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Tessa Wong
News Reporter
More can be done for melamine tests
October 30, 2008 Thursday, 03:00 PM
Tessa Wong wonders if the testing for tainted milk can be improved.
IT'S been nearly six weeks since the global melamine food scare hit Singapore, with the discovery of the tainted Yi Li yoghurt iced bar sold here. Since then, it's been one dirty product after the other: Cadbury chocolate products, the unfortunately-named Si Lang (which means "dead man" in Hokkien) potato crackers, Dutch Lady milk, and now Julie's biscuits. The latest announcement by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) that some made-in-Malaysia biscuits are tainted, most likely because of their use of tainted raising agent, now raises questions of how far the contamination has insinuated itself into our food chain. Now, it’s not just milk from China that can contains melamine – China-sourced raising agents like ammonium bicarbonate, which are used widely to make confectioneries all over the world, are at risk too. Meanwhile, other countries have been raising alarms almost daily over the most innocuous of foods from egg powder to frozen beans. What’s a consumer in Singapore to do? Well, for starters, having more information on what’s safe to eat would be useful. Presently, the AVA has only told us what is tainted, and have yet to release a list of products which have tested clean, despite having tested most of the 4,000-odd items collected. As a result, both importers and the public are still left in the dark, with companies running up losses on unsold products every day, and consumers growing more jittery about all kinds of food, even with a ban on sales of all China dairy products. It’s understandable why the AVA is holding back on releasing the information prematurely, though. From what I understand, the agency tests multiple batches and while preliminary tests may prove a product clean, subsequent tests on other batches may prove otherwise. In fact, this is exactly what happened with Malaysian biscuits: Two weeks ago they had declared them safe, but had to do an abrupt about-turn on this position with the discovery of the 17 tainted Malaysian products. Still, one can’t help but wonder if more could be done to make the process quicker and efficient. For instance, could not more money be also funnelled into boosting the AVA’s current resources and hiring more analysts and equipment, so that testing could be expedited more quickly? Also, the government announced five weeks ago that it plans to set up a new forensic unit within the AVA to keep a lookout for possible future contaminations. But as of now we still have not heard when exactly this unit will be set up, how much will be put into it, how many people it will employ, and how effectively it can stop contaminated food from entering our shores. Given the number of minor food scares erupting globally on an almost daily basis, surely this project should be accelerated, and more details made public to assure consumers? The more information that gets out faster, the more light can be shone into an issue that is curdling more every day. Tags: food, health, singapore 
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NOT MILK PLEASE (from http://theinnozablog.blogspot.com)
Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine.
It has been reported that cyromazine can also be converted to melamine in plants.
Melamine combines with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate, which has been implicated in the Chinese protein export contaminations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine
NOTE:(If you want read this mail (below) with {photos} attached send to you ,kindly leave your e-mail address at the "comment" below and if time permit, I shall sent to you. Or you can write to lesoong@gmail.com )
WHY MELAMINE IS BAD FOR OUR BODY WHEN MIXED WITH FOOD?
VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ.
1.What really is poisoned milk?
It is the milk powder mixed with "MELAMINE"
What is Melamine use for?
It is an industrial chemical use in the production of melawares.
It is also used in home decoration.
{" US resistant board" Melamine_Particle_Board___Laminated_Particle_Board
agm_garage_melamine }Photo
Do you understand?Melamine is used in industrial production?it cannot be eaten?Not for human nutritional health at all.
2.Why is Melamine added in milk powder?
The most important nutrient in milk is protein. And Melamine has the same protein that contains "NITROGEN". Only plant produce ,fresh fruits and fresh vegetables, can process the nitrogen in nature and transform it into organic-nitrogen which is suitable for human and animal consumption. Fresh air has correct ration of nitrogen gas, too. It is the overdose of nitrogen-element in the body system that starts the imbalance and cause degeneration leading to premature death.
{Graphic2}Photo
Adding Melamine in milk reduces milk content and it is cheaper then original fresh milk, so it lowers capitalization. It can give the business man more profit!? "The love for (more and faster) money is the root of all evil" is true. Money per se is not evil.
below is Melamine?doesn't it look like milk?
it doesn't have any smell, so cannot be detected?
{ap_F23_20080924091240126}Photo
3.When was it discovered?
Year 2007? US cats and dogs died suddenly, they found that pet food from China contains Melamine.
{World1998_12p18UpLe}Photo
Starting 2008, In China , an abnormal increase in infant cases of kidney stones.
August 2008 China Sanlu Milk Powder tested with Melamine
{2865491810_5f76c05810_o}Photo
Sept. 2008? New Zealand government ask China to check this problem
Sept. 21, 2008?Lots of food products in Taiwan tested with Melamine
4.What happens when Melamine is digested?
Melamine remains inside the kidney. It forms into stones blocking the tubes. Pain will be eminent and person cannot urinate. Kidney will then swell.
{kidneystone}
Although surgery can remove the stones, but it will cause irreversible kidney damage. It can lead to loss of kidney function and will require kidney dialysis or lead to death because of uremia.
What is dialysis?In fact, it should be called "blood washing"
it is filtering all of the body's blood into the machine and then go back to the body.
{20060628104358}Photo
The whole process takes 4 hours and it is necessary to dialysis once for every 3 days for the rest of your life?
Here is a dialysis center
{20060728055433}Photo
Large dialysis center
{20060628104359}Photo
A small hole is required in the arm to insert the sub-dialysis catheter.
{shapeimage_2}Photo
Why is it more serious in babies?Because their kidneys are very small and they drink a lot of milk powder. Please feed them with fresh fruit juice if they have weaned from mother breast milk. Nature is the best "chemist" in the world, better than all the human-chemists combined.
Here is a baby undergoing dialysis.
{1221251045_uevWjq}Photo
China currenty has 13,000 infants hospitalized .
It does not matter how much a human being took Melamine. The important point is "It cannot be EATEN!" Overtime, adults too will succumb to it's health deteriorating effects. Be wiser and not be taken again for a silly-ride by reports from media or health authorities (so-called) that "it is safe because the amount (Melamine) in very small and it takes an adult to eat a life time to experience the similar effect as in a baby ...."
5.What are the foods to be avoided?
Foods that contain dairy products should be avoided.
Remember: Foods with creamer or milk should be avoided.
{Photos}
6.Which companies are affected?
Hereunder are the companies affected with Melamine.
{Photos}
7.What do we do next?
Avoid the above foods for at least six months? Read and research updated scientific findings on your own from neutral parties.
If you have snack bar, restaurant or coffee shops?
Stop selling dairy products for the meantime.
If you have infants at home, change to mother's milk
or find other substitutes.?
Finally, share this information with friends so
they will understand the risk of milk poisoning?
I am using fruits fresh juices and vegetables fresh juices instead of milk.
In the first place, AVA has always been behind Agencies in Hong Kong or Taiwan in terms of making new discoveries with Food Contamination. I guess AVA if fine with that. Now, with the lack of education about AVA testing capabilities and sampling procedure, accuracy etc, I am not sure any data release by AVA can be trusted. For example, I was told that when a basket of vegatable reaches Sing, sample was taken only from the top. Some told me that the farmers will pack the on specification veg on the top, and those with high pesticide beautiful veg will be packed at the bottom.
If one is knowlegable about preservatives, we could still find some imported food stuff using banned preservatives in some low cost super mart shelves.
Now, there is always a price to pay for quality, probably agency is just avoiding additional cost incur on companies with low margin. Hopefully this is not true.
So, my conclusion about AVA is, they are just follower and lacking of initiatives. Only action when there is public complains. Should someone earning millions of dollars annually please kindly look into this.
You have given a voice to lot of people's concern.
While AVA would like to confirm with multiple tests before releasing the information, an adhoc release of info about the priliminary test probably on their website would be help us make an better choice tehn random selection. For this makes us shun all china products....
More may not be good. When more information floods the media and consumers, it would inadvertently create panic, leading to products being moved off shelves, shunting of products, crippling of business markets. Thoroughly checked and proven information would then serve a greater purpose in aiding consumers' decisions.
I agree with your view on why authorities avoid premature release of information, despite how dire the public wants it to. Speculation is scary!
It would be good to see government departments more proactive, rather than reactive when a major problem finally arises.
The AVA should also see this as an opportunity. Like TUV, UL and other standards laboratories around the world, perhaps Singapore can create its own brand of standards testing that will generate revenue and jobs, and importantly the investment needed to create the capacity to proactively and extensively test.