Godwin Haruna
6 November 2008
Lagos — Since news stories emerged about the contamination of milk with melamine in China on Sept 11, the situation has become an international health scare. The killer substance was recently traced to a dairy product company along Lagos-Ibadan expressway by officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Godwin Haruna writes
Along the streets of major cities in Nigeria, horn blaring wheel barrow pushers retail their dairy products especially, ice creams and flavoured yoghurt as a routine. Although children who patronise them most may not be aware that some of these treasured drinks contain killer substances, the alarm bell rang by the Chinese dairy contamination has already thrown up a lot of issues in Nigeria.
The Chinese producers added melamine to milk products to artificially boost protein count in milk that had been diluted. It is said that babies and children who regularly drink the tainted milk can develop kidney stones after several months. Melamine (also known as tripolycyanamide) is an industrial chemical in the production of melamine resins, which are used in laminates, glues, adhesives, and plastics. When added to milk, melamine increases the nitrogen concentration, which suggests a false increase in protein concentration.
Today, we learn that several thousand babies in China are seriously ill, having suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, among those given formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. The toll is far higher than was previously admitted by the Chinese authorities, according to reports in the international media.
In Nigeria, when the news of the contamination broke, Prof. Dora Akunyili, Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) informed the nation that traces of the killer substance had not been found in Nigeria. She said although her agency was not testing for it before then, the Chinese experience has put them on the alert to start scrutinizing closely both the raw materials and the dairy products.
This close monitoring has produced result as a Chinese company, Londa Foods Nigeria Limited located on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway has been found culpable. Addressing the media on Tuesday in Lagos, Mrs. Ololade Alabi, director, enforcement of NAFDAC, who spoke on behalf of the director general, said the agency has been screening all milk powder and dairy products imported into Nigeria along with those manufactured locally against possible contamination or adulteration with melamine. According to her, so far, most of the products tested have been found to be satisfactory.
However, Alabi noted: "Recently, the agency discovered unsatisfactory levels of melamine in milk powder imported from China by Londa Foods International Limited, beside Texaco Petrol Station off Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The milk powder contains 21.1mg/kg of melamine which is far above the acceptable maximum limit of 2.5mg/kg."
She said the managing director of the company; Mr. Mo Yirui claimed through an interpreter that the raw materials were procured by his late predecessor, Mr. Liu. She added that efforts were still been made by the agency to track the actual source of the milk powder in China. She said she would have brought the managing director to the press briefing, but for the Interpol that resisted the move on the premise that investigations were still ongoing.
In the meantime, Alabi stated: "the contaminated milk and ice cream produced by the company has been seized and the factory sealed up pending further investigation. Ultimately all affected raw materials and finished products will be destroyed and further action will be taken against the company."
Further investigations by THISDAY showed that the sealed office on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway is a secluded place and an isolated warehouse without signage to show proper location. Some of the products of the company, which are already in the market before there were recalled by NAFDAC include; Londa big padding, Londa cool ice cream, Londa orange flavoured yoghurt, Londa pineapple flavoured yoghurt, Londa happiness ice cream and Londa strawberry ice cream.
Sources said they have been marketing these various varieties to consumers, ranging from ice cream in bars to bowls. They had even planned a promotion this month in which they would have offered consumers two cartons for the price of one.
Alabi said the company has a major distributor in Maryland and all the stock there have been impounded just like elsewhere in China Town and Osata Supermarket in Opebi. She said they were just coming into the market and their network is not as extensive yet, so they were able corner the entire stock. Even the ones left in their factory, she added, had been evacuated.
"The only thing they have in their factory is their machinery and even the machinery is old and they cannot do anything until we are through with them. We have list of those making milk and milk products and their factory has always been visited and samples have always been collected especially when this melamine issue came up," she said.
Asked about how they came about the Londa Foods discovery, she said they got a complaint from a consumer, although not ill from the consumption, but he wanted to know if it was registered. She stated that some of the company's products have been registered by NAFDAC. She stated categorically that the raw material in which melamine was found had come in before the alert on the substance started around the world.
She assured that the agency's desk at the ports have been strengthened to test for melamine in all the country's ports. She said nobody was testing milk products for melamine before the Chinese contamination. She said in the particular instance, there has not been any adverse complaint from the consuming public before now. She added that the company has not mass produced as such before NAFDAC went in after receiving the complaint. Moreover, Alabi noted that since people do not know the product, they decided to stick with the known ones especially in the aftermath of the news of the Chinese contamination.
She assured Nigerians of NAFDAC's resolve to safeguard the health of Nigerians and equally requested their cooperation in matters like this when information is required to emanate from the public. She said all the seized items would be destroyed and henceforth, the activities of the company would be monitored strictly. Further sanctions, she said would be decided by the management of the company.
In the Chinese case, manufacturer, Sanlu, part-owned by New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative, recalled all of its powdered milk products in China's north-west province of Gansu. However, twenty-two brands, including China Mengniu Diary Co and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, of milk powder have so far been identified as containing melamine. "The majority of afflicted infants ingested Sanlu-brand milk powder over a long period of time, their clinical symptoms showed up three to six months after ingesting the problematic products," it was said.
The government has now set melamine limits at one milligram per kilogram of infant formula and 2.5 milligrams per kilogram of liquid milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15 percent milk. Any dairy products with higher levels are banned. The new limits are supported by assessments by the World Health Organization and the United Nations.
Previously, melamine was found in exported pet food last year and blamed for killing thousands of cats and dogs in the US. Reports stated that analysis of samples of ice cream produced by Yili have also revealed the presence of melamine. Diluting a product, the previous approach, is highly unethical and can lead to malnutrition, but straight poisoning is tantamount infanticide. This is also not the first time that Chinese consumers have faced problems with milk powder. In 2004, more than a dozen children died having been fed formula with minimal nutritional content.
Dairy farmers have been feeling the squeeze for years, particularly in parts of the world where technological advancement has been slow in coming and so their profit margins on their milk output have not been lifted by improved efficiency. In order to boost profits milk has been diluted. However, this brings with it the problem of falling quality - dilute with water and measurable concentrations of milk proteins, fats, and sugars fall. Dilution by up to 30 percent has not been uncommon, which is where melamine (as I've mentioned) comes in. Melamine is a small organic molecule with a high nitrogen content that can easily fool the quality control equipment into thinking that nitrogen (from protein) is present at normal levels and so the milk is passed as good.
Melamine accumulates in the body and causes toxicity problems - basically damaging the kidneys and forming stones (solid deposits within the kidneys or bladder). Infants fed regularly with milk containing melamine will be particularly susceptible to these effects. As we have seen tens of thousands have been affected and several have died in China. However, with the crack NAFDAC team's assurance to Nigerians, it is hoped that any unethical practice would be unearthed and penalized.
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