Chinese Milk Scandal Heads to Europe. Is the U.S. Next? Yes!

Madeline Holler — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:59:00 GMT

The Chinese milk powder scandal has gone international. European Union regulators have ordered testing of imported food products that contain at least 15 percent milk powder. They are worried that some imported food products containing the tainted milk powder may be making their way around Europe. In particular, the regulators are worried about cookies, chocolates and toffees.

From the NY Times:

In 2007, the European Union imported from China about 19,500 tons of confectionary products, including pastries, cake and cookies, and about 1,250 tons of chocolate and other prepared foods containing cocoa.

Consumer groups in the U.S. have called on the FDA to take similar action and restrict food imports from China that contain any dairy until this whole mess gets sorted out.

The United States has imported two million pounds of a milk protein called casein this year, along with other powdered milk proteins that are used as ingredients in many processed foods, according to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture. This includes 293,000 pounds that were imported in July.

Ew and yuck! Is there any way to tell whether the ingredients in your Oreo are domestic or imported and if imported, from where? No.

Again, the Times:

In an increasingly globalized food economy, manufacturers use raw ingredients from all over the world, often making it difficult to track the origins.

For example, Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, recently moved one of its large cookie factories from Australia to China. But Claire Regan, a spokeswoman for the company, said that most of the products Kraft made in China were distributed within China, although a limited number were exported. Most do not contain milk products from China, she said, and, when they do, the levels of such ingredients are very low. The Oreo product line does not contain milk ingredients from China, Ms. Regan said.

The milk products which have caused nearly 50,000 Chinese kids to become sick -- and several have died -- contained melamine, an ingredient that diluted the milk but maintained its level of protein. Oh, and tends to cause kidney stones in babies who eat too much of it.

THIS JUST IN -- Now recalls over the melamine tainted milk product include Heinz baby cereal sold in China and Hong Kong and a bunch of cookie products sold in Japan.

AND THIS TOO! -- You might want to give up your Mr. Brown instant coffee habit. And if you're a fan of milk tea products from China, which are widely available in the U.S. The FDA is warning the two products may contain some of the tainted milk powder from China.

Tainted Milk Creates Demand For Milk Nannies In China

UPDATE: Tainted Milk Tally tops 50,000

They say: Chinese baby formula is dangerous

Catch up on Morning News!

Photo: chron.com

Cookies that time forgot - Hydrox

Brett Singer — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:54:00 GMT

Kellogg's has decided to bring back the cookie that everyone always thought of as an Oreo also-ran. The reason? An online petition that was signed by a whopping 1,000 people. They also received 1,300 phone calls.

Now, maybe I'm crazy, but that doesn't sound like enough of a fan base to bring back a product. Unless these people realllly like their Hydrox, it seems unlikely that they will buy enough cookies to justify the re-release. This year is the 100th anniversary of Hydrox's introduction in 1908, so maybe that's another reason. The cookies will only be sold for "a limited time" beginning in August, although if sales are good one imagines the cookie will stick around for a while.

As it turns out, Hydrox was introduced 4 years before Oreos, which makes one wonder why Sunshine Biscuits Co. (since absorbed by Kellogg) didn't go the Mattel route and attempt to sue Nabisco into oblivion. (Maybe lawsuits weren't so popular in the early part of the 20th century. Or maybe they did sue, and they lost.)

Back in the day, one of Hydrox's main attractions was that the filling was made without lard, rendering it Kosher (literally), and also Vegan-friendly. According to this site, Oreo no longer uses pig fat. That's too bad, since that could've made for a great marketing campaign. Hook up with PETA, tap into the no-animal-products snack food base, get Pam Anderson to do the ads, wearing nothing except a thin coating of cookies... Now they'll have to rely on that gigantic 1,000 strong fan base.

image: What on Earth?!

Strollerderby : oreos

Chinese Milk Scandal Heads to Europe. Is the U.S. Next? Yes!

UPDATE: Tainted Milk Tally tops 50,000

They say: Chinese baby formula is dangerous

Cookies that time forgot - Hydrox