Agricultural antibiotics overuse contaminates China's tap water

Want China Times, Chen Chia-lun and Staff Reporter 2014-12-28

Ducklings at a farm in Fujian province, April 14, 2013. (File photo/CNS)

Overuse of antibiotics in duck farming has been attributed to pollution and serious contamination of water in China, after excessive amounts of antibiotics were detected in water in several provinces and cities in the country, according to a report from state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).

A CCTV reporter in collaboration with researchers found that a high level of antibiotics was detected in surface water in some areas of the country, with some traces of the medications discovered in tap water for household use in Nanjing.

During an unannounced visit to Shandong in eastern China, the reporter discovered that Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical Company had discharged large amounts of water contaminated by antibiotics at a level much higher than permitted.

While traveling to places in northeastern, northern and eastern China between late October and early November, the CCTV reporter and researchers collected samples of water from areas of water resources and drainage ditches near pharmaceutical companies and poultry breeding farms in these regions. The samples were sent to labs for testing and found to contain antibiotics.

Water in estuaries of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers as well as in some regions along the Huangpu, Pearl and Liao rivers were found to contain antibiotics. A section of the Pearl River in Guangzhou was found seriously contaminated by very high levels of antibiotics.

Veterinary prescription drugs have been found to be on sale in some regions without permits.

A duck farmer admitted that controls on meat exports were usually stricter than those for domestic consumption and that farmers themselves did not dare to eat locally raised duck meat.

France recalls contaminated baby IV nutrient bags after 3 deaths

Google – AFP, Antoine Agasse (AFP), 4 January 2014

People walk toward the entrance of the Maternity hospital of Chambery,

French Alps, on January 4, 2014 (AFP, Philippe Desmazes)

Grenoble — France's government said Saturday it has recalled a batch of nutrient bags used by a hospital in the Alps to feed babies intravenously after three infants died because of a bacterial contamination.

The parents of the three newborns, who died on different days in early December, have filed criminal complaints for manslaughter against the hospital, located in the town of Chambery in southeast France.

Analyses of several unused IV bags from the batch used to give the newborns nutrients while in the hospital's neonatal intensive care ward showed they all contained bacteria, the hospital told the parents.

"We're lodged the complaint to find out what happened. There was a failure in the system and this failure needs to be found so it never happens again," said the 37-year-old father of one of the infants, who gave his first name as Laurent.

Local prosecutors investigating the case said they would make no comment before next week.

France's health minister, Marisol Touraine, announced all the batch that included the affected IV bags had been withdrawn.

She called the deaths "an extremely grave accident".

The director of the hospital, Guy-Pierre Martin, told a news conference Saturday that the contaminated IV nutrient bags all came from a French pharmaceutical firm, but he refused to identify it, saying that was up to French government authorities.

He did not identify the lethal bacteria either.

He said the hospital would assume its responsibilities if the investigation found it liable.

Finland vows care for narcolepsy kids who had swine flu shot

Yahoo News/ AFP – Wed, Oct 5, 2011

A person receives a vaccine against the swine flu. The Finnish government 

and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for

 lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the

swine flu vaccine. (AFP Photo/Matej Divizna)

The Finnish government and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the swine flu vaccine.

"The compensation will provide much-needed financial assistance for the families, although it cannot take away the emotional distress caused by this condition," Social Services and Health Minister Paula Risikko said in a statement.

Finnish and international researchers recently found a conclusive link between the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine and new cases of narcolepsy, a chronic nervous system disorder which causes people to often uncontrollably fall asleep.

The Finnish Pharmaceutical Insurance Pool (LVP), which represents insurance companies, said Wednesday it would honour all insurance claims in this category.

LVP said it would review each claim individually to calculate the scope of the payout.

The Finnish government meanwhile agreed to cover any medical costs exceeding the insurance claims.

In Finland, 79 children between the ages of four and 19 developed narcolepsy after receiving the Pandemrix vaccine in 2009 and 2010.

Of these cases, an unusually high number, 76, also suffered from bouts of cataplexy, suffering hallucinations or paralysing physical collapses, according to Finnish research.

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Tainted milk scandal resurfaces in China

BBC News

Timeline: China milk scandal

Melamine-tainted milk products have been found on sale in China, more than a year after thousands of children became ill in a huge safety scandal.

Products made by three different firms were found to contain melamine and have now been removed from supermarkets in Guizhou province, officials say.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that can be added to watered-down milk to increase its protein content.

Six children died and some 300,000 became ill from tainted milk in 2008.

If ingested in sufficient quantities, melamine can cause kidney failure and kidney stones.

The companies involved in the latest recall blamed the contamination on milk powder they had bought as a raw material to add to their products, state media reported.

An official involved in the 2008 investigation told China Daily the powder may been part of that recalled batch which was still circulating on the market.

"There were still some leftovers in the dealers' hands that nobody cared about," said Wang Dingmian, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Dairy Association.

Mr Wang said the government's regulation of milk products was too weak and that companies should be required to test every batch they used.

China says 21 people have been convicted over the 2008 scandal, including milk producers, traders and executives of the Sanlu milk company.

In November 2009, two people were executed for making and selling hundreds of tonnes of melamine-tainted milk products.

Examination shows 30% packed food harmful in Indonesia

www.chinaview.cn , 2009-03-14 22:28:26            

JAKARTA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Indah Sukmaningsih, Executive manager of the Indonesian Consumers Institute Foundation (YLKI), said that some 30 percent of packed food on the free market in Indonesia contained hazardous substances detrimental to health, the national Antara news agency reported on Saturday. 

She said that the institute launched an intensive examination on 28 different types of food along with experts of the University of Indonesia (UI) recently, and the result shows that 10 were contained with hazardous substances like melamine and others. 

This bad condition did not include expired food products, which missed the attention of the government and other relevant authorities, she added. 

She also criticized some government institutions for not been working most effectively and mostly examined only food that had already been cleaned and washed thoroughly. 

She said that the government trading authorities which were supposed to serve as a filter of the hazardous foodstuff, failed to properly examine and control such foodstuffs, and were more concerned with issuing various regulations only. 

Editor: Yan

Nestle denies melamine contamination in its products

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 03/05/2009 11:02 PM  

Diary product maker Nestle has denied an Indonesian Consumer Institute (YLKI) claim that one of the company's products contains melamine saying that all of its products were safe for consumption. 

Nestle's public relations director Syahlan Siregar said in a press statement as quoted by Antara state news agency on Thursday that Nestle products were made according to tightly supervised standards. 

He said Nestle was on a routine basis always examining the raw materials to be used in its products. 

Therefore, Nestle rejected the results of the YLKI-sponsored research indicating that Nestle's Bear Brand Sterilized LowFat Milk 140 ml was among 10 types of products suspected to contain melamine. 

The YLKI said on Wednesday it had found that 10 types of products contained melamine. It said some shopping areas in Jakarta such as Pasar Baru, Kelapa Gading, Cempaka Mas and Mangga Dua had been selling products containing melamine. 

YLKI Chairperson Husna Zahir said there were places in the country through which legally and illegally imported food entered the domestic markets. 

Husna also called for tight and routine supervision of food products and not only at the request of the public after finding that some foodstuff contained dangerous substances. 

However, she admitted that state institutions had limited capability to conduct tests on products as Indonesia was a very vast country. 

"There are still many entry points for imported food products which escape the foundation's monitoring because of the country's vast area," she said. 

About the protests against the announcement of YLKI's findings on 10 different food products allegedely containing melamine, Husna said YLKI was open to inputs from various parties regarding the results of its tests. 

The tests were done to free Indonesia from all kinds of melamine-tained food products, she said.