Fake Food and Kidney Stones

Milk powder tainted with melamine affected the lives of abont 300,000 Chinese infants in 2008. Six thonsand of these babies became seriously ill, and 150 suffered kidney failure, resulting in 6 fatalities. This was one of the worst modem examples 

People of Chinese descent cannot usually consume milk products as their bodies are unable to digest milk sugar (lactose). This phenomenon is called lactose intolerance and a common symptom after consumption is diarrhea. However, many people in China drink milk despite the prevalence of lactose intolerance, and since drinking milk can be considered a mark of prestige, milk consumption has been on the rise in modem China. Milk produced in China is used in the production of chocolate, cookies and confectionery, and the melamine scandal caused a major public outcry all over the world. 

Melamine is not particularly toxic, and its effect in rats is comparable to that of table salt the in rats for ingestion is 3161 mg/kg of body weight, (with other sources showing 6000 mg/kg of body weight), data for humans could not be found. Melamine is excreted from blood plasma with a half-life of 3 h. Large quantities of melamine cause kidney stone formation, inflammation of the irrinary bladder, a type of cell proliferation called hyperplasia, and, in male rats, urinary bladder cancer. A dose of 63 mg/kg of body weight per day (NOAEL, no observed adverse effect level) does not increase the risk of kidney stone in rats. 

The properties of cyanuric acid are similar to melamine, with its LDj, for ingestion in rats being 7700 mg/kg of body weight. From the human body, 98% of cyanuric acid is excreted within 24 h. Cyanuric acid causes kidney damage in animals, and the NOAEL value was found to be 150 mg/kg of body weight per day. 

Sanlu brand powdered milk was found to eontain significant amounts of melamine, with the highest coneentration being 2563 mg/kg of produet (0.2 %). The kidney stones in patients suffering from melamine were not melamine-cyanuric acid, but melamine and uric acid in 1 1.2-2.1 ratios (Fig. 2.11). Natural formation of uric acid kidney stones is not unknown, but they constitute only 5-10% of all kidney stones, especially in developing eountries. Babies excrete urie aeid in much 

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