That Milk Scandal

I've been seeing a lot of this in the news and hearing a little bit about it from other Chinese people. Seems to be quite serious.

From AFP:

BEIJING (AFP) — China's cabinet ordered an all-out effort Saturday to save babies poisoned by contaminated milk powder which has claimed the lives of four infants and sickened thousands more.

The State Council said sick babies should be given free medical treatment, ordered more checks on the dairy industry and vowed to punish those responsible for the scandal, the state Xinhua news agency said, quoting a statement.

The government has already announced the arrest of 18 people for their roles in the contamination of milk with the industrial chemical melamine.

Four babies have died and more than 6,000 are ill after drinking tainted infant formula, and the government said this week that regular milk, yoghurt and ice cream were also affected.

Read On

Not that I'm a huge milk and yoghurt drinker anyways, but I'm certainly watching what I eat and drink these days.

Honestly, I've always been grossed out by China's milk. Some of my western friends in China drink this "milk" that comes in little plastic bag-like containers that just sit outside little store fronts in the hot summer sun or whatever season it is. Considering that I've never been that big of a fan of America's "normal" refrigerated milk, there's no way I was ever going to try this unrefrigerated preservative filled junk.

Thankfully Xi'an is a big enough city that I can buy Wisconsin's very own Land of Lakes sharp cheddar or mozzarella imported whenever I want. Jackie's learned how to make a pretty wicked pizza with this cheese too. Something I'm very happy about.