Friday, September 12, 2008

Entry for September 12, 2008

Bộ Y tế Trung Quốc đang điều tra việc một số lượng sữa trẻ em nước này- cụ thể là của hãng Sanlu- có chứa hóa chất công nghiệp melamine, gây ra ít nhất một cái chết trẻ em và hư hại thận cho ít nhất 50 trường hợp khác. Năm ngoái thức ăn cho động vật do Trung Quốc sản xuất có chứa melamine đã giết chết hàng nghìn động vật nuôi ở Mỹ. Vài năm trước cũng có ít nhất 13 trẻ em tử vong ở Trung Quốc do uống phải sữa (được coi là) giả Sanlu.

Hiện nay cơ quan kiểm tra y tế Mỹ FDA chưa cho phép nhập bất kỳ nhãn sữa nào của Trung Quốc vào thị trường Mỹ.
Hy vọng tin này sẽ sớm có trên báo Việt Nam để người tiêu dùng Việt Nam được cảnh báo về nguy cơ sữa trẻ em có nguồn gốc từ Trung Quốc.

China Investigates Tainted Baby Formula

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/world/asia/13milk.html?_r=1&ref=asia&oref=login

3 comments:

  1. Gớm, tối nay em vừa mới xem trên VTV1 xong. Bác quả là thua nhà đài có tí tẹo...

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  2. State-run Xinhua news agency quoted doctors at a hospital in northwestern Gansu province as saying on Wednesday that "fake milk powder" from one brand could have been responsible for kidney stones developing in 14 infants aged under 11 months.

    A rash of other cases of babies developing kidney stones had since emerged in six other provinces and regions, Xinhua said on Thursday, citing local media reports.

    Parents of the affected babies, mostly from poor and remote areas, said they bought the milk powder at much cheaper prices than usual.

    Health and quality officials were investigating whether the babies had drunk milk formula marked "Sanlu", and had sent samples to a state-run laboratory.

    Gansu health authorities were aware of the problem as early as July 16, after a local hospital reported seeing 16 babies with kidney stones who had all drunk the same brand of formula, without explaining the delay in disclosure.

    Dozens of other cases of babies developing kidney stones had been reported in Gansu this year, after none was reported in 2006 and 2007. It was not clear whether they had drunk the same brand of milk formula.

    Cases of babies developing kidney stones had since emerged in two other hospitals in Gansu and also in Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Anhui, Ningxia and Shaanxi, Xinhua said.

    A company spokesman for dairy company Sanlu Group said the milk powder may have been mislabelled and that "someone" might be counterfeiting their product, Xinhua said.

    The company was awaiting results of tests and had "more than 1,000 employees" conducting their own investigations across China, Xinhua quoted a Sanlu spokesman surnamed Cui as saying.

    In 2005, authorities in the northern port city of Tianjin seized hundreds of cases of mislabelled Sanlu-brand yoghurt.

    Sanlu is is partly owned by New Zealand dairy export giant Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd. China is the world's second-biggest baby milk powder market.

    Kidney stones are small, solid masses that form when salts or minerals normally found in urine crystallise inside the kidney.

    If they become large enough, they can move out of the kidney, cause infection and lead to permanent kidney damage.

    In 2004, at least 13 babies in eastern Anhui province died after drinking fake milk powder that investigators later found had no nutritional value, a scandal that rocked the country and triggered widespread investigations into food and health safety.

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  3. Local residents say more than a thousand could be dead after the collapse of a mine waste reservoir in China, but officials are saying only 178 people have died so far. The landslide buried several villages and a market place in Linfen City, Shanxi Province on 8 September.

    Local resident, Mr. Miao, told , “The collapsed waste reservoir is over 100 meters above the villages and market place, people below were buried within seconds and could not be found. Should it have happened at night, the death toll would be even higher.”

    Local resident Ms. Duan said, “Over a thousand died, and they were still digging [on September 9].”

    When asked if there were survivors, she said, “No, it was sand everywhere. There were no survivors. They dug during the day until 8 or 9 pm. There were several machines digging, but only bodies were found. The mining work and production have been halted. The county chief has been fired.”

    The official report states the landslide was caused by a rainstorm collapsing the waste reservoir—which belongs to the local Xinta Mining Corporation. However, many local Internet users disagreed, saying no rain fell that day at all.

    Shanxi Province meteorology information notes that there was no rain in the county for nine days prior to the disaster, and only 1.5 millimeters in the 24-hour period leading up to the collapse.

    Ms. Qing from neighbor town countered on the authority’s claim, “The collapse has nothing to do with the rain. The reservoir burst, the water and sand came down and killed people. There were many people there since 7:50 am. Few survived. Many entire families including both elderly and children died there. Many miners died in the disaster, too.”

    The villages buried under the landslide have been blocked off by authorities and an eyewitness said that the rescue team have slim hopes of finding survivors.

    Mr. Chang from neighboring Taosi Town said, “The situation was serious, families were looking all over to find their loved ones, more than one thousand people died or were missing. The area has been sealed off, and no one is permitted to enter.”

    Hong Kong Mingpao quoted local villager Wei Guangfei, saying the buried trade market can hold up to a thousand people. Villagers from Yunhe Village, Hejiazhuang, Jianjiagou, Wolong, etc. all trade there. The landslide covers an area of 3 square meters, and the possibility of survival is very slim.

    The disaster occurred on the last day of the trading market (Taosi Town, Xiangfen County, Linfen City), September 8, 2008. The Mid-Autumn Festival period meant that a greater number of people were attending the market that day.

    Ms. Chang said, “It is a man-made disaster, this 60 to 70 meter high dam was not well-constructed. The trade market is directly below it. It should not have been built above a populated trade market.”

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