The FDA has issued a warning not to buy infant formula made in China (read labels!), since some of it may be in ethnic markets in the U.S. under the “grey” market. And China is investigating, threatening punishment, and issuing recalls.
I can hardly believe it but USA Today reports that Chinese infant formula has been found to be contaminated with melamine, the very same toxic ingredient that caused the pet food recalls of 2007. Melamine-laced pet foods killed cats and dogs. Who knows what it might do in infant formula. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Tests for protein just test for nitrogen and don’t care where it comes from. Melamine, which is cheap, makes pet foods and infant formulas look like they have a lot of protein, which is expensive. That would be bad enough but melamine and one of its by-products, cyanuric acid, form crystals that block kidney function. The fraudulent addition of melamine to pet food is precisely the subject of my book, Pet Food Politics. It’s subtitle is The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Now you know why.
China, it seems, has never required nutrition labeling on food packages but is now getting around to it–at least on packages made for export. Can’t wait to see what the labels will look like (see previous post).
Three people, including my son in Los Angeles, sent me these terrific photos yesterday, ostensibly of exotic fast food in Beijing, and offered by G. Pollak. The photos are a great cross-cultural experience. But who is G. Pollak and what’s the story about them?
The topic: “How would Julia Child vote on the 2012 farm bill? 4:00 p.m., Fales Special Collections at Bobst Library. Open to public. Details are here.
