China infant formula scare

The World

This grandmother is taking care of her grandson and she feeds him milk formula as a supplement to breast milk. She was shocked to hear of the contamination. She says as soon as she heard, she asked how the government could allow something like this? That’s a question being asked by a lot of Chinese people now, and not for the first time�China has suffered a spate of food scares in recent years. This man says that’s why he feeds his daughter with American baby formula. This time the formula was laced with the chemical that caused last year’s toxic pet food scandal. The chemical allows substances to look like they have a higher protein content than it actually does, so the substance can be watered down. Four such Chinese milk dealers have now been arrested, and state media have reported this to show that the government is taking action. But this editor says reports of the contamination came months after the company knew about it. he says we should focus on who’s really responsible, and he questions why the state-run media took so long to jump on this story. He thinks the government is involved, but the government has told the media not to do any reporting on this story. This freelance journalist is trying to do anyway, and he says the government is nervous about that. That journalist is known for taking on controversial topics and he’s already been detained three times. He says getting the story out is a problem, but it’s improving. The newspaper editor would like to see more space for honest reporting, and most journalists are easily cowed. He says democracy in China won’t happen if people like him don’t push.

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