Four hundred babies lives are in danger due to the presence of melamine in the baby milk powder and formula made by SANLU. Eerily, the case is the same as the one last year (2007) where pet food was also added with melamine to make the protein levels appear higher when tested. Interestingly, Fonterra Co-operative Group, a New Zealand-based company, also owns a large stake in SANLU and has apparently been very hands off with the management. According to Reuters, over 8,000 tonnes of milk products by SANLU have been recalled.
In the case with the infants who have been taking the milk powder, kidney stones developed leading to a host of complications and death for some.
“This is a severe food safety accident,” Gao Qiang, a senior official at the Ministry of Health, told a news conference called by the cabinet’s information office in Beijing. But is that what this is? “AN ACCIDENT?”