Who could've predicted?

Take a look at the latest news of melamine from China:

The Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday that protein powder imported from China was found to contain 1.90 parts per million (ppm) to 5.03ppm of melamine.

Health authorities randomly tested 13 batches of protein powder, six of which were contaminated with melamine.

The tainted powder was produced by two companies in China — Jilin Jinyi Egg Products Co Ltd (吉林金翼蛋品有限公司) and Dalian Green Snow Egg Product Co, Ltd (大連綠雪蛋品發展有限公司).

Of the 393 tonnes of protein powder imported from China this year, 261 tonnes imported from Jilin Jinyi and Dalian Green Snow were found to be contaminated with melamine, deputy health minister Cheng Shou-hsia (鄭守夏) said at a press conference yesterday.

That's just today's news.

Here's news from Hong Kong from just two days ago:

The discovery of excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs has prompted the Hong Kong authorities to expand health tests to include meat products imported from China, a senior official said yesterday.

The move follows the announcement late on Saturday that Hong Kong testers had found 4.7 parts per million (ppm) of melamine in imported eggs produced by a division of China’s Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group.

The legal limit for melamine in foodstuffs in Hong Kong is 2.5ppm.

Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow (周一嶽) said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs.

As people who've been paying attention might be able to guess, Chinese officials knew about this since at least last month.

Two days before that, after we had been assured multiple times by officials from the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration's Department of Health that the products on Taiwan's shelves were safe -- you know what's coming -- melamine was discovered in Peacock Biscuits (孔雀餅乾):

Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美), director of the Taipei health department’s food and drug division, said the results of the latest round of random tests came in yesterday, and that officials found one pack of Peacock Biscuits that contained 4.62 parts per million (ppm) of melamine.

[...]

Chiang said the company used powdered baking ammonia from Sesoda Corp, which had imported tainted ammonia from China. The powdered baking ammonia imported by Sesoda Corp was found to contain between 70ppm and 300ppm of melamine by the Department of Health (DOH) earlier this month.

[...]

The Bureau of Food Safety yesterday urged the public not to panic, saying that although the crackers used ammonium bicarbonate imported from China, the powder comprised less than 1 percent of their total volume.

There's a point that's been made by many that is worth reiterating: even "just" 0.7 - 3.0 ppm of melamine from your crackers, 2 more ppm from your milk powder, and all the other parts per million that we don't know about yet all add up to a greater danger than they're letting on to.

But, wait -- there's much more melamine to be had!

On October 21, 2008, we were told of melamine being found in Chinese fried bread sticks:

The Department of Health said yesterday that after testing several food products for melamine, two batches of Chinese fried bread sticks were found to contain 3.37 parts per million (ppm) and 4.29ppm.

Health departments across the country have randomly tested more than 100 batches of baked goods and other foods that are commonly prepared with ammonium bicarbonate, including cookies, bread, grilled squid, barbequed pork buns, wedding cakes, honeycomb cookies and cream puffs.

[...]

Businesses such as bakeries and food stands that do not use Chinese-made baking ammonia as a food additive are allowed to put up signs that say “No Chinese-made baking ammonia added, customers need not worry,” Cheng said.

On Saturday, ammonium bicarbonate imported by Sesoda Corp (東碱股份有限公司) from China’s Huaer Chemical Co (化二化工有限公司) was found to contain between 70ppm and 300ppm of melamine.

Of the 400 tonnes imported, more than 200 tonnes remain in circulation and have yet to be tracked down by health officials.

It was two full days earlier that we had learned of the contaminated baking ammonia:

While the DOH said that the melamine content was 70ppm to 300ppm, the Taipei City Government Department of Health issued a press release saying the concentration was between 1,410ppm and 2,470 ppm.

The DOH did not give an explanation for the discrepancy.

[...]

Ammonium bicarbonate is used in the food industry as a leavening agent. It is commonly used in biscuits, cookies, cream puffs and Chinese fried bread sticks (油條).

On October 18, 2008, we were being told that "the melamine crisis was almost over." That was 11 days ago.

What a fucking joke!

The most obvious way to avoid this is to stop buying China's crap.

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Natural and artificial ingredients: Taiwan, 台灣, melamine, 三聚氰胺, Department of Health, 行政院衛生署, China, 中國

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China, Department of Health, melamine, Taiwan, 三聚氰胺, 中國, 台灣, 行政院衛生署

The People's Republic of Poison?

From the cover story of today's Taipei Times:

In yet another food industry ban related to toxic chemicals from China, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday that an imported batch of powdered baking ammonia was found to contain between 70 parts per million (ppm) and 300ppm of melamine.

[...]

While the DOH said that the melamine content was 70ppm to 300ppm, the Taipei City Government Department of Health issued a press release saying the concentration was between 1,410ppm and 2,470 ppm.

The DOH did not give an explanation for the discrepancy.

[...]

Ammonium bicarbonate is used in the food industry as a leavening agent. It is commonly used in biscuits, cookies, cream puffs and Chinese fried bread sticks (油條).

[...]

Sesoda said in a press release issued yesterday that, of the 400 tonnes of ammonium bicarbonate it had imported from China, 20 tonnes remained in its warehouses countrywide, leaving 380 tonnes in circulation.

However, the company said it did not know whether all 380 tonnes are contaminated.

[...]

A source speaking on condition of anonymity said that health authorities had already detected melamine in ammonium bicarbonate a week ago, but waited until yesterday to make the announcement.

The source said that talk of melamine-contaminated baking ingredients had been circulating in the food industry for the past week.

In response, a DOH official who declined to be identified said that since the incident involving King Car Industrial Co (金車) last month, health authorities have been randomly checking certain materials for traces of melamine.

How much you wanna bet this isn't the last discovery of melamine-tainted imports from China?

Are you going to wait until it hits you right in the kidneys before you do everything you can to avoid buying things from China?

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Bottles of fear on the wall: Taiwan, 台灣, Department of Health, 行政院衛生署, melamine, 三聚氰胺, China, 中國

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China, Department of Health, melamine, Taiwan, 三聚氰胺, 中國, 台灣, 行政院衛生署

Do you trust the Ma administration with your lives?

From the Thursday, September 25, 2008 Taipei Times:

The Department of Health (DOH) said last night that the highest permissible concentration of melamime [sic] in raw materials and processed foods is to be 2.5 parts per million (ppm), rather than zero ppm as it had announced on Tuesday.

Because of this easing of standards malt extract and creamer manufactured by Union Chemical Industrial Co, Ltd and creamer manufactured by Festsun Enterprise Co Ltd, originally declared unsafe by the DOH on Tuesday, are now considered fit for consumption because their concentration is lower than 2.5ppm.

The new standard was the result of a meeting between the DOH, Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis and Food Industry Research and Development Institute. The use of 2.5ppm as a standard mirrors that used in Hong Kong.

However, for products meant to for consumption by infants, such as baby formula, the standard is set at 1ppm.

At an earlier press conference, the DOH contradicted itself about whether vegetable-based protein products would be among the products pulled from shelves until they could be tested for melamine.

Some obvious questions arise: "Do they know what they're doing?" "Are they making it up as they go along?" "Did money play a part in the changing standards?"

Be sure to read the rest of that article to learn more about the media relations clusterfuck that happened as Deputy Health Minister Sung Yen-jen (宋晏仁) gave and withheld information.

Also take a look at this graphic which names the companies whose products -- more than 200 metric tons' worth -- tested positive for melamine. Pay special attention to the items which are qualified as being "Positive at negligible amounts." That graphic also names companies affected but doesn't name the specific products. From what I saw in last night's news reports, those products include chocolate, ice cream, yogurt, boxed milk tea, 3-in-1 coffee mix, dried tofu, vegetarian meats, and more.

Here's a slightly more-detailed description of the products that are affected. On that same page, there is a PDF link (2.7 MB) which contains the aforementioned graphic at infinitely better resolution

The Ma government promised on Wednesday that all affected products would be removed from store shelves by Thursday. Can they be trusted to be sure that happens?

Related YouTube videos:
* CNN:53,000 babies fed tainted milk in China 三鹿全脂毒奶粉事件造成423名嬰兒患上了腎結石，還有一名嬰兒因此死亡 (September 14, 2008) -- CNN's John Vause reports from Beijing.
* Mad in China: China produces killer milk!! (September 15, 2008) -- Vause talks to people at Sanlu's national headquarters. Listen to the way he describes Taiwan at around the 2:00 mark: "Apart from Taiwan, all of the contaminated formula was meant for domestic consumption."
* [CNN] More Chinese products found contaminated 2008.09.19 (September 19, 2008) -- Vause, once again
* 三鹿奶粉廣告 -- an original Sanlu infant formula commercial
* China Tainted Baby Milk 's Commerical毒奶粉三鹿廣告 -- same as above, in case that one disappears or doesn't work
* Parodies of 2 Sanlu commercials

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Solid concretions: Taiwan, 台灣, melamine, 三聚氰胺, Sanlu Dairy Products, 三鹿乳品, Department of Health, 行政院衛生署

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Department of Health, melamine, Sanlu Dairy Products, Taiwan, 三聚氰胺, 三鹿乳品, 台灣, 行政院衛生署

Presidency in limbo

According to a recent survey by the very pro-blue Global Views Magazine (遠見雜誌), Taiwan's president I-don't-mind-if-you-call-me-"Mr." Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is faring even worse than George W. Bush with an approval rating of 24.9 percent. That's quite an "accomplishment" having been in office for only four months!

I don't have a direct link to the Global Views survey [UPDATE: Here's the link (560KB PDF file) /UPDATE], but here are the headlines of some Chinese-language news stories reporting the results [translations mine]:

* 遠見民調／從政以來最低民調　馬英九施政滿意度僅24.9% (via NOWnews, which is part of the pro-blue ETTV)
Global Views survey / Lowest rating since taking office, Ma Ying-jeou administration approval rating only 24.9%

* 從政以來最低 馬英九民望僅24.9% (via Apple Action News, a division of the dubiously-motivated Apple Daily)
Lowest since taking office, only 24.9% have hope for Ma Ying-jeou

* 馬上任四月施政滿意度僅24.9% (via Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao [大公報], regarded by some as a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party)
Ma in office four months, administration's approval rating only 24.9%

* 民調：馬英九獲從政來最差評價 64.5%民眾不滿意 (via China's official government "press agency," Xinhua [新华通讯社])
Survey: Ma Ying-jeou gets worst survey result since taking office, 64.5% of the people are dissatisfied

* 台刊民调：马英九上任4月施政满意度仅为24.9%
(via another Chinese government "agency" [read: mouthpiece], China News Service [中國新聞網 or 中新网])
Survey in Taiwan periodical: In office 4 months, approval rating of Ma Ying-jeou administration only 24.9%

Gee, I wonder how that could have happened...
This is clearly the result of Ma and his administration's damaging of Taiwan's sovereignty, their inability to live up to any of Ma's campaign promises, their mishandling of more than one typhoon, their slow, nonchalant, and inadequate reaction to the discovery of food products from China which contained potentially-fatal melamine, and their total failure to take responsibility for their own words and actions/inaction.

We're gonna get you, suckas!
Instead of responding to the opposition's reality-based attacks for all these things by changing tack, forming a new cabinet, or engaging in any introspection, they have decided instead to form a "counterattack squad." I wish I was kidding, but see for yourselves [translations mine]:

* 拒絕挨打 藍組反擊部隊 (via the pro-blue United Daily News [聯合報])
Refusing to take a beating, blues form counterattack squad

* 拒絕挨打、導正視聽　藍組“反擊部隊” (via the HK-based China Review News [中國評論新聞網])
Refusing to take a beating, countering the rumors, blues form "counterattack squad"

What they're saying is that they didn't do anything to cause such bad survey results and that it's all because the opposition -- meaning the DPP -- is spreading "rumors."

A brief history of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) "counterattacks"
For greater context, check out this nonsense from one year ago, from a source that could easily be called "an outlet for KMT propaganda" itself:

* Kuomintang tries counterattack on 'underground' radio stations (via the pro-unification China Post)

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The opposition Kuomintang, convinced that it lost the last presidential election in 2004 because of a rumor spread by underground radio stations, is launching a counterattack.

Wu Dun-yih, secretary-general of the Kuomintang, confirmed yesterday his party is asking "licensed" radio stations to air its propaganda.

And here's another more recent display of how the kind of propaganda they're talking about works:

Executives at supermarkets and wholesale stores said that some international food and beverage giants used to enjoy brisk sales here.

But their milk powder made in China under contract has now suffered steep drops, although they vouch for the quality and safety of their products.

Bakeries in Taipei said sales of their products have also become victims of the negative publicity about the tainted milk powder.

The bakeries using Chinese milk powder are the victims -- but not the consumers who may have unknowingly ingested a toxic chemical? The "negative publicity" is the problem -- not the fact that this toxic chemical made its way into Taiwan's food supply?

This propaganda portrays the situation as if it hadn't yet been determined whether or not this melamine problem even existed. It treats it as if all of the potentially-toxic products -- containing some of the 25 metric tons (at least) of milk powder and other affected products which are known to have been imported into Taiwan -- had already been tested thoroughly and deemed safe. And it makes it sound as if the customers were being "unreasonable" when they had a valid reason to be concerned about their safety.

Is KMT-led Taipei totally free of melamine-tainted food, as the article implies? With the amount that made it into the country, I think that remains to be seen.

I am concerned... for the people of Taiwan
Not that I have even half an iota of concern about what Ma could do to boost his ratings, but it's certainly not impossible for him to do so. I won't hold my breath waiting for him to make that happen, but unless there's some serious change, I can only imagine Ma's ratings plunging even further -- and not because of any so-called "rumors."

苦民所苦
Here's a recent photo of Ma feeling somebody's pain -- most likely his own:

... and doing so while wearing a cap that says "ARG"! (out of view)
Ma's expression is the result of being scolded by a local official
-- from his own party! --
during a visit to Nantou several days after Typhoon Sinlaku had devastated the area.
(via the NOWnews article linked above)
Opposition rumors, my ass!

FURTHER READING (Lest we forget):
* Melamine was the chemical contaminant that was found in pet food produced in China in early 2007 and which "killed or sickened thousands of animals." Has anything changed?

* Pet Food Recall (Melamine)/Tainted Animal Feed

On March 15, 2007, FDA learned that certain pet foods were sickening and killing cats and dogs. FDA found contaminants in vegetable proteins imported into the United States from China and used as ingredients in pet food.

* Melamine in pet food may not be accidental

A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels.

[...]

[...] "That melamine was found in all three of those, it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that this was intentional." [Stephen Sundlof, FDA chief veterinarian]

* Wikipedia: 2008 baby milk scandal

* Wikipedia: Food safety incidents in the People's Republic of China

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Baselines: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, I feel the people's pain, 苦民所苦, survey, 民調, Wu Den-yi, 吳敦義, propaganda, 宣傳, China Post, 英文中國郵報, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, Xinhua, 新華, melamine, 三聚氰胺

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China, China Post, Ma Ying-jeou, melamine, propaganda, survey, Taiwan, Wu Den-yi, Xinhua, 三聚氰胺, 中國, 台灣, 吳敦義, 宣傳, 新華, 民調, 英文中國郵報, 馬英九