In China, where adulteration has occurred, water has been added to raw milk to increase its volume. As a result of this dilution the milk has a lower protein concentration. Companies using the milk for further production (e.g. of powdered infant formula) normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine increases the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content.

Addition of melamine into food is not approved by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (food standard commission), or by any national authorities.

Published on Mar 19, 2014

www.californiamilkusa.com 714.888.7583

Our infant formula plants are running pretty much 24/7 with very little down time. Our nutritional business is growing - at about 20 per cent. Infant formula is in such hot demand in China that smugglers have been arrested trying to import large and small quantities of what's being termed 'white gold'. But food safety is top of mind for most manufacturers - particularly after China's melamine scandal of recent years. Baby formula, or infant milk powder, is the only growth sector for food manufacturing in Australia, with start-up companies already building processing plants. As well, the lack of a Free Trade Agreement with China is seriously holding back Australia's 'white gold rush' Locally, as tomato processors close and canneries around the country struggle, infant milk formula is the only area of food manufacturing that is not on life support. There's a growing middle class, and as mothers return to work they want the best for their one child that money can buy. Each valuable child deserves 'Yummy Gold' Every year, more than 17 million babies are born in China. Once upon a time, the Chinese upper classes used to employ wet nurses. These days the milk comes from a tin, called Optimal Infant Milk.

Uploaded on Sep 15, 2008

BEIJING -- A Chinese dairy that sold milk powder linked to kidney stones in infants knew it contained a banned chemical weeks before ordering a recall, the health minister said Saturday.