Some Things you just shouldn’t eat- by Grace

When you or your family go to the supermarket, do you just pick products off the shelf if they look good, or do you prefer to buy from certain brands? For me, I have my own comfort brands that I’ve bought from before and like- for example, I love Wall’s ice-cream and White Rabbit candy.

But now, some imported milk products from China are being banned across Asia, as they have been found to contain melamine, a chemical that’s used to make plastics. As of September the 22^nd this year, the number of Chinese infants hospitalized after drinking these tainted milk formulas rose to nearly 13 000. In fact, four deaths have been reported to be caused by this toxic milk, which is said to bring about kidney stones and other complications.

Countries are all taking action. The Japanese government purportedly asked 90 000 companies to check their products for melamine, and Taiwan has banned all mainland dairy products. Malaysia has banned all imports of milk products from China with immediate effect, and Singapore did likewise after finding melamine in three brands of China-made milk products (including my favourite White Rabbit candy, Magnum, Meiji and Walls ice cream!).

Closer to home, in Thailand, Deputy Secretary-General of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pharmacist Manit Arunakul has revealed that the FDA is taking precautions against these products. They have ordered all dairy products from China to be seized and quarantined as tests are conducted. Only after clearing contamination tests will these products be allowed into the Thai market.

I think that this problem will greatly affect everyone’s economies, especially China’s, now that a lot of their exports (for China) and imports (for other countries) have to be banned to ensure everyone’s safety. I feel that China should take more precautions to ensure such things shouldn’t happen. It’s good knowing that some of the authorities are taking such precautions so that more people can be safe, but all the same we should watch what we consume and take care of our health.

Some things you just shouldn’t eat…

Information taken from http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_280202.html, http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/thailand/fda-takes-stringent-measures-to-test-chinese-produced-dairy-products_10098273.htmlhttp://www.aseanaffairs.com/page/china_s_milk_scare_spreads_to_malaysia_singapore_and_myanmar, http://health.yahoo.com/news/reuters/china_milk_dc.html , and http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20080921-89066.html.