IMPORTANT – PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

What is Melamine? It’s a cheap compound composing of nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. When combined with formaldehyde and exposed to extreme heat, melamine creates a moldable material that, when cooled, is virtually unbreakable and dishwasher-safe. As a plastic it is very safe, but it is dangerous when ingested over time.

Due to its high content of nitrogen, it has been added to milk in the milk powder scandal in China to fool the detection devices into thinking that it is normal milk. The devices do not actually detect protein itself, but the nitrogen content in the protein. When the milk farmers sell their milk to the middlemen, these middlemen dilute the milk with water and add Melamine so that they can sell more volume of milk to the big producers like Sanlu. These producers then sell their milk products to make things like infant formula, chocolates, ice cream etc.

In Singapore, the AVA has positively detected Melamine in 3 products so far. These are:

Update at 25 September: there has been an additional 5 items detected to have melamine:

i) Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk;
ii) Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk;
iii) Silang – House of Steamed Potato – Potato Cracker;
iv) 徐 福 记 Puffed Rice Rolls – Butter Corn Flavour; and
v) 徐 福 记 Puffed Rice Rolls – Cheese Flavour
**

Dr Leslie Tay says:

I think we might be seeing more product warnings as the AVA conducts their check. As a precaution, they have also started to recall food products which use China sourced milk as one of their ingredients. These can be anything from chocolates, candies, yoghurt etc. It would be wise to avoid these products until the dust settles.

How to know if my child is affected by Melamine Poisoning?

Melamine affects mainly the kidneys because it is mainly excreted by the kidneys. So when high levels of Melamine are eaten, they start to precipitate in the kidneys causing kidney stones. The usual symptoms of kidney stones are pain in the back and sometimes blood in the urine.

Sometimes, melamine can also cause Acute Renal Failure (ARF) which is probably the cause of death in those infants in China. ARF is usually diagnosed with a blood test which is done because the patient is very sick and is admitted to hospital. There are really no concrete signs but you might notice that the child is very sick and vomiting constantly and the urine output might be very much reduced. At any rate, most parents can tell when there is something very wrong with their child and should just bring them to see the doctor.

Do note that you do have to take a moderate amount of Melamine it starts to become a problem. So in China, it was the infants who have been fed daily with tainted infant formula over several months who are affected.. If you just drank a bottle of Dutch Lady Strawberry milk or had one Yili fruit bar, it should not cause any problems so there is no point in worrying about it too much. In doubt, please check with your doctor.

It would be wise to avoid any product that contains milk that has been sourced from China at the moment. However, you should not be too concerned if you or your child has taken only a small amount of any of the 3 products listed. If on the other hand, your child has been taking, say, the Dutch Lady Strawberry milk in large amounts over several months, then it may be prudent to bring him to the doctor who might do an X-ray and blood test for the child.

  • News about Melamine scandal

Here’s a list of the items that had been pulled off the racks in Singapore:

 

BRAND 

DESCRIPTION

CODE
BAIRONG GRAPE CREAM CRACKERS 116634
DOVE H/NUT ALM & RAISIN CHOC 61737
DOVE HAZELNUT CHOC 61739
DOVE MILK CHOCOLATE 61740
DREYERS ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM 14281
DREYERS STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM 165294
DREYERS TOAST ALMOND ICE CREAM 106487
DREYERS CHOC CAKE ICE CREAM 153969
DREYERS COOKIE & CREAM ICE CREAM 14283
DREYERS MINT CHIP ICE CREAM 106486
DREYERS VANILLA ICE CREAM 14282
DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA 151226
DUTCH LADY STER MK LF PLAIN 151227
DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC 151228
DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY 151229
DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW 151230
DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW 166490
DUTCH LADY STER MILK PLAIN 739008
DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC 739009
DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY 739018
DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA 739019
FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SESAME CRACKERS 102042
FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SALTINE CRACKERS 102043
FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM S ONION CRACKERS 112010
FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SEAWEED CRACKERS 112011
GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL BUTTER BISC 136143
GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL SEAWEED BIS 136144
GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL CNUT 136145
GINBIS ANIMAL BISCUIT 236531
KOALA COCOA BISCUIT 136492
KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 18S 103967
KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 5S 123926
KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 18S 154881
KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 5S 154882
LOTTE KOALA COCOA FUNPACK 56764
M&M CHOCOLATE PLAIN 550108
M&M CHOCOLATE PEANUT 550107
M&M CHOC CANDIES PLAIN% 550105
M&M CHOC CANDIES PEANUT% 550106
M&M CHOC CANDIES-PLAIN 550098
M&M CHOC CANDIES-PEANUTS 550099
M&M FUNSIZE MILK 163864
M&M FUNSIZE PEANUT 163865
MEIJI UJIKINTOKI 2978 455016
MEIJI UMAKABO CHOCOLATE 455017
MEIJI FAMILY PACK-GREEN TEA 144101
MEIJI CHESTNUT & REDBEAN 106129
MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT PROMO PK 12526
MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT 145161
MONMILK BREAKFAST MILK MALT 6S 135154
MONMILK BREAKFAST MILK WALNUT 6S 135155
MONMILK BREAKFAST MILK MALT 135156
MONMILK BREAKFAST MILK WALNUT 135157
MONMILK CHOCOLATE MILK 6S 135472
MONMILK COFFEE MILK 6S 135473
MONMILK HI CAL LOW FAT 154697
MONMILK PURE MILK 154698
MONMILK HI CAL MILK 143948
MONMILK HI CAL MILK 6S 143951
MONMILK PURE MILK 6S 143950
MONMILK HI CAL LOW FAT MILK 6S 143952
MONMILK HI CAL LOW FAT MILK 143949
MONMILK PURE MILK 143947
MONMILK MILK DELUXE 12S 154696
NABISCO IN A BISKIT CHICKEN 153702
NESTLE NES D/STICK MINI VANILLA 105115
NESTLE NES DISTICK MINI CHOCO 105116
NESTLE MILK & BERRY STARS CRL 153852
NO FRILLS WAFER BLUEBERRY 154712
NO FRILLS WAFER CHOCOLATE 154713
NO FRILLS WAFER PEANUT 154714
ORION FRESH PIE 240767
ORION TIRAMISU 152948
PEI TIAN CREAM BISCUIT 115554
RABBIT MILK SWEET 38055
SILANG NATURAL OAT CRACKER 142256
SNICKERS CANDIES FUNSIZE 550103
SNICKERS PEANUT CHOCOLATE% 550102
SNICKERS SNACKSIZE BARS PNUT 5 163863
TAKE ONE BABY BITES 24S 64602
TAKE ONE BABY BITE CK VG 116159
TAKE ONE BABY BITE CARROT 163319
VITASOY Q SOYA MILK 60408
VITASOY CHOCOLATE MILK 60409
VITASOY MELON SOYA MILK 235906
WANT WANT MILK CANDY 105504
WANTWANT FLAVOURED MILK ‘021726
YILI PURE MILK 1L 155079
YILI HI CAL MILK 1L 155080
YILI HI CAL LO FAT MILK 1L 155081
YILI PURE MILK 6S 155082
YILI HI CAL MILK 6S 155083
YILI HI CAL LO FAT MILK 6S 155084
YOUCAN UNUSUAL MULTIPACK 134136
YOUCAN STRAWBERRY MULTIPACK 134138
YOUCAN TRADITIONAL SESAME MULTIPACK 134141
YOUCAN PASSION MULTIPACK 134140
YOUCAN MASTERBEAN MULTIPACK 134139
YOUCAN SILK SLICED AND PASSION STRAWBERRY 134137

*Reference: http://www.ava.gov.sg/