Ethics

Case Study BAC 7114 China's Tainted Baby Milk Powder: Rumored Control of Online News

Case 1: China's Tainted Baby Milk Powder: Rumored Control of Online News

On July 16,2008, it was announced that several Chinese producers of baby milk powder had been

adding melamine, a chemical usually used in countertops, to increase the "richness" of their milk

powder and to increase the protein count. Shockingly, the melamine-tainted milk powder was

responsible for the deaths of four infants and the sickening of more than 6,200 more. Milk

manufacturers had been using melamine as a low-cost way of "enriching" their product in both

taste and protein count.

Melamine, a toxic chemical that makes countertops very durable, damages kidneys. This fact

came to world attention on March 16, 2007, when Menu Foods of Streetsville, Ontario, Canada,

recalled dog and cat foods that it had mixed in Canada from Chinese ingredients that were found

to include melamine. Very quickly thereafter, pet owners claims and class action lawsuits

threatened to put the company into bankruptcy until settlements where worked out. A subsequent

investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) let to the recall of pet food by

major manufacturers, including Del Monce, Nescle Purin, Menu Foods, and many others. On

February 6, 2008, "the FDA " announced that that two Chinese nationals and the businesses they

operate, along with a U.S. Company and its president and chief executive officer, were indicated

by a federal grand jury for their roles in a scheme to import products purported to be wheat gluten

into the United States that were contaminated with melamine. It will be interesting to follow what

penalties are ultimately paid by the Chinese manufacturers.

Although the story of melamine-tainted ingredients broke in mid-March 2007, the similarly

tainted-milk powder link did not come to light in China until sixteen months later. Governmental

follow-up has not been speedy even though unmarked bags of...