China milk

In one of the saddest stories of the last little while, 4 children have died and over 50,000 have been sickened in China by milk containing Melamine. Melamine makes milk appear richer in protein, but is a chemical used to create industrial plastics. Sure businesses have limited social responsibility, but the sheer negligence and blatant disregard for human life expressed by milk producer Sanlu Group (who have been receiving complaints since last year about contaminated milk) is truly sickening. The sad part for us Kiwis is that New Zealand dairy conglomerate Fonterra has a 43% stake in the business, and they knew about positive Melamine tests for over 6 weeks. Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier apologised to Chinese families and stated that Fonterra had no awareness of any issues before August of this year. Claims that the toxic test results have been around for over 8 months shocked Ferrier. "If people were aware of it, it should have gone to the board."Let's see how this one plays out. The fact remains that innocent children have become victim of something that should not only NOT happen, but shouldn't even be ABLE to happen. In the words of TV3's Target, shame on you Sanlu Group, and shame on you Fonterra by extension.