Melamine: the toxic legacy

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Dairy giant Fonterra is not providing any direct compensation to Chinese victims of the contaminated milk scandal despite a new study which shows many of the affected children have ongoing health problems.

The company has, however, donated $7.2 million to improving health services in rural China.

A study published last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that more than one in 10 children sickened in the contaminated milk scandal showed signs of kidney damage six months afterward.

The study is the first to look at the long-term effects of China's massive food safety scandal, which saw at least six children die and nearly 300,000 fall ill in 2008 after consuming infant formula deliberately contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. The melamine was added to the watered-down milk to fool inspectors testing for protein content and to increase profits.

The milk formula was produced at the San Lu dairy factory in which Fonterra held a 43% stake.

The study results point to the possibility that as many as 30,000 children could have suffered health complications for months after drinking the contaminated milk. Researchers from Peking University studied ultrasound images of infants who fell ill in the 2008 contamination and found that 12% still showed kidney abnormalities six months later.

"The potential for long-term complications after exposure to melamine remains a serious concern," the researchers said.

A spokesman for Fonterra told the Sunday Star-Times the company had not provided any direct compensation to victims as the Chinese government had undertaken to do that and to undertake regular monitoring of the children's health, but it had set up a joint fund with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation to support the health of mothers and infants from the less developed areas of China and had donated $7.2m to date.

Since the contamination scandal, Fonterra has written off its $139m investment in San Lu, which was one of 22 Chinese dairy processors found to be involved in the criminal addition of melamine to milk. A number of San Lu executives received prison sentences for their involvement in the scandal, and two other Chinese men were sentenced to death.

But Fonterra plans to invest in two more dairy farms in China. The move, it says, will improve the quality of milk available in China and help secure the supply chain.

Philip Turner, managing director for Fonterra China, said the Chinese dairy industry was continuing to develop quickly but the current supply of high quality fresh milk could not keep up with demand.

"We are looking to help grow a safe, secure and sustainable milk supply in China in order to meet this demand and expand our customer base," Turner said.

Fonterra's chief executive Andrew Ferrier last week said the company's reputation in China was actually enhanced significantly by the way it handled the affair.

"They [the Chinese government] respect our expertise in the supply chain and they have a huge problem across the country [with food safety]. They want us to help fix that problem," said Ferrier in the latest issue of The Independent.

"They understand our international capability and reputation and hope we can help them improve the safety of their food supply chain."

- © Fairfax NZ News