Milk, made in China.

Tainted milk from China is a serious matter.I bet most of you already got the news. We learned that several thousand babies in China are now seriously ill, Most of them have suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, among those babies that are given the formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. The number is far higher than was previously admitted by the Chinese authorities, according to the BBC.

The manufacturer, Sanlu, which is part-owned by New Zealand’s Fonterra Cooperative, had recalled all of its powdered milk products in Gansu, China. North-west province of China.

However, twenty-two more brands, including China Mengniu Diary Co and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, of milk powder have so far been identified to contain the industrial chemical melamine.

“The majority of afflicted infants ingested Sanlu-brand milk powder over a long period of time, their clinical symptoms showed up three to six months after ingesting the problematic products,” Health Minister Chen Zhu told Bloomberg Asia.

While, this news scares a lot of mothers in China., What exactly is melamine?

Melamine is an organic compounds, a base with chemical formula C₃H₆N₆. Officially it is 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine in the IUPAC nomenclature system (CAS #108-78-1). It is has a molecular mass of just over 126, forms a white, crystalline powder, and is only slightly soluble in water.

It is used as a fire retardants, Melamine is used combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares and flame retardants.

Just imagine.. the chemical that is used to make our paper, tables, furniture and other stuffs, was found in milk?Milk for babies. This wasn't the first time melamine was reported. Remember when this chemical was found in dog food?



Sources: wikipedia, BBC, bloomberg asia
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