Melamin's Disaster

Melamine in China may have been part of the food chain for a long time, as cyromazine, a derivative of melamine, is very commonly used in China as a pesticide. Cyromazine is absorbed into plants as melamine, and may therefore be present in the food chain, including in poulty, eggs, fish, and dairy products. The limit of melamine is set to 0.5 mg/kg body weight (EU safety limit). Its use in food production is banned in China and other countries because it is known to cause renal and urinary problems in humans and animals when combined in the body with cyanuric acid, sometimes present in drinking water and in animal feed. It is not known where in the supply chain the melamine was added to the milk. The chemical is not water-soluble and must be mixed with formaldehyde or another organic solvent before it can be dissolved in milk.

Melamine (and protein) are some chemicals rich in nitrogen, so when protein content in milk products is checked by comparing nitrogen content (such as with the Kjeldahl protein test which is still used in China, or the Dumas protein test), the addition of melamine can hide the fraudulent dilution of milk. The same chemical has been in several other instances to give false results in protein tests, such as in pet food recalls in Europe and the U.S. in 2007, and to mask the low quality of cattle feed used by some farmers (including in soy meal, corn gluten meal or cottonseed meal).

The Health Ministry of Indonesia imposed an import ban on dairy products from China as a preventive measure, while offices of the Indonesian Food and Drugs Supervisory Agency (IFDSA) gave orders to withdraw Chinese dairy products from stores. The government of Indonesia had also withdrawn the local distribution permit given to the only dairy product from China. The nation's health ministry tested 19 candies and drinks products, and said twelve were found to contain melamine levels between 8.51 and 945.86 milligrams per kilogram.

wikipedia