A public health concern I thought to be important is tainted baby food supplies, mainly powdered infant formula. In developing countries where large populations of the mothers have a transmittable disease such as HIV or AIDS, mothers have been using powdered formula as a substitute. This can lead to other medical problems such as diarrhea which can lead to severe infection, or dehydration, and death.
In 2008, a Chinese manufacturer of infant formula and baby foods was charged with tainting the supply and causing 860 infants to be hospitalized, 13 died from malnutrition, while others died from kidney stones or other kidney-related illnesses. The manufacturer had added melamine to the formula to make it appear to have more protein, while in an earlier case, a different manufacturer had watered-down the infant formula which caused malnutrition.
(Source: "China seizes 22 companies with contaminated baby milk powder" ChinaView.cn
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/17/content_10046949.htm)
Here in the States, we have tighter regulations than do some developing and densely-populated countries such as China. Although we have the FDA and EPA, we still fall victim to tainted food supplies. tainted formula is obviously dangerous for infants, however, so is tainted foods that US mothers will ingest and then transmit to their infants through breast milk. Sometimes, parents opt to go for the "organic" or "alternative" brands of foods thinking they are safer and better-regulated or healthier for their children than are the name-brand options, This may not always be the case. There have been cases of arsenic-laced organic rice syrup that is used in rice-based baby formula (http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/arsenic-found-brown-rice-syrup-organic-foods-baby-185300194.html).
There was a case of moldy applesauce being repackaged and sent to schools for school lunches (http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/04/8636308-fda-moldy-applesauce-repackaged-by-school-lunch-supplier?lite). The US is no stranger to tainted foods.)
It is really up to the consumer to be vigilant when purchasing foods for their families. As for mothers of newborns, breast milk is always best even if mom has a disease, the doctor can prescribe a round of anti-virals to keep baby protected.
Kimberley,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this information. I think it is horrible and inhuman for a company to knowingly sell food that is bad. I agree that as consumers we must be vigilant about what we buy. However, many of us do not know what to look for. I think that our FDA as well as their sister organizations in other countries should monitor food processing more closely.
I agree that many of us do not know what to look for when checking the ingredients on food. There have been many many attempts by government to place food labels on packages, even in other countries. Educators like us could do better by helping parents make informed decisions when purchasing food. Celebrities could do better by using their star power to help inform parents (after all, they do like to have their faces seen on big and small screens, and many like to do charity work). Parents sometimes get into the mode where they want someone else to do the "heavy lifting" when it comes to parenting, then they are the first to point fingers when something goes wrong. A generation of young parents with little sense of responsibility seems to be cropping up on us so we need to get them and their children to be more vigilant in taking control of what they put into their and their children's bodies. No more excuses or blaming.
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