Chinese Melamine Scare Spreads Around The World

The tainted milk scandal that started with baby formula in China has spread to include and expanding number of food products. Milk and milk products have been found to be tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical. The contamination has been linked to the deaths of four infants and the sickening of 54,000 children in China. Now, food companies around the world are assessing their products to determine whether they contain contaminated milk products. Food companies are looking at any processed food that has milk or protein in it, because the source of the contamination was traced to Chinese milk suppliers who added melamine to watered-down milk to trick the tests of protein content in the products. A variety of foods, including chocolate, cake mix, energy bars, candy and cookies that are made with milk or protein products from China are being pulled from store shelves around the world. That includes products from the chocolate maker Cadbury. This is not the first time in recent memory that products from China have caused sickness and recalls. In 2007, there were scandals involving unsafe products from China, including food, toothpaste and pet food. Following those scandals, some manufacturers set up their own factories in China to better control quality. Companies must be called upon to do more to ensure the safety of their products for the public.