Getting Paranoid Over Melamine

How was i affected with the recent melamine scare?

So bad. I mean i initially got paranoid. I couldn't imagine the family milk that i drink every morning and the pancit bihon that i always buy at the supermarket might have been contaminated with toxic melamine. Thankfully, that wasn't the case or i could have been dead by now.

For starters, what is really melamine? It is combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares and flame retardants.

It is sometimes illegally added to food products in order to increase the apparent protein content. Moreover, it is described as being "Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Chronic exposure may cause cancer or reproductive damage. Eye, skin and respiratory irritant.” (Source)

Scary! Now, i'm more cautious when i shop. I always look at the label, manufacturer, expiry date and ingredients of the food products that i buy. As what my mother said, "mas maayo nang makasiguro". I also search around and arm myself with accurate information about this issue so that i would avoid unnecessary worries and headaches. Like the recent scare of eating from plastic utensils, i think it's baseless because as i have mentioned above, plastics are made from melamine.

At first, only milk products were found to contain residue of melamine but then, public health officials said they discovered melamine in instant coffee, milk tea and chicken-and-corn soup products that contain non-dairy creamer as well. As of today, the four imported products from China that were tested positive are:

Green Food Yili Pure Milk

Mengniu Original Drink Milk

Lotte Strawberry Koala Biscuit

Jolly Cow Slender High-Calcium Low-Fat Milk

The updated list of of products negative of melamine are here.