Some farmers in China wanted to sell their milk to companies that make powdered milk, but their cows were of poor breed and badly fed, so the companies rejected the milk.
Some farmers realised that the milk quality test is simple: it looks for nitrogen, an atom found in protein, and grades the milk by the amount of nitrogen. So they decided to add a cheap substance rich in nitrogen: melamine.
Melamine is a chemical used to make plastics. It is often confused with melanin, the natural pigment that colours skin and hair. Worse still, some companies liked the idea, watered the milk down further and added more melamine: in other words, they added plastic to the milk to cheat the test.
Melamine causes kidney stones and kidney failure. One two-month-old baby passed dark yellow urine that later turned bloody; the doctor found needle-shaped kidney stones that had injured the kidneys, as well as causing unbearable pain.
Contaminated products in China included fresh milk, yoghurt drinks and ice cream, as well as some chocolates made with the contaminated milk. Imports of Chinese milk were banned in the US, Europe and much of Asia.
Buy milk and baby formula only from trusted sources that are properly inspected, and see a doctor if a baby has dark or bloody urine or cries when passing urine.
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