Health Crisis: 2008 Dairy Milk Scandal in China

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2008 Dairy Milk Scandal in China
Background
In 2008, a milk production scandal broke in China. Children had fallen ill due to contaminated milk consumption. It was later reported that the milk formula was contaminated with an ingredient supposedly for plastic production. This ingredient got mixed with the production of baby formula, which was sold to the market. It led to the children and infants developing kidney stones because of the contaminated formula (Austin and Yang).
The company involved in the scandal was the Sanlu Group that was the most prominent dairy product manufacturers in China. Their neglect of the safety of food production led to sickness and misfortunes of around 300,000 babies in China. Although the contamination may seem an accident, it was instead added to the formula illegally as an addition to the protein content of their products. However, melamine, the ingredient that contaminated the products, is material for plastic production that is why it is toxic for human consumption (Austin and Yang).
The Health Crisis of 2008
The milk scandal in China had put thousands of infants of lives at risk. Some even died of a complication brought by the consumption of contaminated milk. Because of the large number of affected children, it has become a health crisis in China. Parents and children would crowd the hospital for almost the same reason: the consumption of poisoned food. China's milk scandal has mostly affected children because the products' target market are infants to childhood. It was the younger population who had consumed most of the products that contained contaminated dairies. That was why, in 2008, children with kidney problems filled the hospitals. Most cases were children who had developed kidney stones because of the long-time consumption of contaminated milk (Austin and Yang).
This scandal had developed into a health crisis because of the widespread danger the milk brought to the local consumers. The Sanlu company was a known company that was popular for its dairy brands. Their big reputation meant wider patronage in China. Simultaneously, it implied how wide the scandal was going to reach. World Health Organization had also considered the milk scandal as one of the biggest crises to have happened in the world (Tehrani, Kavon, and Pontell). Because China exports dairy products internationally, the scandal must have affected children even outside their borders. That was why it had been impossible not to look at it as a health crisis.
Melamine was the product that contaminated dairy products in China. This particular ingredient is primarily not for human consumption but rather a component for plastic production. When animals consume melamine, their bodies produce renal stones. As for humans, it can result in kidney stones and kidney failure (Chan, Griffiths, and Chan). Since children were mostly affected by the milk scandal in China, the health impact was more alarming and dangerous. Infant organs are more vulnerable and underdeveloped. Their intake of toxic substances like melamine may cause them even to endangering illnesses. Some of the dangers that infants faced due to the milf consumption were kidney failures, renal problems, and, at worst,...