48 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 23 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Dead Babies Can Take Care of Themselves

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   2 comments
Message David Cox
Become a Fan
  (90 fans)

When is enough, enough? Sometimes reading news stories can be unsettling and then sometimes it can just make you damn angry. Here in America we live with a multi level media colossus that spews out garbage on every level, they too also lie who just ignore the truth. We are all familiar with Fox news 24 hour running propaganda network but they have to get these stories from some where, they can't make them all up. They would if they could but they're just not smart enough.

In 2007 thousands of family pets worldwide died due to melamine tainted wheat and rice protein imported from China. American pet food companies sales were devastated by the poisonings. I personally will never buy Iam's products as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow. They've saved an estimated ¼ penny per can by using Chinese wheat gluten in their products rather than domestic but just for fun lets look at what melamine is and what it does.

Melamine is an organic based chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen. It is commonly used to make plastics, counter tops, glue and a host of other industrial processes. It is not approved by any national or international governing body for use in food, food products or food processing.

So how could this highly toxic chemical end up in our food supply?

At the time of the pet poisonings, everyone, the Chinese, the American government and the pet food companies all feigned complete shock and dismay. Then a single Chinese suppler was singled out for an accidental contamination but as the mass die-offs of family pets continued unabated, it became clear that more than one Chinese supplier was responsible.

The Chinese company blamed had initially claimed complete innocence and was cooperating in the investigation. The US Congress held hearings in last April but resisted the public's call to regulate the now self-regulating pet food industry.

As universities continued to study what mystery chemical was killing family pets by the thousands and how it had accidentally slipped passed the self regulated pet food industry Cornell reported and verified that it was melamine in March of 2008.

By April 1st both Cornell and the FDA announced that the presence of melamine had been confirmed. The chemical was found in the suspected wheat gluten in raw concentrations as high as 6.6 percent. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian said, "There was a sizable amount of melamine. You could see crystals in the wheat gluten."

Thousands of dead dogs and cats all with melamine in their systems, thousands of samples of pet food all contaminated with high levels of melamine--and what does the FDA report to the public? What is their official position? Despite the presence of the industrial chemical in both the food and in the animals, the FDA has made it clear that they are still in the middle of an extensive investigation, and "not yet fully certain that melamine is the causative agent."

Then media silence, they just wait for the story to fade away--just a terrible accident the wheat gluten was only used to thicken the gravy in the wet pet food products they claimed. But it didn't go away instead it reemerged in even a worse form. The poisoning reemerged this time in infant baby formula manufactured in China. By the end of September 94,000 infants have been injured worldwide. Andrew Ferrier, the head of New Zealand's dairy giant Fonterra claimed, "In this case we frankly have sabotage of a product." Perhaps that explains why Fonterra waited more than a month to announce a recall.

Ferrier offered, "that unknown parties were behind the industrial sabotage." Fonterra owns 43% of the Chinese Sanlu Group responsible for the tainted infant formula. While Mr. Ferrier sticks to his claims of industrial sabotage New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark blamed Chinese officials for the almost six-week cover-up.

"They have been trying for weeks to get official recall and the local authorities in China would not do it," she said. "At a local level "- I think the first inclination was to try to put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall."

The fears of contaminated baby formula swept across Asia and prompted fears of tainted Cadburys chocolates and other products made with milk. Comments on Chinese internet forums such as sina.com suggested that Government and Sanlu officials had colluded to cover up the scandal because of central Government pressure to ensure that no bad news blighted China's hosting of the Beijing Olympics, which finished on August 24. Sanlu is China's biggest milk powder producer and is majority state-owned.

From claims of one of industrial accidents to accusations of industrial sabotage, the scandal spreads to include corporations and even governments as the promises of "never again" still reverberate in our ears. But there is a dirty little secret in the industry and an open secret in China. According to the World Health Organization, "In China, where adulteration has occurred, water has been added to raw milk to increase its volume. As a result of this dilution the milk has a lower protein concentration. Companies using the milk for further production (e.g. of powdered infant formula) normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine increases the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content."

It's not accidental, it's not industrial sabotage, it is quite intentional--and goes on to this day. Your Food and Drug Administration with a budget of two billion dollars would certainly never tolerate the intentional adding of toxic industrial chemicals for the purpose of fooling quality control tests in infant formula would they?

Small Melamine Amounts in Formula Are Safe, FDA Says

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   News 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

David Cox Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

I who am I? Born at the pinnacle of American prosperity to parents raised during the last great depression. I was the youngest child of the youngest children born almost between the generations and that in fact clouds and obscures who it is that (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Hobo's Lullaby

100 Reasons for Revolution

Guns or Butter

Taken at the Flood

When will the Economy Collapse? You're Looking at It!

In this Country at Least, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend