China Tainted Milk Scandal

It is a shame so soon after hosting the best Olympic Games ever, that China has now to deal with the scandal of tainted baby formula. The industrial chemical melamine found in the milk powder has, so far, caused the deaths of four infants, and over a hundred other newborn babies are found to be suffering from kidney failure. Added to that, samples of liquid milk from two manufacturers were also found to contain melamine. My heart goes out to these parents suffering the loss of their beloved babies as a result of pure human greed and a shameful disregard for human lives.

In April of 2007, it was reported that pet food produced in China was also contaminated with melamine. Some even contained a contaminated wheat gluten from China. That episode too resulted in the deaths of hundreds of cats and dogs.

Again in August 2007, the giant toy company Mattel had to recall hundreds of thousands of their toys made in China because of the danger of lead paint and tiny magnetic parts that small children were in danger of swallowing. It was reported that at least one child in the USA had died from injuries as a result of swallowing these tiny but powerful magnets. Many others underwent surgery to remove swallowed parts.


Then, some months ago, rumours had it that certain brands of canned meat from China contained corrugated cardboard passed off as meat! Someone said she heard it from a relative in Hongkong. Whether there's any basis to that rumour, I have no idea. But if that's true, then God help us!

In their pursuit of monetary gain, have these Chinese manufacturers lost their humanity and become killers of unsuspecting consumers at home and abroad who buy their products in good faith? And now, even innocent babies are not spared! Do the powers on high in China need more tragedies and fatalities to goad them into imposing and enforcing tighter quality control and more stringent measures on its manufacturers?

All these scandals of tainted stuff coming out of China is not doing the country any good. At best, it's going to make the Chinese appear as heartless, money-crazed monsters. At worse, it will cost them their economy because it's made the rest of the world paranoid about buying anything that's "MADE IN CHINA". Especially food products, not just for humans, but for our beloved pets as well. And I'm already paranoid - big time! I've cleared and dumped whatever China-made food products that I had in my pantry.

In their relentless pursuit of monetary gain, I dread to think what else these unethical Chinese businessmen will come up with in the future to jeopardise the lives and health of fellow humans after this scandal blows over. Will they learn and change for the better in the aftermath of this latest tragedy? Will these cruel unscrupulous businessmen come to their senses and recover their conscience?

God only knows. How true it is that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV)

It takes only a handful of blacksheep to tarnish the moral image of an entire nation. For years to come, China will have to live with the world looking at their foods and goods with great suspicion and loads of caution!