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GLOBAL JOURNALIST Winter 2008
TAINTEDBy Robert Chang
Ta i n t e d m i l k, a ta i n t e d c o m pa n y, a ta i n t e d m e d i a. d i d th e l ac k
o f a n in v est igat ion b y t h e t r a dit iona l m e d i a con t r ibu t e to t h e
g l o b a l e s c a l a t i o n o f t h e sc a n da l?
Months after a Chinese
citizen made a plea on a
popular online forum for
public attention regarding tainted
milk, the traditional media had
still not managed to investigate
and report the magnitude of his
allegations.
In late August, Changjiang
Shang Bao of Hubei Province reported
infants in at least six Chinese
provinces were diagnosed
with kidney stones, and they
all had formula from “the same
company.” It was not until Sept.
11 that a report in Dongfang Zao
Bao of Shanghai began to question
whether the cause might be
the milk powder products of Sanlu
Group, one of China’s oldest
and most popular infant formula
providers. Overnight, the Hebei
Province-based company admitted
that 700 tons of infant milk
had been tainted with melamine,
an industrial chemical illegally
added to boost nutritional content
and cheat quality tests. Sanlu is a
state-owned company with investments
in New Zealand’s Fonterra,
which had just become the dairy
supplier to the China Astronaut
Center in June.
The nationwide investigation
that followed found most major
Chinese dairy companies had the
same problem. The Xinhua news
agency reported that by Oct. 11
contaminated milk powder had
been blamed for at least four
infant deaths and poisoning more
than 54,000 others. The scandal
triggered another round of recalls
and dealt a big blow to the repu-
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