Milk Scandal Update

China executed two more persons connected with the melamine milk scandal.

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Crib of Death Recalled

Stork Craft of Canada is recalling 2.1 million made-in-China drop-side cribs, sold since 1993. The cribs' plastic hardware can break and entrap babies. Four fatalities were already reported so far.

Some of the cribs were sold in Walmart and babiesrus.com, and some under Fisher-Price brand.

CPSC

Fake it

The Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines is looking into reports that some of the 2 million fake, unsafe condoms from China were shipped to the country.

The condoms are said to have been manufactured by condom factory in Hunan province in China that was shut down by authorities for producing crudely packaged condoms that did not undergo proper sterilization.

The 2.16 million unsafe condoms were believed to have been sold throughout China under known brands such as Jissbon and Durex.

INQ

Fake Call Centers from China

Chinese gangs are setting up fake call centers and are posing as debt collectors and fleece their unwitting victims in Taiwan, Korea, China, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Gangs recruit accomplices, which are paid around $500 a month and 10% of the swindled amount - who then scam people.

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Tourists warned over fake goods

France and Italy warns tourists not to buy fake designer goods, which mostly came from China.

Authorities are stepping up its drive against fake goods. In 2008 178 million fake items were seized. People who bought them may be fined a maximum of 300,00 euros in France.



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FDA Detains Chinese-made Food

Burden of proof now with Chinese manufacturers

The US FDA issued an order which allows districts to detain all foodstuff containing milk and milk products imported from China:

• All milk products
• All milk derived ingredients
• Finished food products containing milk

Importers much prove then that the detained products do not contain melamine before they can be released, shifting the burden of proof to the manufacturer.



FDA Order

Counterfeit Cigarettes

Philippine Customs seized 10 million pesos worth of Marlboro-branded counterfeit cigarettes from China. 

IHT

Wandashan Pharmaceutical Closed

Wandashan Pharmaceutical, which sold tainted herbal injections that killed three people, was closed by Chinese authorities.

Reuters

Contaminated Heparin Seized in Cincy

Federal agents seized more contaminated heparin in Cincinatti. The 11 lots of heparin-contaminated with over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) - was imported from China by Celsus Laboratories Inc.

CNN

Feed Contamination Serious in China

It seems many Chinese feed manufacturers are adding melamine to their products deliberately. China only banned melamine as an animal feed additive in May 2007.  According to some officials, melamine is commonly added as feed additive even before the scandal involving Sanlu and milk. 

Also,

• China closed 238 feed companies for melamine-related violations in the last 2 months
  
• 3,682 tons of substandard feed destroyed by Chinese government during the same period
  
• more than 500 feed manufacturers and animal breeding farms found to have done illegal and questionable practices

UPI.com

AP

IHT

Oz Withdraws Melamine-Tainted Body Paint

The Australian importer of chocolate and strawberry-flavored Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set will withdraw the said China-made products after testing positive for melamine.

Australian importers previously recalled products including White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Kirin Milk Tea, Orion Tiramisu Italian cake, Dali Yuan brand first milk and Lotte Koala biscuits.

Bloomberg

Melamine Eggs

Hong Kong found another batch of melamine-tainted eggs from China. The eggs came from the Jingshan Agriproducts Company in Hubei Province.  

Melamine-fortified eggs also turned up in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. The eggs - branded "Ciyunxiang," was produced by Green Living Beings Development Center based in China's northern Shanxi province. They contained 3.5 mg melamine per kg.

NYT
Reuters

Kyrgyzstan Finds Melamine in Flour

Kyrgyzstan found melamine in flour imported from China.

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Singapore Finds 3 More

Singapore found three more China-made products fortified with industrial chemical melamine: Lotte Koala's March Cocoa Chocolate Biscuit, Hello Kitty Strawberry Cream Filled Biscuit, and an unbranded industrial pack of non-dairy creamer.

ChannelNewsAsia

Melamine in Eggs

Hong Kong found excessive levels of melamine - 4.7 parts per million -  in eggs imported from China. The eggs were produced by Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group. 

The chickens were probably fed with melamine-fortified feeds.

Hong Kong previously banned eggs from China after a cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red G, was used to color the egg yolks.