Melamine, cadmium, and Heidi Montag

Source: Reuters

Melamine in milk is in the news again. Is this totally inexcusable or what?
Products from three Chinese companies were removed from shelves in southern China after they tested positive for melamine. Products included not just milk, but candy that used milk as an ingredient. Two of the companies had been cited in the last melamine scandal of 2008. That event was responsible for the deaths of six children and illness for 300,000 others.
It appears that milk contaminated with melamine in 2008 was not destroyed and was subsequently repackaged and sold. According to Reuters, “[H]ealth officials have continued to crack down on distributors who sell melamine-tainted milk to stores, but some distributors, wrongly assuming that the government has scaled back its crackdown, continue to sell it.”

The former head of a dairy association in southern China, Wang Dingmian, has acknowledged that officials failed to monitor melamine-tainted milk following the 2008 scandal. It remained on the market, and this lapse was purposely kept quiet “to safeguard the good image of the dairy industry.”
The public was not informed of the current melamine danger in a timely manner. Reports began to appear in Chinese media on New Year’s Eve, but knowledge of the current problems dates back to the previous spring. A Shanghai government spokesman attributed the delays – in recalls, dairy closures, and public information – to the complications of more than one province being involved.

Lead’s illegal? OK. Let’s use cadmium!

China’s troubles with product safety received some bad publicity earlier this month when cadmium was found in Chinese-made jewelry for children. The jewelry contained at least 10 percent cadmium and some samples had up to 80 to 90 percent. Cadmium is similar to lead in that it interferes with brain development in young children. That problem came to light as a result of an Associated Press investigation.
The cadmium problem arose because the US government has limited the amount of lead allowed in toys. So Chinese manufacturers substituted cadmium for lead. Toy safety standards limit the amount of cadmium that can be used in the surface coating of toys. There are no limits for jewelry.

The ethical question raised by Heidi Montag

Sometimes I despair about problems in the US, but then I’m reminded of how much worse things could be – and have been. China is in the early stages of economic development. The US had scandals 100 years ago that were every bit as bad as those China now has with melamine and cadmium. We shouldn’t be too quick to throw the first stone.
We still have problems with food product safety, but in general the US has moved on to the issues of late capitalism. For example, Heidi Montag’s ten cosmetic surgeries in one day. Now that’s post-modern.
In news coverage of the story, the only ethical question raised was whether her doctor should have performed so many procedures in one surgical session. The general consensus was that as long as it’s safe it’s perfectly OK. A better question would be: Is it really OK for the medical definition of health to include anything marketing can create a demand for?
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