Most expats probably remember the late 2008’s food safety scare regarding melamine in milk products (especially formula) causing kidney problems in hundreds of thousands of Chinese infants. Unfortunately, it seems that we still need to be concerned about milk products in China, as the Chinese papers have been detailing yet another resurgence in the illegal and dangerous use of melamine in some milk products. It seems that 100,000 tons of melamine somehow got back on the market last year, and at least 5 companies were caught selling it. The government now says that most tainted milk products are recalled.
I must admit that this recurring scandal is very concerning, showing just how hard it is to clean up as well as to enforce safety in the food supply chain. This double-scare has led to a China-wide surge in import and sales of foreign-made baby formula. I would have to recommend that expats also do the same. The excellent Tianjin blog China Hope Live has a good discussion of this (Foreign baby in China essentials: IMPORTED BABY FORMULA).
UPDATE 2024: Please follow me at my new website, DrSaintCyr.com. Also my new YouTube channel youtube.com/@drsaintcyr
I just saw a review article in Canadian Medical Association Journal which details the long-term kidney effects among many of those children in the 2008 scandal. They found that 12% still have problems. The PDF is here http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.091063v1?ijk… Here's the abstract:
Among children who underwent screening,
0.61% showed ultrasonographic evidence of nephrolithiasis
or hydronephrosis. Most of the affected children were
asymptomatic. The majority of the affected children recovered
from the toxic effects of melamine over time without
specific treatment. Renal abnormalities remained in 12%
of the affected children.
I breastfeed my babies, and we have milk allergies for one older child, so we don't really have milk products (except Green Yard organic Milk) in the home.