October 8th, 2008 
Von by Adrian E. Cristobal
IT wasn’t until the US Food and Drug Administration issued an alert that I realized that “melamine” wasn’t a misspelling of a female character in “Gone With the Wind.” (My knowledge of chemistry is no more reliable than some Cabinet members’ knowledge of human rights.)
The FDA alert was in response to reports that melamine resin, also known as a thermoset plastic, is present in wheat gluten, which scientists said caused thousands of pet (cats and dogs) deaths in the US. More than five thousand pet products were recalled in the US.
As melamine is also found in noodles and breakfast bars, the FDA alert has worried readers asking when our own Bureau of Food and Drugs Administration will make a similar alert.
The country imports thousands of tons of bread and pantry flour, canned meat products such as Ma-ling and preserved fruits, which may contain banned substances in products from China and other countries.
While there’s no determination yet that melamine is particularly toxic for humans (the only harmful “plastic” is produced by political and other celebrities), it won’t do any harm to be more circumspect about our food imports.
However, the Department of Health is not asleep: It has come up with the Milk Code. Although it’s meant to arrest the decline of breastfeeding, the code is facing resistance from the US Chamber of Commerce which has asked the Department of Trade and Industry to re-examine its “impact on trade, investment, employment, and other commercial activities.”
Fortunately, Unicef and WHO officials denounced attempts to halt the implementation of the Milk Code despite DoH finding of falsity in advertising which claim milk substitutes make children more intelligent. One can only wonder if certain public officials were raised on raised on substitutes.
David Clark, UNICEF legal expert on milk code enforcement, asked why the milk companies were picking on the Philippines. He also noted that advertising money on infant formula is twice that in the US.
He could as well have noted the high cost of medicines in the Philippines, thanks to the past lower house of Congress.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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