CHINA FINDS TONS OF TAINTED MILK POWDER

CHINA RECALLED 170 TONS OF MILK POWDER
TAINTED WITH THE CHEMICAL MELAMINE

HANGHAI (China Daily) - Chinese authorities say they are trying to track down nearly 100 tons of milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine as the government struggles to prevent a recurrence of the large-scale milk contamination that killed six children and sickened about 300,000 others in Sept 2008. The hunt for the adulterated milk powder, distributed by a dairy company in the northern region of Ningxia, follows reports of other batches of melamine-tainted products across the country in recent months. The government last week started emergency inspections to get contaminated goods off store shelves. More than a year after the toxic chemical first was discovered to be widespread in baby formula and other dairy products, China's problems with melamine contamination remain. Since the extent of melamine adulteration became apparent in 2008, the central government has fought to reassure consumers that it can protect them. Courts imposed harsh penalties on people involved: Two were executed in November. The scandal also helped speed up the passage of a comprehensive new food-safety law last year. But gaps clearly still remain – and are apparently being exploited by unscrupulous business people, according to local authorities. In some cases, local police say they believe the melamine-laced milk powder they have discovered was recalled after it was found to be contaminated in 2008 and then repackaged and sold again.

Dairy farmers and milk traders started adding melamine-laced powder to raw milk in an effort to fool dairy-company quality checks. Melamine, which is high in nitrogen, mimics the presence of protein in some lab tests. In high enough quantities it can cause serious kidney problems in people. How far the melamine-laced powder from Ningxia spreads through the food chain will depend on recall efforts as well as on how it is used. Milk powder can be used as a raw material in baked goods and candy as well as in baby formula and other dairy-based products.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When men walk on the path of truth, they are simple and honest. When men’s actions are a collection of lies, their hearts are full of cunning, their deeds are sins, and their words are empty flattery. That is your “civilization”. True civilization is not like that. In true civilization men are honest and sincere. Nowadays people merely hide the wickedness in their hearts, and that hiding they call “civilization”. The true meaning of ‘civilization’ is ‘honesty and goodness’. What you call “civilization” is only cheating and wickedness. Civilization that is sinless is found only among the Vaishnavas.

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
“Jaiva-dharma (The Universal Religion)”
Chapter Nine : “Eternal Religion and Modern Science-Civilization”