Melamine In China Soybeans Fed To Organic Poultry!

Melamine In China Soybeans Fed To Organic Poultry!

By Patricia Doyle, PhD
12 -1-8
http://www.rense.com/general84/mell.htm

Hello Jeff – As you can see, the US has revised Melamine ‘tolerable’ daily intake. This is yet another travesty being perpetrated on the American public by the FDA criminals.

Are we SO indebted to China that our government would allow its people to be poisoned by Chinese food and food products? The answer is YES.

It is not just in one food item, now we see it used as fertilizer thus poisoning our crops…both organic and factory-farmed.  Organic soybeans from China are contaminated with it.  It is used in powdered milk thus poisoning baby formula.  It is likely in other milk-based and milk-product containing products like Ensure and other medical food supplements.  Just about any food on the food pyramid probably has some melamine in it now…thanks to China.  The  slow poisoning of an enemy would make ancient Chinese military tacticians proud.

So, people who eat more than one food item are going to be getting more than trace levels of Melamine. All products now in dairy, vegetables, bakery goods and itemsusing GLUTEN and WHEAT GLUTEN contain more Melamine. Is there any food that won’t have some Melamine in it?

No wonder ‘rare’ kidney cancers are exploding.

Patty

MELAMINE CONTAMINATED FOOD PRODUCTS

Melamine In Chinese Soybeans Fed To Organic French Poultry

Source: AFP

Chinese soybeans contaminated with melamine withdrawn from the French market

Nearly 300 tonnes of soya meal imported from China and destined for organic poultry in Western France have been withdrawn from the market after the discovery of a melamine rate fifty times higher than the permitted standard, it was learned Friday [28 Nov 2008] from of the importing cooperative.

Christophe Courousse, communications director of the cooperative Terrena in Ancenis (Loire-Atlantique), told AFP on Friday: “One of the 3 imported batches, of 293 tonnes, had a rate of melamine of 116 mg/kg while the standard [permitted maximum level?] is of 2.5 mg. All food products made from these materials have been removed from the market in early November”.

Soybean meal had been delivered, before the chemical analysis, mainly to 127 organic farmers in Pays de Loire through the Bio animal nutrition (BNA), a subsidiary of Terrena a Mervent (Vendee), which specializes in the manufacture of organic food.

“The analysis of pork and laying hens show that there is no danger to public health. Unlike dioxin, melamine does not accumulate in the body. There is no transmission in the food chain “, AFP was told by Fréderic Andre of the Veterinary Services Directorate in Vendee.

Soya cake with melamine has been used to manufacture feed for farmers in 11 departments: Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Deux-Sevres, Vendee, Calvados, Eure, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre -et-Loire, Sarthe and Orne.

The company BNA announced its intention to sue for fraud, adding melamine to “artificially inflate the protein levels and increase the selling price of the product”, said Courousse.

“The organic sector needs 18 000 tons of soybeans while France produces only 4000 tonnes,” says Courousse. Imports from China were due to poor harvest in Brazil, the traditional supplier.

Controls on stored stocks have been carried out following a warning from the European Union in late October, recommending vigilance on imports from China.

Meanwhile, the Ecocert agency, in charge of the organic certification of imported soybeans, said that the Chinese exporter had committed a “fraud” which its control procedures was unable to detect. [ECOCERT is an organic certification organization, founded in France in 1991. It is based in Europe but conducts inspections in over 80 countries, making it one of the largest organic certification organizations in the world; see <<http://www.ecocert.fr/Contact.html>http://www.ecocert.fr/Contact.html>. - Mod. AS].

“Our certification covers a production method”, AFP was told Jerome Viel, head of certification at Ecocert. The body, which has an office in Beijing, controls “practices” and checks the “traceability”, but can not “guarantee” against “frauds” such as the ones [suspected to have been] committed by the Chinese exporter, he said.

There are many ECOCERT controls on the products themselves, but they “address mainly pesticides,” he explained.

Since that case, “we decided to increase the Ecocert surveillance upon imports of organic soya cake, whatever their origin,” he said.

According to Terrena, the Chinese supplier in question is Hongliang, based in Dalian (Northern China). Its export authorization in France has been suspended by the Ministry of Agriculture, said Ecocert.

For their part, European manufacturers of natural soybean products have to specify in a statement that the products, intended for human consumption such as soy milk, soy desserts, Soy steaks etc., placed on the market, are not involved in the melamine contamination problem.

Communicated by ProMED-mail reporter Susan Baekeland

******

US Revised ‘Safe’ Daily Intake Of Melamine

Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 Source: AP via Yahoo News [edited] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_he_me/infant_formula

FDA sets melamine standard for baby formula

Less than 2 months after federal food regulators said they were unable to set a safety threshold for the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula, they announced a standard that allows for higher levels than those found in U.S.-made batches of the product.

Food and Drug Administration officials on Friday [28 Nov 2008] set a threshold of 1 part per million [=1.0 mg per kg] of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical isn’t present. They insisted the formulas are safe. [An FDA interim safety/risk assessment on melamine and structural analogues, published last month, established for melamine a tolerable daily intake TDI of 0.63 mg per kg of body weight per day. - Mod. AS].

The setting of the standard comes days after The Associated Press reported that FDA tests found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major U.S. manufacturer and cyanuric acid, a chemical relative, in the formula of a second major maker. The contaminated samples, which both measured at levels below the new standard, were analyzed several weeks ago.

The FDA had stated in early October that it was unable to set a safety contamination level for melamine in infant formula.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof, FDA’s director of food safety, said Friday the agency was confident in setting the 1 part per million level for either of the chemicals alone. although there has been no new scientific studies since October that would give regulators more safety data. He had no ready explanation for why the level wasn’t set earlier.

The standard is the same as the one public health officials have set in Canada and China where in September the problem of melamine in infant formula first surfaced. But it is 20 times higher than the most stringent level in Taiwan.

Sundlof said the lack of dual contamination was key because studies so far show dangerous health effects only when both chemicals are present. He emphasized that neither of the two tainted samples had both contaminants.

The agency still will not set a safety level for melamine if cyanuric acid is also present, he said.

Both the new safety level and the amount of the chemical found in U.S.-made infant formula are far below the amounts of melamine added to infant formula in China that have been blamed for killing at least three babies and making thousands ill.

“The levels were so low … that they do not cause a health risk to infants,” Sundlof said. “Parents using infant formula should continue using U.S.-manufactured infant formula. Switching away from one of these infant formulas to alternate diets or homemade formulas could result in infants not receiving the complete nutrition required for proper growth and development.”

Reacting to news of the contaminated formulas, members of Congress, a national consumer group and the Illinois attorney general have demanded a national recall, something the FDA said made no sense because it had no evidence suggesting that the formula would be dangerous for babies at the levels of contamination found.

After saying it made an error in its data, the FDA on Wednesday [26 Nov 2008] produced these results: Nestle’s Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron had 2 positive tests for melamine on one sample; Mead Johnson’s Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron had 3 positive tests on one sample for cyanuric acid.

Separately, a 3rd major formula maker, Abbott Laboratories, told the AP that in-house tests had detected trace levels of melamine in its infant formula.

Those three formula makers manufacture more than 90 percent of all infant formula produced in the United States.

The FDA said it had analyzed 74 samples and was continuing to examine 13 more.

The agency had left the impression of a zero tolerance on Oct. 3 when it stated: “FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns.”

The FDA and other experts said they believe the melamine contamination in U.S.-made formula had occurred during the manufacturing process, rather than intentionally. The U.S. government quietly began testing domestically produced infant formula in September, soon after problems with melamine-spiked formula surfaced in China.

Melamine can legally be used in some food packaging, and can rub off into food from there. It’s also part of a cleaning solution used on some food processing equipment.

There is a gap between the concentration that the FDA detected in formula and the agency’s estimate of how much melamine could contaminate food from the manufacturing process. The expected contamination from processing – 15 parts per billion – is about one-tenth the amount that the agency has detected in infant formula. FDA officials have not responded to questions from the AP this week about how that gap might be explained.

The agency said it is continuing research on animals to see the effects of ingesting both melamine and cyanuric acid.

Byline: JOAN LOWY and JUSTIN PRITCHARD

– Communicated by: ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[An emergency expert meeting on toxicological aspects of melamine and cyanuric acid is to be held 1-4 Dec 2008. The meeting is being convened by the WHO in collaboration with FAO. The Chinese authorities have been requested by the WHO to provide information for the meeting. For background, see http://www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/melamine_expertcall.pdf Mod.AS]

Patty

Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my “Emerging Diseases” message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health

Toxic milk made 294,000 sick

Toxic milk made 294,000 sick

From correspondents in Beijing
Agence France-Presse
December 02, 2008 03:33am

A TOTAL of 294,000 children became ill after consuming dairy products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, with 154 of them still in serious condition.
In a statement on its website, China’s health ministry indicated the death toll may also rise from the four previously announced, saying that six deaths since September 10 may be linked to the consumption of melamine-laced milk.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24738094-23109,00.html

FDA say it’s OK to feed your babies poison

Small Melamine Amounts in Formula Are Safe, FDA Says

By Catherine Larkin

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) — The industrial chemical melamine is safe in baby formula in small amounts, U.S. regulators said, revising their earlier recommendations.

The Food and Drug Administration’s discovery of melamine and a byproduct of the chemical in two U.S.-made formulas doesn’t pose health risks, said Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on a conference call today with reporters. The FDA had said before finding the contamination that melamine may be harmful in infant formula in any amount.

The FDA began blocking Chinese milk products from entering U.S. ports this month after melamine-tainted milk sickened more than 50,000 children in China since September. Members of Congress and consumer groups criticized the agency earlier this week for not publicly disclosing that a formula made in the U.S. had also tested positive for “trace” amounts of the chemical.

“The domestic supply of infant formula is safe,” Sundlof told reporters today. Switching infants from these or other formulas may mean the babies receive inadequate nutrition, he said.

Melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizer, also has been found in Chinese eggs and feed for farmed fish. Ingesting the chemical can lead to kidney damage or even death.

In China, officials said melamine was added to milk illegally to artificially boost protein readings. The FDA said that wasn’t the case with the U.S. samples. Melamine is approved for use in some food containers and may leach from packaging, Sundlof said.

“I don’t know the reason it is appearing in some products and not others,” he told reporters. “I really don’t want to speculate on why it is in some and not in others because the real answer is that we don’t know at this point.”

74 Products Tested

The FDA began testing infant formula in September and has so far analyzed 74 of the 87 products it has collected. None of the samples contained both melamine and a related compound, cyanuric acid. After reviewing the samples and animal studies, the agency decided that either melamine or cyanuric acid alone is safe in formula at 1 part per million or less.

Nestle SA’s liquid Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron tested positive for melamine in as much as 0.14 parts per million, and cyanuric acid was found in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s powder Enfamil Lipil with Iron, in as much as 0.249 parts per million, Sundlof said.

No Safety Determination

The FDA still doesn’t know what level is safe if both compounds are present in formula because the combination has been linked to more buildup in the kidneys. For other foods, that level is 2.5 parts per million.

“FDA and formula companies both owe parents a promise to move quickly to limit avoidable sources of these compounds in infant formula, and provide data to prove that low-level exposures will not cause harm,” said Sonya Lunder, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group in Washington, in an e-mail today.

“Mead Johnson remains confident in the safety of our products, and so should parents and health-care professionals,” said the Mead Johnson unit of Bristol-Myers in an e-mailed statement. “We maintain stringent standards at all our manufacturing sites to ensure high quality, safe products.”

David Mortazavi, a spokesman for Nestle Infant Nutrition, didn’t return a voice mail and e-mail.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=akqGpCNTbElU&refer=home

Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food

Saturday, November 03, 2007 by: John Andrews, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) The movie Supersize Me has probably had more of an effect than the producers anticipated. Since then, in the fast food industry, there has been a market trend promoting menu items that appear to be healthy. But most of these menu items have ingredients that health conscious consumers would prefer to avoid.

Most health conscious consumers consider healthy foods to be things like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and clean meats like wild Alaskan salmon, or free-range chicken or turkey.

Some ingredients that health conscious consumers consider unacceptable are MSG (or free glutamate, or free glutamic acid, including anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed), trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils [3]), artificial colors, artificial flavors, and most preservatives.

Many so-called healthy fast food menu items, upon closer inspection, do not live up to the health hype. Most of the meat from any of the major chains has anything but a simple ingredients list. They add emulsifiers, preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, trans fats, and hidden ingredients under generic labels such as spices, or natural and artificial flavors.

Some of these food additives are not foods at all, but are chemicals that are generally recognized as safe. Most of these additives cannot be found at your local grocery store, probably because they aren’t food. But some can be found at your local hardware store, though in inedible products like low tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen, and play sand.

The ingredient information in this article came straight from the various fast food restaurants’ web sites.

McDonald’s

The egg’s reputation is recovering, but scrambled eggs as a part of McDonald’s breakfast include much more than egg. Their pasteurized whole eggs have sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, and monosodium phosphate (all added to preserve color), and nisin, a preservative. To top it off, the eggs are prepared with liquid margarine: liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils (trans fats), salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil (trans fat), soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, and beta carotene (color). Though not all bad, these added chemicals may be the reason why homemade scrambled eggs taste so much better than McDonald’s.

For coffee drinkers, it would seem fairly safe to just grab a quick cup of coffee at McDonald’s on the way to work. But many health conscious people would object to it also including this list of ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, and carrageenan. Do health nuts still drink coffee?

Salads can usually be counted on to be a “what you see is what you get” item. But McDonald’s adds some interesting ingredients. The salads with grilled chicken also have liquid margarine.

Several salads have either cilantro lime glaze, or orange glaze added. Along with many of McDonald’s sauces, both the cilantro lime glaze and the orange glaze contain propylene glycol alginate. While propylene glycol is considered “GRAS” for human consumption, it is not legal for use in cat food because the safety hasn’t been proven yet [10]. Propylene glycol is also used “As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles” [10].

The chili lime tortilla strips that are included in the southwest salads have several ingredients used to hide MSG. They also contain two ingredients that advertise the presence of MSG: disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.

The chicken has sodium phosphates (of an unspecified variety). It could be trisodium phosphate (a cleanser), monosodium phosphate (a laxative), or disodium hydrogen phosphate [11]. Why would McDonald’s add sodium phosphates (a foaming agent), and dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent in their crispy chicken breast fillets? It isn’t dishwasher detergent.

Burger King

It’s interesting to note that the BK Veggie Burger has six ingredients commonly used to hide free glutamate (MSG): calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, spices, and natural flavors. At the end of the ingredients list, it states This is NOT a vegan product. The patty is cooked in the microwave. Was that a warning statement?

Burger King has three salads to choose from. The TENDERCRISP Garden Salad, the TENDERGRILL Garden Salad, and the Side Garden Salad.

A salad may be a little boring without a dressing like Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing which includes titanium dioxide (an artificial color, or sunscreen, depending on use), preservatives, and the ingredient seemingly mandatory in all ranch dressings: monosodium glutamate.

Once again, as is typical with the fast food industry, they took a simple thing like chicken, and added a long list of ingredients.

TENDERGRILL® CHICKEN BREAST FILET
Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavors, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Fat, Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Garlic, and Artificial Flavors.), Modified Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Salt, Sodium Phosphates. Glazed with: Water, Seasoning [Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Methylcellulose, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Partially Hydrogenated Sunflower Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Fructose, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Chicken Fat, Carmel Color, Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil), Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Turmeric, Smoke Flavor, Annatto Extract, and Artificial Flavors], Soybean Oil. [12]

Taco Bell

Taco Bell’s website didn’t have much emphasis on health. Under the nutrition guide, at the bottom was a link to Keep it Balanced, a token nod to health. It had no serious information on how to really eat healthy. They recommend foods like pizza and tacos (no surprise) because they may include ingredients from several food groups at once. Including several food groups does not necessarily mean it’s a healthy food.

The seasoned beef, carne asada steak, spicy shredded chicken, and even the rice all include autolyzed yeast extract (hidden MSG). Disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are flavor enhancers used in synergy with MSG [7,8]. Therefore, menu items with disodium inosinate and/or disodium guanylate also contain MSG. This includes the avocado ranch dressing, southwest chicken, citrus salsa, creamy jalapeno sauce, creamy lime sauce, lime seasoned red strips, pepper jack sauce, and seasoned rice.

According to Wikipedia, dimethylpolysiloxane is optically clear, and is generally considered to be inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable. It is used in silicone caulk, adhesives, and as an anti-foaming agent [6]. Appetizingly enough, it’s also included in Taco Bell’s rice.

Wendy’s

At Wendy’s, there are several tempting salads. The mandarin chicken salad seems healthy at first glance. It has diced chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds, crispy noodles, your choice of dressings, and five different varieties of lettuce. Then reality takes a bite when you check the ingredients list. The almonds are roasted and salted. The crispy noodles are not whole grain. The mandarin orange segments are not freshly peeled oranges; most likely canned. The diced chicken has added autolyzed yeast extract (MSG), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium phosphates (soap?), salt, more salt, sugar, modified cornstarch (sic)[1], and the universal umbrella ingredient list: spices, natural flavors, and artificial flavors.

In the ingredients lists for the salad dressings, one surprise was titanium dioxide in the Low Fat Honey Mustard Dressing and the Reduced Fat Creamy Ranch Dressing. It’s a very versatile chemical. It can be used to manufacture paint, sunscreen, semiconductors, and food coloring [2].

Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad is a salad with Wendy’s chili. Once again, the chili has hidden MSG: autolyzed yeast extract, spices, artificial flavors, natural flavorings, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate (MSG give-aways). It’s puzzling to try to understand why their chili would need to include an anti-caking agent such as silicon dioxide (also known as sand, or glass powder).

See if you can spot the sunscreen, MSG, and soap in this Wendy’s ingredient:

Seasoned Tortilla Strips
Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean or sunflower oil), Salt, Buttermilk Solids, Spices, Tomato, Sweet Cream, Dextrose, Onion, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Nonfat Dry Milk, Garlic, Torula Yeast, Citric Acid, Autolyzed Yeast, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Artificial Colors (including extractives of paprika, turmeric and annatto, titanium dioxide, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), Disodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Soy Lecithin. CONTAINS: MILK.

Apparently, taste really is all that matters at Wendy’s.

Subway

If a sandwich is advertised as healthy, one would expect that the bread would be whole grain. Not so with Subway’s wheat bread. While it does have some whole wheat flour, it’s the third ingredient, listed just before high fructose corn syrup [4]. None of Subway’s breads are whole grain. Ammonium sulfate (a fertilizer) is also added. Unfinished sandwiches may be composted. The bread also contains azodicarbonamide. From Wikipedia,

Use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australia. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive has identified azodicarbonamide as a respiratory sensitiser (a possible cause of asthma) and determined that products should be labeled with May cause sensitisation by inhalation [5].

Most of the meats at Subway contain MSG and/or sodium nitrite.

KFC

The chicken, the gravy, and even the rice all have monosodium glutamate added. Not surprisingly, the chicken in the salads also has MSG. For a healthy menu item, the House Side Salad without dressing has nothing more than iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes.

KFC claims 0g trans fat per serving for all their fried chicken. But The Extra Crispy Chicken, Colonel’s Crispy Strips, HBBQ Wings, Boneless HBBQ Wings, Fiery Buffalo Wings, and more have partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed in the ingredients. So if the trans fat content is below 0.5g per serving, they can round down to zero and claim zero grams per serving.

In Closing

The salad a la carte may be the only healthy thing to eat at a fast food place. The side salads offered at the fast food places are hardly a meal, and hardly what one would consider a real salad.

Regarding MSG, it is helpful to remember this statement from Wikipedia when reading food labels.
Under current FDA regulations, when MSG is added to a food, it must be identified as monosodium glutamate in the label’s ingredient list. If however MSG is part of a spice mix that is purchased by another company, the manufacturer does not have to list the ingredients of that spice mix and may use the words flavorings or spices. Even food that uses the no msg label may therefore have MSG that is added from a spice mix from another company under current FDA regulations.[9]

As with most meat products in fast food restaurants, consider any meat, including on salads, to include MSG, chemical preservatives, and trans fats.  Even seemingly simple items like rice can have ingredients like anti-foaming agents.
References

[1] http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fats

[4] http://subway.com/subwayroot/MenuNutrition/Nutrition/frmUSIngredients.aspx

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_inosinate

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_guanylate

[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_phosphates

[12] http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,-1,-1