Melamine and the Global Implications of Food Contamination  

Oleh:

Ingelfinger, Julie R.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: The New England Journal of Medicine (keterangan: ada di Proquest) vol. 359 no. 26 (Dec. 2008), page 2745-2747.
Topik: Melamine; food contamination

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Perpustakaan FK Nomor Panggil: N08.K.2008.06 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Food contamination, whether accidental or intentional, has been a sad, recurrent theme throughout recorded history, going back some 8000 years and described in the Old Testament. However, a new dimension has been added in this new millennium: globalization and international agribusiness allow problems with the food supply to spread around the planet all too quickly. The most recent, and still evolving, example is the epidemic of melamine poisoning stemming from tainted infant formula in China. More than 294,000 children in China have reportedly been affected by adulterated formula. Over 50,000 were hospitalized, and at least 6 died. Some are said to remain in the hospital. There are also reports that children in other parts of Asia — such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam — were also affected. Those who became ill had ingested melamine-contaminated powdered infant formula; some 22 brands were implicated. In the wake of this stunning discovery, the contaminated formula was taken off the market, but the story of melamine contamination is far from over. In addition to its catastrophic health effects, the contamination has had major economic effects, with the United States and other countries banning the importation of milk and other food products from China. Recent news reports note that China has asked the United States to lift its ban on milk products and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has opened an office in Beijing (and will open others in Shanghai and Guangzhou and in other countries) that will examine food exports destined for the United States. Now melamine is being discovered in other foods, which are turning up worldwide. Melamine (1,3,5-triazine–2,4,6-triamine, or C3H6N6) (see diagram), a chemical developed in the 1830s, has had varied and widespread legitimate uses. China is not the only country producing melamine; millions of kilograms are synthesized annually in the United States and elsewhere in the Western world. The compound is a component in many plastics, adhesives, glues, laminated products such as plywood, cement, cleansers, fire-retardant paint, and more. But melamine does not always remain where it is placed. For example, melamine in plasticware may be leached from the product by acid and thus can migrate into food, though — at least as measured — not in amounts considered toxic. Fortunately, melamine-containing plasticware becomes discolored or fractures, so it is used less often than it once was. A greater concern is that melamine is frequently added to crop fertilizer, from which it is absorbed into the soil and then, most likely, into crops themselves, though any uptake has been largely unmeasured. Thus, there is melamine in many products throughout the world, and we do not know what problems it may cause in the future.

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