Health Law

Xiang And Marler Comment On Melamine Scandal From Beijing

By Marler Clark

Xiang Yuzhang, China's chief quality inspector, says the melamine in the baby food problem was "more or less" under control, ABC News is reporting. However, America's top attorney for victims of food-borne illnesses, says many questions remain about the harm that's been done.

"At present, there is basically no melamine problem in the Chinese market," said Xiang. "As far as I know, there will be no more bad news."  ABC News says:

Lawyer Bill Marler, who has represented clients in some of the largest food-safety cases in the United States, says this latest food scare will inevitably do further harm to the "made in China" brand abroad.

"Clearly, you have to think about things from a moral perspective. There are [53,000] children sick," said Marler. "But you also think about it from an economic perspective. If this product had gotten into the United States, it would have been 'game over' for a lot of products in China."

Xiang and Marler are both speaking at a food safety conference in Beijing that was planned before poison was found in baby formula made in China.  ABC sums up the situation this way:

Baby milk powder spiked with the industrial chemical melamine has sickened 53,000 infants and killed four. Millions of Chinese parents are scratching their heads over which formulas are safe. The dairy industry has been brought to its knees, as the government overhauls the milk collection system and identifies where in the supply chain the melamine was added.

"It somewhat surprised me," said Marler. "Every Chinese speaker at the conference spoke about the crisis. I thought it would be avoided."

For the rest from ABC, go here.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).