Where are we?
Three babies died and at least 6,200 children fell sick, over 1,300 of them were hospitalised, in China in recent weeks after drinking milk tainted with melamine.
Melamine is an industrial chemical used in plastics, fertilizer, flame retardant clothing, dyes, glue and many other household items.
Derived from coal, it is about 66% nitrogen. It is added to the milk to increase apparent protein levels. Most tests for protein test nitrogen levels, so its chemical structure is able to fool the instruments. Some dairies watered down their milk, so extra protein readouts were needed to keep from being discovered. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. But we do not know whether the milk products available in Bangladesh are adulterated with melamine or not because BSTI has no such technology to detect chemicals like melamine in milk powder. It proves we are lagging behind in science and technology. And who can guarantee that other food items do not contain such poisons? If so, we won't be able to know that until some people disappear. Only God knows how much poison we are taking every day.
There must be some regulations about chemicals and food products, and the government mustn't allow importing food products without chemical testing.
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