Cadbury Chocolate and the Chinese
Poisoned Milk Scandal

Cadbury is one of the world’s largest chocolate makers and it makes what I consider to be a delicious and relatively inexpensive chocolate. I am a fan of Cadbury Chocolate, but I was upset to hear that it was a victim of the Chinese poisoned milk scandal. The company had to recall 11 types of its Cadbury candies made at its Beijing, China factory. 

Poisoned Chocolate From Chinese Production Only So Far

News reports say that Cadbury chocolate made in a Beijing chocolate factory may have been contaminated with melamine. The Beijing factory does not made chocolate for North America or Europe fortunately, but does make Cadbury chocolate which is sold in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Nauru, Australia, and Christmas Island.

This poison milk scandal came out in the news in early September with reports that some Chinese milk producers were using the chemical poison melamine to fool Chinese food inspectors into believing their milk and milk formula had a higher protein content then it did.  Evidently melamine can give the appearance of higher protein content even though it can be poisonous when ingested especially by young children and infants. 

The chemical melamine is used to make plastics and when ingested can cause kidney stones and even kidney failure. So far, because of the unbelievable greed on the part of some of these Chinese milk producers, melamine has been found in milk powder and tainted baby formula in many provinces throughout China and it is now linked to the deaths of four children. Another 54,000 children have been made sick by ingesting the melamine tainted milk and formula. Many others have become ill after drinking the tainted baby formula. 

The contamination has now spread in China to yogurt, liquid milk, and other products made with milk including sweets and chocolate. Cadbury factories outside China are not affected because they do not use Chinese dairy products. Reports indicate that high traces of the industrial chemical had also been found in Chinese-made Oreos, M&Ms and Snickers in Indonesia, according to some Indonesian claims.

Melamine contamination of milk doesn’t appear to have affected Chocolate in Australia or New Zealand because chocolate makers there use local dairy products, according to their national food safety authorities.

We Need Better Food Safety Standards

Some food safety critics are concerned that Australia does not significantly inspect imported products like those made in China where food safety regulations are lax or nonexistent. Food safety critics in the United States have said that same thing about the U.S. In fact, some imported Chinese candy has been identified in the U.S. in the last few days that may have also been tainted by this industrial chemical.

I believe we need stricter food standards and food safety regulations not only for food grown and processed here in the Unites States but for any foods grown and processed world wide, especially if it is being imported here.  And we need our congress and president to resist business lobbyists enough to require labeling on all food showing the ingredients in the product and its place of origin, including on one of my favorites foods – chocolate.