China's Poisoning Trend Continues - Melamine Found in Exported Lipton Tea

With the latest reports coming from Honk Kong of the poison melamine being found in both Lipton Milk Tea Powder Original, and Milk Tea Powder Gold, one can't help but wonder if China is trying to take over the world by killing everyone off.

Okay, conspiracy theories aside, you have to at least wonder who's in charge over there.

While there's a good chance you won't find this Chinese export in your local grocery store, there is a chance it could have been sold at Asian specialty markets, both in stores and online, throughout the United States. Lipton Milk Tea Powder is being pulled off of the shelves in Hong Kong according to the Associated Press.

This melamine is the same poison found in the recent baby formula recall. It also attributed to pet deaths when it was found in imported dog food and treats in 2007.

So what is melamine? Melamine is not a poison on its own. It's actually a protein and is fine when used by itself. China used it in their baby formula in an attempt to replenish a type of protein naturally found in breast milk. The only problem is, melamine turns deadly when mixed with cyanuric acid, and forms insoluble kidney stones.

Cyanuric acid is commonly known to pool owners as a chlorine stabilizer, but in China, it is used to help mix and bind food easier during the production process. In the case of animal feed, the melamine and cyanuric acid are often added to artificially bulk up and fortify the amount of product they are making. By doing this, they are able to produce more feed without using more essential/natural ingredients, and thus, they make more money for selling less actual food.

Both greed, and laws set by the Chinese government regarding the minimum amount of protein required in various products, are fueling the fire according to the New York Times.

Even though melamine is harmless on its own, it can still affect people and animals, because cyanuric acid is said to be a natural by-product in vegetables thanks to herbicides used by farmers.

Whether Chinese factories are poisoning people on purpose by adding cyanuric acid to products containing melamine, or the melamine in their baby formulas and animal feed just so happen to combine naturally with a person or animal's unsuspecting diet, is still unknown.

According to the Associated Press, British officials recently pulled Chinese-made Cadbury chocolate off the shelves as a safety measure, in fear that the dairy products in the chocolate were also fortified with melamine.