Delayed Reporting of Sanlu Formula Incident Linked to Olympic Games?

The Sanlu Milk Powder Incident, which caused at least 432 Chinese babies to suffer from kidney stones, is the current focus of debate. The relevant government agency made it public at least six weeks after the incident and did not give a convincing response to the question of whether or not the delay was due to the Olympics Game. Some people have stated that the Olympic Games cannot be an excuse for such a delay or the hiding of facts. It seems that the Sanlu incident is only the tip of iceberg of the food safety problem in China.

According to Chinese media in March 2008, some people already reported about the problem with Sanlu tainted milk powder to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. On Aug. 1, Sanlu Group received expert advice that their products have been contaminated. However, the Sanlu Group did not launch a recall until Sept. 11. As a foreign partner holding 43% of the share, the Fonterra Farmer’s Cooperative in New Zealand issued a statement on August 2, saying that they have requested the board of directors to recall the pollution formula when they found the contamination problem on August 2. The statement said that they had been making a push to recall the problematic products since they found the problem.

The "People’s Net" reported that media journalists were questioned on Sept. 13, if the Chinese Authorities delayed to report this incident on purpose due to the simultaneous occurance of the Beijing Olympics since this problem had been discovered before the Olympic Games. Gao Qiang, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health replied, “It is true that the government of Hebei Province only received the report from Shijiazhuang City government on September 8. On the same day, the provincial government had already started to investigate on this case.” Gao continued, “I think their reactions to this incident was pretty fast, it has nothing to do with the Olympic Games.”

Ms. Han who is from Gansu Province, where most of the babies cases had been reported said that it can’t be forgiven if someone delays reporting the information of tainted baby formula because of political or economical reasons. She said, it is also can’t be understood or accepted even if it is due to the Olympic Games. Ms. Han said, “How stupid it is! I think it should not be that way. Just think about it, those are all lives. They are our kids—the next generation. How could someone do something like that? I was frightened and also very mad when I heard about it.” As to why authorities and the manufacturer reported the incident over one month after it was surfaced, Mr. Li from the Sichuan earthquake disaster areas said that as a consumer, he also can’t accept the delay on reporting the incident regardless if it had anything to do with the Olympic Games.

According to a report from Xinhua.net on Sept. 13, 2008, starting from March 2008, Sanlun had continually received complaints from those who had urinary problems. At the same time, the Sanlu Group did some investigation, including the investigation of the situation of children who had consumed the product, the quality of their products and milk suppliers. In July, kidney stone cases were found in Guangdong Province with questions arising about the quality of the Sanlu formula. During the same month, there more parents from Changsha, Nanjing, and Beijing submitted complaints. Xinhua's report claimed that Sanlu group had taken some actions, including the recall of products from supermarkets and the sealing up of products in storage.

In March 2007 in the U.S., a large number of dogs and cats reported died from eating pet food from two Chinese manufactures in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. Soon after, it was revealed that melamine was added in some of wheat protein powders and rice protein powders imported from China. The Chinese government arrested several Chinese people and the incident was then silenced. The US government once asked to inspect the site of the manufacturing of pet foods, but only saw wrecked factory buildings that were demolished by bulldozers. A unique feature of the melamine (C3H6N6) is its high nitrogen content which can be up to 66%. In plant or grain protein based animal feeds, adding 1% melamine can increase the measured protein content by 4% with current protein content determination method and this costs very little.

Mr. Liao Xinbo, vice director of Health Department in Guangdong said in his article published Sept. 13, “I think hundreds of millions of Chinese people, without knowing it, have been eating pork, beef and chicken which are fed with contained melamine-containing feeds. [They have also been] drinking adult milk powders with the melamine added for many years. Unknowingly, everyone has been contaminated with Melamine.”“The Sanlu's scandal reflected that the problem of food safety in China is very serious. We are not sure if there is anything we can eat safely.” Liao added. One staff member from Milk department of Sanlu admitted to a Xinhua reporter, “This is a 'soft rib' in the entire industry. Unfortunately, it was Sanlun who was caught this time.”