Friday, September 19, 2008

Tainted Milk

This latest Chinese milk scandal makes me sick.

An excerpt:
Melamine, the contaminant, is used to make plastics and fertilizers but banned from food production. In the past, it has sometimes been illicitly blended into agricultural products as a cheap way to raise protein levels.

Milk producers sometimes inflate their supplies by adding water. But the diluted milk has lower nutrient levels, so melamine, high in nitrogen, is then added to restore those levels artificially to meet protein requirements. Infants who drink the formula for sustained periods can develop kidney stones and suffer kidney failure.

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