few — 28 — had filed objections to the settlement.

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On the Net:

Claim information: http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Chinese tighten dairy regulations after scandal

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Posted on 10th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/10/2008 12:15 PM

By TINI TRAN
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) _ China’s State Council tightened quality control regulations for the dairy industry Friday, as authorities in Macau and Hong Kong reported several children had kidney stones blamed on Chinese tainted milk.

Contaminated milk powder, laced with the industrial chemical melamine, has been blamed for causing the deaths of four infants and sickening more than 54,000 others.

More than 10,000 children remained hospitalized with eight of them in serious condition, the Health Ministry said.

The new regulations, effective immediately, tighten control over cattle breeding, the purchase of raw milk and the production and sale of dairy products, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The measures also increase punishments for those caught violating safety standards.

On Friday, police in northern Hebei province arrested a suspect accused of producing 600 tons of melamine-spiked protein powder, Xinhua said. Eight dairy farm owners and milk buyers were also arrested purchasing the powder, it said.

In Hong Kong, a 10-year-old boy was diagnosed with two kidney stones, the Department of Health said, raising the total number of children with milk-related kidney stones to seven in Hong Kong and Macau.

Meanwhile, Macau’s Health Bureau said three girls between the ages of 4 and 7 have developed kidney stones. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The boy has been drinking high-calcium, low-fat milk made by the Chinese dairy Yili Industrial Group Co. everyday for the past six years, the health department said. He is in stable condition and does not require hospitalization.

Also Friday, parents of an 11-month-old diagnosed with kidney stones filed a lawsuit against the Sanlu Group Co. — the dairy company at the heart of the tainted milk crisis.

It is the second known lawsuit against the company, whose baby formula was to contain high levels of melamine.

Earlier this month, parents from central Henan province filed suit against Sanlu, seeking $22,000 in compensation for medical, travel and other expenses incurred after their 14-month-old baby developed kidney stones.

It is not clear if courts will allow these suits to progess as product liability lawsuits are still relatively rare in China, and lawyers have complained of government pressure to withdraw from the cases.

Chinese authorities believe dairy farmers added melamine — used in plastics, paint and adhesives — to watered-down milk to make the product appear rich in protein and fool quality control tests.

The practice was apparently widespread in the industry, with government investigations finding 37 Chinese dairy companies, including the most reputable brands, had sold tainted products.

Police have arrested 36 people in connection with the scandal in Hebei, where Sanlu is headquartered, Xinhua said.

The scandal has sparked global concern about Chinese food imports, with more than 30 countries restricting Chinese dairy products, and in some cases all Chinese food imports.

This week, the Chinese Health Ministry issued guidelines limiting acceptable melamine levels. There had been no previous standards for the amount of the chemical allowed in food products.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Group, which has a 43 percent stake in Sanlu, announced Friday it will spend $5 million to fund a Chinese charity to establish a health care program for mothers and babies in poor rural areas of China.

Meanwhile, Myanmar state media reported nine brands of imported milk and infant powder have been tainted with melamine. The New Light of Myanmar said that of the 16 brands of milk and milk powder tested, nine contained melamine.

Slovak food safety officials said Friday they found unsafe levels of melamine in a shipment of chocolate bisuits and snacks imported from China.

In Paris, France’s Agriculture Ministry ordered a recall Friday of White Rabbit candies and Koala biscuits linked to Chinese dairy products amid concerns about high melamine levels.

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Associated Press Writer Dikky Sinn contributed to this report from Hong Kong.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Second lawsuit filed in tainted milk scandal

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Posted on 10th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/10/2008 1:13 AM

By TINI TRAN
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) _ A second lawsuit was filed against a Chinese dairy company at the heart of the tainted milk crisis, an attorney said Friday, as more than 10,000 children remained hospitalized after being fed milk powder laced with an industrial chemical.

Zhang Xiuwen, a migrant worker from southern Guangdong province, filed a legal claim after his 11-month-old son was diagnosed with kidney stones, his lawyer Chen Beiyuan said. The baby had been fed formula produced by Sanlu Group Co. since his birth.

The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court has yet to accept the lawsuit, which is seeking US$132,000 in compensation, Chen confirmed in a telephone interview.

He said he was also planning to file a suit against the Dairy Association in China for failing to supervise its members.

The milk powder, laced with the chemical melamine, has been blamed for causing the deaths of four infants and sickening more than 54,00 others.

The practice was apparently widespread in the industry, with government investigations showing that 37 Chinese dairy companies — including its most reputable brands — had tainted dairy products.

Chinese dairy suppliers have been accused of adding melamine — used in plastics, paint and adhesives — to watered-down milk to make the product appear rich in protein and fool quality control tests.

Eight of the 10,666 children hospitalized are in serious condition after drinking the contaminated powder, which can lead to kidney stones and life-threatening kidney failure, the Health Ministry said this week.

Earlier this month, parents from central Henan province filed the first known lawsuit against Sanlu, seeking US$22,000 in compensation for medical, travel and other expenses incurred after their 14-month-old baby developed kidney stones. The infant remains hospitalized.

The court in Zhenping county has also not yet decided whether to accept that case.

Although product liability lawsuits have become more common in recent years, lawyers advising the families of children sickened in the scandal said this week they are facing growing pressure from Chinese government officials to withdraw from the cases.

The government has been struggling to show the public that it is dealing successfully with the scandal, but controls have also been imposed on media coverage of the crisis.

The scandal has sparked global concern about Chinese food imports, with more than 30 countries restricting Chinese dairy products, and in some cases all Chinese food exports. Recalls have also occurred in several countries of Chinese-made milk powders, biscuits and candies such as the widely sold White Rabbit sweets.

This week, the Health Ministry released guidelines on permissible levels of melamine in food. The chemical is now limited to one part per million for infant formula and 2.5 parts per million for liquid milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15 percent milk.

There had been no previous standards for the amount of the chemical allowed in food products.

Wang Xuening, a ministry official, said small amounts of melamine can leach from the environment and packaging into milk and other foods, but that deliberate tainting was explicitly forbidden.

Levels of melamine discovered in batches of milk powder recently registered as much as 6,196 parts per million.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Group, which has a 43 percent stake in Sanlu, announced Friday it will fund a Chinese charity to establish a health care program for mothers and babies in poor rural areas of China.

“We want to do what we can in China to help, particularly in areas around infant health and maternal issues,” Chief Executive Andrew Ferrier said in a statement.

Ferrier said Fonterra is donating US$5 million to the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation to fund the program over five years. The program will set up community centers in rural and undeveloped areas that will provide resources to support healthy prenatal and postnatal care.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Chinese lawyers say pressured to drop milk cases

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Posted on 7th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/7/2008 10:49 AM

By GILLIAN WONG
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) _ Lawyers advising victims of China’s spreading tainted milk scandal said Tuesday they faced growing pressure from officials in central China to withdraw from the cases.

The families of many of the children sickened by milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine have been turning to a loose grouping of more than a hundred lawyers across China for free legal advice, said Chang Boyang, one of the lawyers.

The tainted milk has been blamed in the deaths of four babies and for sickening more than 54,000 children and shaken confidence worldwide in Chinese exports.

The government has been struggling to show the public that it is dealing successfully with the scandal, which comes on the heels of the widely praised Beijing Olympics. On Monday, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, acknowledged that the dairy industry was “chaotic” and had suffered from a grave lack of oversight, while pledging to monitor milk products from farm to dinner table.

But the government has also imposed controls on media coverage of the crisis, suggesting it does not want it to become a focal point of public dismay.

At least 14 lawyers from Henan province who have been advising people affected by the scandal were told by officials from the provincial government’s justice department to stop their activities, Chang told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“They called me and my boss at my law firm and put pressure on me,” Chang said. “They said that this has become a political issue and that I ought to follow the arrangements set out by the government.”

“If this suggestion is disobeyed, the lawyer and the firm will be dealt with,” Chang cited the official as saying.

Henan’s justice department could not immediately be reached for comment.

Chinese authorities believe suppliers who were trying to cut costs diluted milk, then added melamine to fool quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein. The chemical can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, can lead to life-threatening kidney failure.

The State Council has ordered hospitals to provide free treatment for sick infants, but the lawyers want the government to compensate the victims.

Lawyers in the group have already helped the parents of a 1-year-old boy allegedly sickened by compromised milk to file a lawsuit against Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the center of the crisis. The baby’s medical bills are not covered under the State Council’s directive because he became sick before the scandal broke on Sept. 12, according to a report by Caijing, a leading Chinese business magazine. Free medical care is only available to those sickened after that date.

The court in Henan has still not said if it will hear the case, which was filed late last month and is believed to be the first suit filed amid the scandal.

Chang said the lawyers have been preparing other clients for a potential joint lawsuit if the government continues to refuse to provide compensation.

Chang said although he and the other lawyers from Henan took their names off the list of volunteers for the group of lawyers, they still continued to field calls and offer advice.

“This incident will not affect my work. I was just giving the authorities ‘face’ by taking my name off the list,” Chang said. “Sometimes you’ve got to learn to compromise.”

The scandal — which has spread overseas with Chinese milk products pulled out of stores in dozens of countries — has forced the government to fire local and even high-level officials for negligence, and make repeated promises to raise product safety standards.

China’s iconic White Rabbit candy fell victim to the scandal after its Shanghai-based maker said it may have been tainted. The candy was pulled off supermarket shelves in the U.S., Europe and Asia. But a state-run newspaper said Tuesday it is now back in production.

Guan Sheng Yuan Co. did not say when White Rabbit candy would go on sale again, according to China Daily. The company could not be immediately contacted Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s vice minister of health, Cao Minh Quang, said Tuesday that 23 milk products had tested positive for melamine. The country has already recalled 300 tons of products, most imported from China, said chief health ministry inspector Tran Quang Trung.

The country’s top quality supervision agency said Tuesday new tests on liquid dairy products sold domestically found no traces of melamine, official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Guyana: Government bans Chinese milk imports amid toxic chemical scare

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Posted on 5th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/5/2008 12:00 AM

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana banned the import of all Chinese milk products after food inspectors found possibly contaminated evaporated milk for sale at a local market, the health ministry said Saturday.

Inspectors are scouring supermarkets across the country to pull all Milky-brand evaporated milk products, acting on a warning by Chinese officials who said the product could contain melamine, Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said.

“We have not done any tests, but we are acting purely on what we have been told by the Chinese,” he said.

Two unregistered importers brought the product into Guyana from neighboring Suriname, where all Chinese-made dairy products were banned late last month, the ministry said.

No one has been reported sick in Guyana.

Guyana joins at least 13 other countries in banning Chinese dairy products after melamine-tainted milk formula was found to have killed four infants and sickened more than 54,000 children in China. The chemical is known to cause kidney failure.

Melamine, which is used to make plastics and fertilizer, is thought to have been added to Chinese milk to boost its levels of protein.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

FDA: Tiny bit of melamine in food usually OK

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Posted on 3rd October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/3/2008 11:03 AM

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Eating a tiny bit of a melamine, the chemical responsible for a global food safety scare, is not harmful except when it’s in baby formula, U.S. food safety officials said Friday.

Melamine-tainted formula has sickened more than 54,000 children in China and is being blamed for the deaths of at least four tots. The chemical has also turned up in products sold across Asia, ranging from candies, to chocolates, to coffee drinks, that used dairy ingredients from China. Authorities in California and Connecticut have found melamine in White Rabbit candies imported from China.

But infant formula made in the U.S. is safe, because manufacturers do not use any ingredients from China.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday its safety experts have concluded that eating a very tiny amount of melamine — 2.5 parts per million — would not raise health concerns, even if a person ate food that was tainted with the chemical every day.

But officials stressed the scientific assessment does not mean that U.S. authorities will tolerate any melamine that is deliberately added to foods. In China, unscrupulous suppliers appear to have been adding melamine to make watered-down milk seem protein-rich in quality-control tests. That’s because melamine is high in nitrogen, as is protein.

“If products are adulterated because they contain melamine, (authorities) will take appropriate actions to prevent the products from entering commerce,” the FDA said in a statement. The agency said it was setting the 2.5 parts-per-million standard to address situations in which the chemical accidentally comes into contact with food, such as in cases where it is used for industrial purposes in a factory that makes food products.

Officials also stressed that infant formula sold to U.S. consumers must be completely free of melamine.

“There is too much uncertainty to set a level in infant formula and rule out any public health concern,” the FDA said.

Melamine first came to the attention of U.S. consumers last year, when it touched off a massive pet food recall. Chinese suppliers of bulk pet food ingredients were found to have been adding the chemical to artificially boost the protein readings of their products. Thousands of pets here were sickened, and hundreds are believed to have died.

Melamine is harmful to the kidneys. It can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it, and in extreme cases, life-threatening kidney failure.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Parents file lawsuit in China against dairy firm

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Posted on 2nd October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 10/2/2008 12:45 AM

By SCOTT MCDONALD
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) _ The parents of a baby allegedly sickened in China’s tainted milk crisis are suing one of the country’s biggest dairies in the first known lawsuit stemming from the scandal, a lawyer said Thursday.

Although product liability lawsuits have become more common in recent years, the lawyer, Ji Cheng, said he would not know until next week if the court in Henan province would take the case.

“The court will make the decision whether to accept this case after the National Day holiday,” Ji said told The Associated Press. China is marking its founding with a weeklong holiday, and government agencies are closed.

The hospitalized 14-month-old from central China’s Henan province was fed infant formula made by Sanlu Group Co. from birth, according to a report by Caijing, a leading Chinese business magazine.

Lawyers said they had not heard of any other civil lawsuits being filed in response to the melamine contamination of liquid milk, yogurt and other products made with milk. Four infants have died and more than 50,000 have become ill after drinking the contaminated formula, which has been linked to kidney stones.

The lawsuit comes amid increasing public awareness of an individual’s legal rights in China. Some parents who lost their children when shoddily built schools collapsed in a massive earthquake in May reportedly tried to sue local governments, but were offered cash in return for signing pledges not to pursue legal action.

Ji said one of the sick child’s parents filed a lawsuit in a court in Zhenping county seeking US$22,000 (150,000 yuan) in compensation from Sanlu for medical, travel and other expenses incurred after the child developed kidney stones. The amount could go up because the child is still being treated.

China’s State Council, the Cabinet, has ordered hospitals to provide free treatment for sick infants, but the baby is at Beijing Children’s Hospital, which will only offer free treatment to children diagnosed ill after Sept. 12, when the scandal broke, Caijing magazine said.

One lawyer suggested his profession was under pressure to not accept lawsuits connected with the scandal.

“About one week ago, the Beijing Judicial Bureau asked Beijing lawyers to attend a meeting and requested them not to accept problematic milk powder-related cases,” said Zhou Shifeng, who was out of town and did not attend the meeting.

Other Beijing lawyers told The AP they had not come under any pressure to reject such cases.

On Wednesday, China said 15 more companies were accused of selling compromised products found to be contaminated with melamine after a new series of tests. The tainted samples were mostly milk powder products for adults.

Thirty-one samples of Chinese milk powder provided by 20 companies were found tainted with melamine after new testing, according to data seen Wednesday on China’s food safety administration’s Web site. Five of those companies had already been fingered in the scandal. Product safety officials could not be reached for comment.

The scandal has sparked global concern about Chinese food imports and recalls in several countries of Chinese-made products including milk powders, biscuits and candies such as the widely sold White Rabbit sweets, which have been pulled from shelves in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Officials in the United States on Wednesday reported finding tainted White Rabbit candies for sale at Asian food markets in the state of New Jersey, after finding them earlier in California and Hawaii. Officials in Germany said they had discovered them for sale in the southern state of Baden Wuerttemburg.

The Shanghai-based maker of the candy, Guan Sheng Yuan Co., said last week it was halting production of the sticky, taffy-like confection, an iconic brand beloved by generations of Chinese.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

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