Close Call

I have been aware of the china-made milk scare the first time CNN broke the story. The next day, TV Patrol World reported the same incident. In the beginning, I thought it was isolated in that country. Imagine my horror when a couple of days later, I learned that RP could also be affected as there are several companies importing milk from China.

I checked our food products one by one and a trip to the supermarket now involves checking the labels to make sure nothing is made in China. That’s exactly what we did on a trip to Crossing supermarket last Thursday. While there, I looked at several options for their snacks.In the end, I picked up a pack of Nissin choco wafers and Oreo cookies.

At around 3PM, Maia had a pack of Nissin choco wafer; she went to take a nap right after that. When she woke up at around 6PM she had dinner, with Ube ice cream for dessert. Then she started throwing up, every 20 minutes or so, until she started vomiting this frothy, yucky, icky, yellow-greenish discharge. At about 10PM, she started to look dehydrated so we rushed her to the ER, leaving Lilaa with the yaya who was understanding enough to stay when I explained that we had to bring her sister to the doctor.

The St. Luke’s Medical Center ER was a mad house, and a full mad house at that. Maia was admitted and immediately hooked up to an IV line. We had to wait in one of hubby’s department office rooms meanwhile waiting for an available room. We finally got one at around three in the morning. We were so tired and sleepy, we slept like babies for a few hours. I’m glad I did because looking back, it prepared me for something worse.

Early Friday morning, after hubby left to get more stuff from home, I checked my phone for messages. I was so shocked to get a SMS from my yaya relating that Lilaa’s been up the whole night throwing up also. I called but hubby, Lilaa and the yaya were at the door already. My heart was racing and I didn’t have to ask anymore questions. The yaya volunteered that she fed Lilaa the Nissin choco wafer right after we left so she can bribe her to sleep early.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the culprit was. Tracking the household’s food intake the past forty-eight hours, we realized that only Lilaa and Maia had the wafer, and they’re the only ones downed by whatever was in it. My next action is sending a sample of the Nissin choco wafer to BFAD for testing. I read the label and it does say it’s made in RP but of course, no information is given on where the raw ingredients like milk comes from.

We were discharged after lunch today. Despite it all, my girls were in high spirit most of the time. Except when Lilaa was being hooked up to an IV, she cried so hard and kept saying “no way, no way!”. My little girls grew up overnight having subjected to these torturous episodes.

Indeed it was a close call. We yet have to find out what really caused these, we hope we do so, soon.

China’s Trick or Treat

Too early for Halloween? China doesn’t think so. As a matter of fact, they’ve been scaring the wits out of people from all over  when the first in the series of product scandal broke out early last year. Development in the news have included processed meat products as among the products contaminated with melamine. It looks like China is just about poised to poison the world and it has been a trick (get it?), for every unwitting consumer.

In early 2007, a recall was made on pet food (Purina Alpo & Del Monte) made in China when it was found to have high levels of melamine. Pet owners in various message boards and fora where up in arms when they traced their pets’ death and sickness to this chemical.

Later that year, major toy companies also recalled products made in China when they found out that the toys made there contained lead, a potentially deadly component for children to play around with.

And now the milk scandal.  With four babies dead and the number of sick babies growing, I cannot just imagine how these unscrupulous businessmen risk their reputation for this. For more profit? You think after this scandal and the millions of recalled product, they’d still be able to earn a cent? For a quick million bucks, maybe? It boggles my mind how they would even think on mixing this substance with food; food we feed our pets, our children and ourselves.

I have been following the local news and international news websites about this subject. On TV Patrol World last night, they reported that a private testing laboratory Qualibet Lab, conducted an independent testing of several food products and their results showed that even canned food from China is tainted with Melamine! Watch the video clip below:

At about 7PM, I switched to Tony Velasquez’ Prime News on ANC. He was able to interview BFAD Director Leticia Gutierrez. When asked about the findings of Qualibet, Gutierrez expressed…hesitation? I can’t be sure but she wasn’t being straightforward. Pressed for comments if BFAD would now issue a ban on the products tested positive for Melamine, or if BFAD will now do an urgent/immediate testing to confirm/thwart Qualibet’s findings, Gutierrez could not, or rather would not give a straight yes/no answer. Tony didn’t give up and asked if her answer meant that in the absence of confirmation by BFAD, consumers can still go and buy these melamine-tainted products, she can only say: “BFAD is prioritizing milk and milk products testing for now…”

I understood that to mean: “In the meantime, the public can go buy and poison themselves…”

Today on ANC’s Dateline Philippines with Ricky Carandang & Lynda Jumilla, DOH Secretary Duque was interviewed right after the press conference where he announced that two china-made milk products are positive for Melamine. When asked the same question Tony asked Gutierrez, Duque somehow resented the fact that a private testing laboratory beat them to the media with their findings. He added that how can they be so sure of their reference standard when DOH/BFAD’s equipment just arrived?

Ah, Mr. Duque, we are sorry to disappoint you but private companies actually are more efficient with their resources? I mean, they don’t get millions in budget (or maybe they do) but their money goes where it should go. And you hated that?  That was just so irritating. Here is one entity trying to help the public by informing them on which products to avoid and DOH/BFAD are being myopic on power play!

I understand Mr. Duque’s concern that BFAD has to be the sole, reliable authority with regards to this issue . But then everyone knows, except maybe for DOH/BFAD, that they are short on resources. And may I add, that if they were only doing their job i.e. checking, assessing and testing every product coming into the country, we wouldn’t even have this problem now!

I’m beginning to think that this year’s gonna be the scariest Halloween ever!