China Tainted Milk: Mildewed Feed Behind Cancer-Causing Toxin In Milk

BEIJING -- Mildewed feed given to cows caused the high levels of a cancer-causing toxin found in milk from China's biggest dairy company and a smaller one, according to a government safety agency investigating the troubled dairy industry's latest scandal.

An expert review identified the mildewed feed as the cause of the excessive levels of aflatoxin in milk from industry giant Mengniu Dairy Group and the Fujian Changfu Dairy Industry Group, the quality supervision and inspection agency said in a statement posted on its website late Monday.

The agency ordered the dairies to destroy the tainted products, and it advised the public that the contamination will end once the cows stop eating the rotten feed.

Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that commonly grows on grain and legume crops such as peanuts, soybeans, corn and wheat. The toxin turns up in the milk of animals that eat affected crops.

Though at low doses it is not considered harmful to humans, high doses are linked to cancer, especially in the liver.

Both Mengniu and Changfu have issued public apologies. Mengniu said that the tainted products were produced at a subsidiary in Sichuan province and none had entered the market. Changfu said it recalled the affected products immediately after inspectors told the company.

While once a rarity in the Chinese diet, dairy has become a staple as incomes have risen, and the industry's booming growth has been accompanied by persistent quality issues. In the worst scandal, at least six infants died and 300,000 children were sickened in 2008 from drinking infant formula and milk products made with melamine, an industrial chemical that was being added to watered-down milk to elevate protein levels in quality tests.

Comments

[elljay1]

10:00 PM on 12/28/2011

mildew is not just in china
as a farmer many times I have seen and smelled mildewed soy meal
as a point of information many animals will avoid it unless there is no other choice.
I have also been told it does not matter .
IT MATTERS To ME

[frankfv8]

12:16 AM on 12/28/2011

Here the dairy feeds cotton seed husk to cows , for its protein but no 1 says that the growers of cotton seed use arsenic to fend off the bow weavel . They gov. allows them to use this poison because the crop is not eaten by people but the cows give us milk. Go figure

[scottieriz]

09:52 PM on 12/27/2011

so prices will get cheaper and more people will buy China made..... sad

[WHEELS221]

08:20 PM on 12/27/2011

I don't buy any Chineese CRAP..If it says made in CHINA it stays on the shelf

[hman570]

07:32 PM on 12/27/2011

China is building not only and big ecomony but a big Navy and Air Force. With all the billions we spend with China they can well aford to take the lead on the world but it will not to help others it will be to domanation of the world. What foods they send here have been proven to have high leves of Led and other chemicles that we have no idea what they are. What better way to weaken your next conquest.

[stdman]

07:14 PM on 12/27/2011

I'am never eating anything from china!!! they just dont follow the rules!

[strangetimes]

07:07 PM on 12/27/2011

If the GOP has their way they will do away with the FDA. Then the corporations that own the politicians can poison our food for profit.

[peteslycat1]

06:14 PM on 12/27/2011

Oh, those Chinese are at it again. When they're not crushing toddlers with trucks, they're painting toys with lead paint, adding melamine to infant formula & now they've found a way to poison milk. Vewy Twicky people.

[thewitch60]

06:12 PM on 12/27/2011

I hope that milk doesn't make it's way to the U.S.

[SusieQTX]

06:06 PM on 12/27/2011

Does this surprise any of us??? We have dairy farms in America, so keep it there please!!!!!

[joellen835]

09:14 PM on 12/27/2011

There are dairy farms here.....and they fight an uphill battle to stay in business. EPA and other governmental regulations make it nearly impossible for them. They are socked with fines all the way from polution of ground water, to polution of the air from gas from cows. Then, there's the price of hay and grain to feed those cows. It's a wonder any of them can survive. So, the next time you complain about the "flies" or the "smell" from a dairy down the road, just remember where your next gallon of milk could come from.

[SusieQTX]

08:39 AM on 12/28/2011

A. I know what trials they go through!!!
B. I DO live near one....less than a mile....and I don't complain about anything that comes from there. They actually invited me to bring the kids one day and let them spend the day there. Thankfully, you don't know me!!!!!

[proscanusa]

11:35 AM on 12/28/2011

Joellen, honestly your frustration is understood but all the same misguided. Perhaps you might try taking positive action on the subject, like seeking a primary sponsor or committee to introduce legislation easing superfluous regulations on dairy farmers. Be a hero today.

[RLA Bruce]

05:55 PM on 12/27/2011

The food from China should stay there unless they adhere to our standards.

[rvheaney]

05:54 PM on 12/27/2011

They will not destroy this milk they will use it in products shipped to the USA !

[jgamble28]

04:21 PM on 12/27/2011

I feel that we shouldn't buy anything from China.

[cre8f1]

03:39 PM on 12/27/2011

What about the cancer causing substances in milk produced in America? Milk, humans too, produce insulin growth factor (IGF-1) and secrete it in their milk. In normal quantities this substance promotes growth in the infant (and calves). When cows are injected with rBGH to make them produce more milk, they produce up to 1000 times more IGF-1, which in overdose is a known tumor promoter. Do two Wikipedia searchs: one on IGF-1 and another on rBGH and you will be shocked. In addition, Fukushima spewed enough radiation into the air that radioactivity in milk increased by more than 2000 times, especially on the west coast of the USA. It is in the feed the cows eat, so buying organic will not help you. I don't drink cow milk anymore; I drink almond milk, but coconut milk would also be OK. Soy milk is not safe because it was affected by the same fallout that the cows experienced. Almonds and coconuts have a hard outer shell which is removed before they are processed into milk. You would think our government should have told us of the dangers, but they didn't, and they won't. Both the USA and Canada turned their west coast radiation sensors off, so they wouldn't have any "bad stuff" to report.

[constsuper2000]

04:59 PM on 12/27/2011

Wow!!!!!!!!! That is amazing!! Do you have any research or studies backing this up? I would love to see it. Thank you for the informative post!!!

[cre8f1]

05:26 PM on 12/27/2011

Doing a wikipedia search on IGF-1 and rBGH should get you started in the right direction. Also check various organic food websites and Drmercola.com, reading him is like having your own personal and private subscription to American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a peer-reviewed professional publication. I have heard on the grapevine that Fukushima radiation will be responsible for 10 million new cancers, a figure I cannot substantiate but supposedly based on the cancer rates seen from Chernobyl.

[Kev Bat]

07:28 PM on 12/27/2011

Your research on rBGH is fine . I avoid it and suggest others do also . But your research on radioactivity is lacking . Just the fact you stated the term " radiation " and not the particular isotope says much . Even if the United States and Canada stopped testing ( untrue ) there are many , many independent testing stations around the World . Please don't spread rumors and do better research .

[cre8f1]

11:52 PM on 12/27/2011

YOU need to do better research. Or are you part of the government trying to assure people everything is A O. K. About a week after Fukushima, the USA turned off their radiation sensors, followed two weeks later by Canada. No reason to keep them going; they could do nothing about it anyway. I have not heard of their restart. Nor are there enough PI tabs (protects only against thyroid cancer) to give to every exposed person. Would the average blogger understand the isotopes of cesium, strontium, iodine, corium, etc.? As far as independent testing labs, where do you think I got my info!!!!!! One Seattle researcher, reported background radiation at one time was 170 times normal. Recent news reports the death rate of Pacific Northwest children (the younger the child, the faster they are growing, the worse the effects) has leaped, but scientists are, so far, reluctant to attribute the death rate to radiation. Even Southern California milk contains many times more radiation than EPA allows. I cautioned my family to take PI tabs; use HEPA filters in air cleaners and forced air furnaces; stay inside with windows closed; and sacrifice a pair of shoes to be worn outside only and left outside. They pledged to continue the precautions until what is coming across the Pacific ceases.

[s2at25]

03:13 PM on 12/27/2011

Maybe Obama needs to talk to them about sanitary conditions for the cattle. Oh wait, he can GIVE our milk cows to China and see if they can screw them up also. The country is a third world nation for production and should not be allowed to export food products to the United States. By food products I mean ANYTHING consumed by and animal, human, dogs, cats or hamsters etc.