Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives have fire-retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred. Melamine can be combined with formaldehyde and other agents to produce melamine resins. Such resins are characteristically durable thermosetting plastic used in high pressure decorative laminates such as Formica, melamine dinnerware including cooking utensils, plates, plastic products, laminate flooring, and dry erase boards. Melamine foam is used as insulation, soundproofing material and in polymeric cleaning products, such as Magic Eraser.
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ $22 billion, making it New Zealand's largest company. It is the sixth-largest dairy company in the world as of 2022, as well as the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for the economy of transportation. Powdered milk and dairy products include such items as dry whole milk, nonfat (skimmed) dry milk, dry buttermilk, dry whey products and dry dairy blends. Many exported dairy products conform to standards laid out in Codex Alimentarius.
White Rabbit Creamy Candy is a brand of milk candy manufactured by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd., in China. It is an iconic cultural brand and has been in production since 1943. White Rabbit candy is part of the childhood memories of many mainlanders and Hong Kongers, and has been featured in many classic Chinese movies and TV series.
Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) Limited by Share Ltd. is a Chinese manufacturing and distribution company of dairy products and ice cream. The company is headquartered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia and manufactures dairy products under the Mengniu brand.
Beginning in March 2007, there was a widespread recall of many brands of cat and dog foods due to contamination with melamine and cyanuric acid. The recalls in North America, Europe, and South Africa came in response to reports of kidney failure in pets. Initially, the recalls were associated with the consumption of mostly wet pet foods made with wheat gluten from a single Chinese company.
In China, the adulteration and contamination of several food and feed ingredients with inexpensive melamine and other compounds, such as cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide, are common practice. These adulterants can be used to inflate the apparent protein content of products, so that inexpensive ingredients can pass for more expensive, concentrated proteins. Melamine by itself has not been thought to be very toxic to animals or humans except possibly in very high concentrations, but the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid has been implicated in kidney failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both animal and human health.
Yili Group is a Chinese dairy products producer headquartered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. It is one of China's leading dairy companies alongside Mengniu, and is listed as an A share company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). It is engaged in processing and manufacturing of milk products, including ice cream, milk tea powder, sterilized milk and fresh milk under "Yili" brand, powdered milk under "Pro-Kido" brand, and organic milk under "Satine" brand. In 2018, it was the world's third best-performing food brands. In 2021, Yili ranked 1st on FBIF's Top 100 Chinese Food & Beverage Companies list. It is partly state-owned by the government of Hohhot.
Li Changjiang was minister and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) party chief of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ).
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adulterated with the chemical melamine, which resulted in kidney stones and other kidney damage in infants. The chemical was used to increase the nitrogen content of diluted milk, giving it the appearance of higher protein content in order to pass quality control testing. 300,000 affected children were identified, among which 54,000 were hospitalized, according to the latest report in January 2009. The deaths of six babies were officially concluded to be related to the contaminated milk.
Guangdong Yashili Group Co., Ltd. is a leading privately owned infant formula and soymilk products company in China. Based in Chaoan in the Chaozhou region of the Guangdong Province, China and, incorporated in the Cayman Islands. The company also has a Hong Kong-listed entity Yashili International Holdings Limited.
Sanyuan Group is a state-owned group of companies based on agriculture and animal husbandry in China. It consists of 12 state farms, 20 professional companies, 41 transnational joint ventures, 3 overseas subsidiaries and 1 public company as Beijing Sanyuan Foods, which is listed in Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Hanwei Group is a company based in Dalian, China. It is China's biggest producer of eggs. In October 2008, it became embroiled in a scandal involving traces of melamine being found in its eggs.
This timeline of the 2008 Chinese milk scandal documents how events related to the Chinese dairy products contamination by melamine unfolded. Complaints about kidney problems traced back to a brand of infant formula, subsequent discoveries of melamine contamination of liquid milk, and exported powdered milk of processed food products. The scandal decimated Chinese dairy exports, and re-exposed long-standing concerns about food security, corruption, lack of political checks and balances. Though the scandal came to attention in 2008, its roots can be traced back to events prior to 2008.
Food safety incidents in China have received increased international media scrutiny following the reform and opening of the country, and its joining the World Trade Organization. Urban areas have become more aware of food safety as their incomes rise. Food safety agencies in China have overlapping duties.
In 2013, a wide-scale recall of products sold by dairy producer Fonterra was announced after suspected botulism-causing bacteria were found during safety tests. The contaminated whey products had been sold to third parties who use it to produce infant formula and sports drinks. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of consumer product was affected by the recall across seven countries, but no cases of sickened consumers were reported. China, which imports most of its powdered milk from New Zealand, instituted a temporary ban on the import of the ingredient from New Zealand.
Food defense is the protection of food products from intentional contamination or adulteration by biological, chemical, physical, or radiological agents introduced for the purpose of causing harm. It addresses additional concerns including physical, personnel and operational security.
The a2 Milk Company Limited is a dual listed NZX and ASX 50 public listed company that commercialises intellectual property relating to A1 protein-free milk that is sold under the a2 and a2 Milk brands, as well as the milk and related products such as infant formula.
The Oriental Morning Post, or Dongfang Zaobao, also known as Oriental Morning News, was a Shanghai-based Chinese-language morning newspaper published in China. The newspaper was jointly founded by Nanfang Daily and Wenhui Xinmin United Newspaper Industry Group (文汇新民报业集团) on July 7, 2003.
