Melamine found in SA food

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Divestar

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Melamine found in SA food
Oct 24 2008 07:01

After tests on sweets, chocolates and cereal, the National Consumer Forum has identified one product that contained the lethal industrial chemical.

Johannesburg - Only one out of 19 foodstuffs tested by the National Consumer Forum contained traces of the chemical melamine, the SABC reported on Thursday.

"There has been one positive result. The levels are not that high but we need to speak to the company concerned and discuss the results with them first before we can make this information public," said NCF head Thami Bulani.

"I can assure consumers in this country they have nothing to worry about."

Tests were conducted in a Cape Town laboratory on various sweets, chocolates and cereal.

Earlier this year, the presence of melamine in Chinese-manufactured dairy products was blamed for a number of infant deaths and illness.

Melamine is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and glues. It was added to watered-down diary products to boost their protein content.

- Sapa
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EDIT:Fixed link

To boost their protein content? With Plastic???:mad:
 
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They are waiting for a kickback before they name them. Say the kickback is big, then they'll say they made a mistake or mention that it was an insignificant trace which the newer version of the product does not have. This type of BS.

Seriously they should name the food product so we don't buy it to poison ourselves.
 
maybe i've got a cunning criminal mind, but wouldn't it be easier not to announce anything if you want a kickback?
 
and trying to squash the results after an announcement has been made wouldn't require the whole organisation to be in on it? so i am not so cunning as a criminal after all?
 
If they "keep it secret" they can extract a higher kick-back for "being discreet" and "protecting our volatile markets" ...

OTOH: By releasing only some of the results, and alerting the consumer, this shows just how serious the situation is, therefore they can extract a higher kick-back for the "urgency" factor.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

This is SA, what did you expect? Historical behavioural-evidence: Did you expect the price of petrol to come down by as much as the price of oil has? Oh, don't be absurd, we have SASOL to help us whether the high (and low) prices of oil.
 
I have it on VERY good inside information from someone in the National Consumer Forum that the contaminated material was found in "Bar One" chocolate bars. So if you had one today, better make sure u get yourself checked asap if you don't feel well.

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Kidding kidding, I would also like to know where it was found.
 
The reports I heard (and I'm not joking about this) is that it the test was positive for Nestle's Gold Cross condensed milk.
 
The product is White Rabbit sweets - made in Shanghai and now recalled. The condensed milk tested contained 0.5 ppm whilst WHO says that 2.5 ppm is the maximum acceptable safe limit.
 
MTN_Data_Dude said:
The product is White Rabbit sweets - made in Shanghai and now recalled. The condensed milk tested contained 0.5 ppm whilst WHO says that 2.5 ppm is the maximum acceptable safe limit.
Click to expand...

There should be ZERO melamine in our food. It's plastic!! Another good reason to go organic and stick to natural whole foods.
 
I'm just wondering how long this has been the case.Afterall, i've eaten many a packet of White rabbits in my day.Quite good they were too.
 
MTN_Data_Dude said:
The product is White Rabbit sweets - made in Shanghai and now recalled. The condensed milk tested contained 0.5 ppm whilst WHO says that 2.5 ppm is the maximum acceptable safe limit.
Click to expand...
For the White Rabbit sweets, batches were found
to contain melamine at levels of 11.25mg/kg, 152mg/kg
and 80 mg/kg respectively.

Anyhting with more than 2.5mg/kg should be destroyed.
 
But why add any in the first place? Is it neccessary or merely used to cut corners?
 
pos(t)er said:
But why add any in the first place? Is it neccessary or merely used to cut corners?
Click to expand...

Used to cut corners...
It is also used to inflate protein content in food.
Click to expand...


According to the World Health Organisation melamine is a chemical compound that is used for laminates, glues, dinnerware, adhesives, molding compounds, coatings and flame retardants.
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At least we won't catch fire... :p
 
The melamine does not actually raise protein levels, it raises nitrate levels - most tests for protein are simply nitrate tests and not protein tests... so the melamine tainted food appears to have higher protein levels but in fact don't - they simply have elevated nitrate levels. What I want to know is how are our gym suppliments - that industry is full of money spinners - What about these health shops that sell the cheap 90% soya protein powders?

http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/melamine-and-kidney-failure.html
As I’ve mentioned here before, melamine is an organic compound used in the manufacture of plastics and fertilizers. It releases cyanide when burned and has been associated with cyanide poisoning in industrial accidents. Melamine monomer, as opposed to the plastic used to make kitchen utensils and table coverings, itself also has irritant properties. It has been added to various food products to illicitly and fraudulently boost the measured protein content without the expense of actually improving the food’s nutritional value.

According to The Register, Chinese company, Xuzhou Anying, was advertising “dust of melamine” as something it called “ESB protein powder” on the global market trading website, Alibaba. “The latest product, ESB protein powder, which is researched and developed by Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., Ltd… Contains protein 160 - 300 percent, which solves the problem for shortage of protein resource,” it boasted. A horrifying thought, makes you wonder what is actually in those nasty protein powder drinks bodybuilders use.

Sciencebase regular “Offy” pointed me to the North Korean publication The Daily NK, which asks whether there were melamine deaths in 2005. “According to merchants trading between China and North Korea, the Chinese Melamine-tainted milk affair started in Pyongyang in the
summer of 2005 the Chinese Melamine-tainted milk affair started in Pyongyang in the summer of 2005. At the time, infants who ate imported Chinese powdered milk fell unconscious and, in more serious cases, died.” At the time, the North Korean authorities tested imported Chinese milk and banned it on the basis of their findings.
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I am convinced that if any place is easy to dump the stuff, Africa is.... if it's been going on since 2005...
 
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killadoob said:
ROFL, finally someone who has an understanding of how things work :p
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The problem is that the cat is out of the bag. White rabbit sweets (and other foodstuffs) have been implicated overseas. Its not like SABS is alerting the world about this, we're a few months behind the mess.

So it wouldn't be preposterous to suggest that a few employees could hold back results and then doctor then depending on how much Mr Red Chinese Businessman will pay.

Of course I'm not implying that our sacred institutions are corruptible.
This is just a hypothetical statement. What had me going is that they waited even ONE DAY to release the info, all along innocent children and adults
are chowing down these bogus sweets.

Today at Makro I cam across R2.16 boxes of Pocky like chocolate candy sticks. I wanted to buy but then I remembered that no-one has tested them for Melanine or other nonsense the Thais or their outsourced Chinese plant
could be using in these ultra cheap candies. The usual price for Pocky is
about R20 per box ($2), but R2.16 is too good to be true, almost.
 
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