The trial is showing that some dairy producers knew about the tainted milk before the scandal became public up to months in advance, and yet delayed informing the authorities. Specifically, the former chairwoman of Sanlu, Ms. Tian Wenhau, recently admitted that she knew in May 2008 of the use of melamine at her company, though authorities were only informed in August. This makes her, among others, directly responsible for all of the children who either became ill or died. Noticeably, family members of the sick children have not been allowed to attend the trial – which seems wildly inappropriate, given what they have been forced to undergo. 
And now it does not fall just on the Food and Drug Administration, but also on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to really pick up the pace on the inspection front. Only last month did USDA announce that they were going to start inspecting meat products for melamine. Like FDA, they seem to have taken their time in realizing that there might actually be a problem – which could have disastrous results, especially if this level of corruption in the dairy industry is any indication of what might be going on in other areas of Chinese food production. 
To add fuel to the fire, it appears that seafood may very well be next on the melamine list – and yet nothing is being done about it by U.S. government agencies. Research is also showing that fish cannot get rid of melamine as easily as cows or pigs can, and as a result their edible flesh contains high amounts of the contaminant. USDA has yet to respond – and as it relies on exporting countries to do most of its testing, while only doing its own testing on a small percentage of imports, then tainted fish are very likely to fall through the cracks. Hardly an adequate system.
To give yet another example where U.S. agencies have dropped the ball on the melamine front, FDA just issued yesterday a press release concerning the recall of Topaz brand Wafer Rolls because they were found to contain melamine. The problem? FDA’s press release was posted 17 days after the company that produces the rolls, National Brands Inc., sent out their release on the issue. Talk about a delayed reaction!Let’s not allow 2009 to be characterized by the same inadequacies, fraud, and neglect in food safety that 2008 was fraught with. Rather, it’s time to really call upon our government agencies to tighten up their food inspection standards so as to prevent this problem from jumping the pond into our home territory – any more than it already has.
- Sofía Baliño
]]>
Volunteers preparing for this demonstration strung together hundreds of plastic water bottles like a holiday garland. We arranged them to form the word “NO” so that everyone passing through Old Main – the beautiful administration building that houses not only the university president’s office but also the dreams of students and administrators from the past – had the opportunity to appreciate our work of art. 
wanted to recreate our cheer, we left a sheet with song lyrics behind as well.
Since it’s that time of year to spread the holiday cheer,
Come to think of it, we could put together an entire holiday meal from all of the treats we could put in our basket. Now there’s a thought! Let’s take it from the top…
Make sure that beef has been treated with carbon monoxide! Otherwise people might actually begin to suspect that the meat is really twelve weeks old. If the burger seems a little bare, 
drinking water. Participating establishments include Norm's East End Grill; Norm's Bar and Grill; Downtown Lounge; Local 188; North Star Café; and Ruski's.
The list, just to give you an idea, includes formaldehyde (used often as a disinfectant), boric acid (used as an insecticide or flame retardant), and lye (found in drain cleaner). To clarify, some of the items on this list, which also included industrial dyes and colorings, had been banned before – but for the first time the Chinese government has actually compiled a list of illegal additives, that is probably not exhaustive. In addition, China recently announced that it is just beginning to investigate the practice of adding melamine in animal feed. To clarify, China did ban that practice in June 2007 – but clearly that wasn’t enough to get the job done. 
In the meantime, the U.S. needs to step up its own efforts in terms of inspecting its imports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, is instituting spot checks on certain meat and poultry products, in response to the issue of melamine-tainted animal feed. That sort of action is just a fraction of the level of initiative that USDA, FDA and others need to start taking to actually tackle this issue head-on. We can’t just assume we have seen the worst of it, as every time we do we soon discover that the food production industry is in far more dire straits than had anticipated.
ed on the sidewalks across campus to get people thinking about their water: "Where does bottled water come from?" "Name 3 waterborne illnesses." "How much money does Coca Cola spend to pump water for its Dasani brand?" By the second day of water week, the dialogue about water had spilled over from comment sheets left where the bottled water used to be and into the classrooms.
Some point to the economic downturn as the sole cause of decreased bottled water sales, but Nestlé—one of the largest bottled water producers—released a statement linking the sales slump to “perceived environmental issues” around bottled water. Additionally, PepsiCo and industry analysts acknowledged “consumers are increasingly choosing tap water over other beverages at restaurants and at home to help save money and the environment. Furthermore, research done by analysts at Morgan Stanley found that “23 percent [of consumers] say they are cutting back on bottled beverages in favor of tap water or beverages in containers that create less waste.” 
This region, 62 miles northwest of Nairobi, produces 70% of Kenya's horticultural revenue and is facing environmental problems of tragic proportion.