Dive Summary:
- Recent food safety scares in China, including the revelation that rat meat had been passed off as $1 million worth of lamb, have led some Chinese families to smuggle in baby formula from abroad.
- One Chinese baby formula brand was recently recalled due to trace amounts of mercury, but parents' fears have been on the rise since the 2008 deaths of six infants who drank milk contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine.
- Despite food regulations being revised in the wake of the 2008 incidents, some Chinese parents have smuggled thousands of dollars worth of baby formula into the country at one time, and over 1,000 people have been arrested due to an export limit placed on milk in February.
From the article:
... She spent $1,800 when she was in the U.S. to buy enough to last a year-and-a-half. She said of her return to China from the U.S. -- in which she had 19 suitcases of milk formula, "I heard the Americans checking my luggage," she said. "They were whispering 'Why are Chinese all so crazy'."
But, Qianqian, says she's not crazy and points to Beijing's polluted skies as proof. Qianqian said, "When I was traveling in the U.S. I saw some cow ... living under blue skies, breathing clean air an eating clean grass. Milk from cows like this may be healthier than my (own) milk." ...
