From Chocolates to Cheese Pizza, Corporations Hit Hard by Melamine Milk

If the melamine milk fiasco were only limited to baby formula, it would still be a national tragedy.  Over 53,000 infants, and as many as 5% of infants in Shanghai alone, have been diagnosed with kidney stones. 

Unfortunately, the scandal’s scope is much more far-reaching, impacting a wide range of products and consumers.  Here are a few:

Cadbury Chocolate: Asia’s chocolate lovers have had a rude awakening.  Cadbury PLC recalled all 11 of its products produced in its Beijing plant.  These chocolates are exclusively distributed in Asia, with the exception of some chocolate éclairs that are exported to Australia. 

Cadbury’s Chinese chocolates comprise less than half a percent of its global sales, so consumers in other parts of the world shouldn’t be at risk.   Unfortunately for Cadbury, this incident hasn’t been the best boost to its brand image.

White Rabbit candies: This iconic Chinese candy, which was once served to Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to China, has seen far better days.  After finding traces of melamine in some of the candy, the company has recalled its candies, which are found in grocery stores worldwide,

Pizza Hut: Taiwanese Pizza Huts are no longer serving grated cheese due to high levels of melamine.  The cheese had 30 times the acceptable levels, and came from New Zealand company Fronterra, which owns a 43% stake in the infamous Sanlu Dairy. 

Starbucks: Starbucks in China had to find a new supplier after its previous one, Mengniu Dairy, one of the most prominent, trusted brands in China, had levels of melamine in its milk.  Coffee addicts who depend on their daily latte or cappuccino are out of luck until China’s Starbucks find a new supplier.

While the melamine milk scandal continues to hit China's industries, the problem with food safety probably isn't limited to the dairy industry.  According to the China Digital Times’ “List of Toxic Foods You Need to Know,” pretty much everything, including hot pot, instant noodles, salt, popcorn, dough, kabobs, and soy sauce, could have a toxic component to it.

Fortunately, although this situation looks pretty bleak, at the very least, the increased public scrutiny and efforts to remedy the situation may be instrumental in averting another disaster.