Personal Injury Law

FDA Updates Health Information Advisory on Melamine Contamination

By Bill Marler, Esq.

Well, I left at 4:00 PM on Saturday from Beijing after a week, landing in Seattle at 12:00 PM on Saturday - don't ask.  While in the air, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began alerting consumers that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products are being recalled by the Taiwanese company, King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd., due to possible contamination with melamine. King Car Food Industrial Co. used a non-dairy creamer manufactured by Shandong Duqing Inc., China, which was found to be contaminated with melamine. The recalled products are:

Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Mandhling Blend instant Coffee (2-in-1)
Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also alerted consumers that QFCO, Inc. recalled White Rabbit Candy Because of Possible Health Risk.  QFCO, Inc. of Burlingame, California is recalling White Rabbit Candy because it may be contaminated with Melamine.  Product was distributed to the states of CA, GA, HI, IL, MN, NY, OR, TX, WA through wholesale distributors to retail stores.

The White Rabbit Creamy Candy is sold in 8 or 16 oz packages. All other flavors of White Rabbit Candy, including Assorted (Chocolate, Coconut, and Coffee), Red Bean, Coffee, Corn, Lychee, Mango and Strawberry are sold in 7 oz. packages. All packaging has a logo of a white rabbit on the front with the words "White Rabbit".

Bigger news is what was Fonterra, the New Zealand Milk Company thinking when they took at 43% stake in Sanlu, Chinese milk giant owned by the Chinese gernment?  Most disturbing is the cover-up, perhaps as many as 10 months, that children were becoming sick from drinking melamine-tainted powered milk.  A leaked memo said: "anything to pacify victims and accept all they want to keep them silent for at least two years."  Or, at least through the Olympics.  Perhaps, what is needed is a good lawsuit against both Sanlu and Fonterra.  The victims should be compensated, but as important is getting to the bottom of why it happened, why the cover-up and what can been done to prevent such an outbreak in the future?

Full post as published by Marler Blog on September 28, 2008 (boomark / email).