So people are freaking out about milk powder. There are two underlying agendas here, on top of some actual science. Ministers like Yapa Abeywardene and Champika Ranawaka want people to drink more natural milk (cow and human breast) and milk companies like Fonterra want to sell more powdered milk. Behind this all is that Sri Lankan consumers want to buy both. The actual science is that certain batches of wholesale milk powder may have been tainted with botulism causing bacteria (really scary), but that none of those batches were meant for SL. The other concern is that there is a chemical called DCD in milk, which A) it seems there isn’t and B) is less scary cause there are little or no ill effects from that.
I spoke to someone at Fonterra and did some reading on the milk problems and here’s what I could figure out. tl;dr, Sri Lankan powdered milk products seem to be safe and this has blown out of proportion. Fonterra’s huge cock-up was related to botulism tainted whey, which doesn’t affect SL. The other issue (DCD) is blown out of prop.
The Two Scientific Issues
As mentioned, there are two scientific issues here.
1. Botulism Bacteria – this is really scary. Botulism basically slowly paralyzes you, eventually shutting down respiration.
Fonterra has reported that a corrupted pipe (or something) may have corrupted batches of whey that go into its wholesale business (ie, not direct to consumers), affecting 9 countries (not including Sri Lanka). Those products have been pulled but this is a serious problem. Again, however, it doesn’t affect Sri Lanka or direct to market brands like Anchor.
2. DCD – DCD is a non-toxic chemical added to fertilizer. It won’t kill or harm you. They’ve been voluntarily phasing it out. A local testing body ITI says they’ve detected traces in Sri Lankan milk powder, but that organization doesn’t really have the equipment to properly test. Independent testers haven’t found.
The Political Issues
Underlying these actual issues are the statements from Yapa and Ranawaka, ongoing, that Sri Lankans should drink local milk, from local mothers when they’re kids and local cows as they’re older. I suppose that’s fine, but it need not be government policy, people can decide in the market whether they want powdered milk or not.
Then the other agenda is that Fonterra wants to make more money. While I think they’re getting unfairly thrashed on the DCD issue, I do think the botulism thing is pretty scary, even if it doesn’t affect Sri Lanka.
Of course, this remains a complicated issue and now there are so many people taking scientific embers and turning them into political flames that this is just a right royal mess. People in the government are using actual health concerns to push their long-running fight against imported milk powder. Meanwhile a not-too sympathetic milk company finds itself getting unfairly thrashed a lot when it should probably get thrashed a little. These nuances are lost and the public is just generally confused.
At Least one person is out there to write DCD is not harmful.
“… but that none of those batches were meant for SL”
So do you mean that they were meant for somewhere else?
There is more to the Government agenda, there is a lot of money to be made by keeping out cheaper imports.
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/sri-lanka-raises-taxes-on-foreign-milk-powder/1537745411
The question is whether one wants to subsidise a few farmers or benefit many consumers. Usually there are cronies involved who make handsome profits by keeping the imported competitors prices high.
Food taxes are unconscionably high in Sri Lanka, a regressive, tax policy that worse affects the poorest.
There is very detailed analysis in a Sinhala blog written by Aruni Shapiro: http://arunishapiro.wordpress.com/2013/08/07/%E0%B6%86%E0%B7%84%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%BB-%E0%B7%83%E0%B7%84-%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%83%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%92%E0%B7%82-%E0%B6%85%E0%B6%AD%E0%B6%BB-%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%99%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%83-%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%9C%E0%B6%AF/
Im in Wellington currently man and let me tell you the Fonterra thing is HUGE over here. People are pissed off and afraid. Heads are also starting to roll over here with the a top officially already resigning.
Sri Lankans should drink local milk, from local mothers when they’re kids and local cows as they’re older .. superb quote
Thanks for this Indi, you vocalized exactly what I’ve been thinking and wanting to get out there but people generally don’t understand nuanced arguments and issues. The politicians and corporations know this. Sad really. I wish more people would approach this and other issues with the same level of rationality and critical thinking that you demonstrated when researching this.
All the reported instances of dumping substandard goods in third world countries is quite enough to make one paranoid. If the tainted goods exist they could easily find their way in to our neighbourhood anytime, if not as powdered milk, then as an ingredient in some other processed food item. Shouldn’t stringent quality control measures have been taken before the stocks left New Zealand?
Well Indi you haven’t read enough.
Does anyone really know whether DCD is toxic or not? It may not be acute (immediate results) but what about chronic (delayed results) toxicity?
Remember melamine? That wasn’t supposed to be very toxic either. Melamine created problems even when consumed in levels lower than WHO recommendations [1]. And Melamine was derived from DCD.
And the debate about local vs foreign milk is not really about being patriotic. In foreign milk powders they usually remove the butter fat (that’s the usual process) and replace (that’s not usual) it with something like vegetable oil (previously it was pig or cow fat). So they can now sell the “milk” powder at a good price and also the products made from butterfat. So it all boils down to profit.
And thank to heavy advertising milk powder companies have created the illusion that milk powder is essential to kids and adults alike. And many of population is addicted to it now.
Local producers don’t do that. And its always better to drink the liquid milk than some processed milk.
[1] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00467-009-1298-3
The real scare has been about botulism. This is what seems to be causing all the fuss overseas.
There were some question on DCD in Fonterra in September 2012 but this seems to have been later proved to be groundless.
The new DCD scare seems to be one manufactured in Sri Lanka by the Government as part of its food autarky. They have tried this before with milk and the moment the botulism scare broke out pulled out the DCD scare.
I had forgotten that they still run Milco plus they probably have other cronies with vested interests in the industry.
Oh no. DCD was found in milk (may be not in Sri Lanka). The NZ government and Fonterra knew about the issue and kept it hidden as long as possible while making contingency plans.
DCD issue came in to light after two companies which produces DCD announced the fact.
And the SL government is using this thing more as a distraction. I don’t think the current bastards care about our health anymore than any previous bastard.
BTW does (usual foreign) milk powder (milk – all the good stuff + vegetable oil ) counts as a food item?
Oh no. DCD was found in milk (may be not in Sri Lanka). The NZ government and Fonterra knew about the issue and kept it hidden as long as possible while making contingency plans.
DCD issue came in to light after two companies which produces DCD announced the fact.
And DCD did cased a huge uproar in china because DCD is the base for Melamine. Melamine caused a massive scandal when it was found have chronic toxicity. And Melamine was found in milk powder.
And the SL government is using this thing more as a distraction. I don’t think the current bastards care about our health anymore than any previous bastard.
BTW does (usual foreign) milk powder (milk – all the good stuff + vegetable oil ) counts as a food item?
They certainly don’t give a toss for our health but I think they also smell the sweet, sweet aroma of cash.
The regime and its cronies are making literally billions in maize (resulting in abnormally high chicken prices), they expropiated the sugar companies to carry out the same thing there and also have their eyes set on canned fish. Milk may be the latest addition to the list.
The formala is: tax the imports at unconscionable levels leaving super profits for the cronies. Local maize is about double the cost of imported maize, the tax on canned fish is around 100%.
Result: higher food prices.
What really scares me is that the botulism tainted batches were infant formula , meant for China and Taiwan (I think). Enough to have paranoia going off the charts.
While DCD has no known acute toxic effects, there is little data about long term effects.
I’m also worried about the environment pollution happening locally – around the cancer institute with poor disposal of toxic waste, with the recent horrible events due to factory contamination of drinking water. There should be a big uproar about these too…
And I guess as JP said, it boils down to who makes the money outta it.
The smoking gun?
“What then is this mad milk mayhem ? This campaign certainly has other ulterior motives by questionable characters, tied to this regime. On 12 August, 2013 businessman Dillith Jayaweera, implicated in Colombo Stock Exchange manipulations over which Thilak Karunaratne resigned as its Chairman, with two others of questionable reputation, Laugh’s Wegapitiya and Nature’s Secret Kumarasinghe, called a media briefing at the Independence Square hall, on Sri Lanka’s milk imports. They are no credible voices. But voices that could indicate about political motives by this regime. This high security location for a media briefing they got, will not be allowed unless they pair off very well with the defence authorities. They do. The question therefore is, “is there any one in this regime, manipulating the local milk industry ?”
http://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/mad-milk-mayhem-for-p-p/
The state is failing in its basic duties.
All the are interested is in airports, highways and pavements; all the fundamentals are ignored.
Different people will smell different things in this mess.
MR (and some sections in the government) will smell the sweet aroma of a good public image (an image which has been shattered by not doing enough about poisonous water scandals. Now they would be trying show that they do indeed care about us).
And, taxing imports with the intention of reducing competition for local products is called protectionism and rulers usually do it for variety of reasons. Making a buck out of may be a least of those reasons. For MR, protectionism helps him to sustain his image as a patriotic leader who cares about his people. People who vote for him. People like those Maize or potato farmers.
And I wouldn’t call local business people cronies since hardly any of them are MR supporters. They were there before MR and they’ll be there after MR. Whatever the government there is they will try to make some money out of it (for example like when Ranil pardoned 200, 000 millions Rs of loans by SL businesses).
well who knew. While sitting in his spacious room in MOD and controlling nearly a quarter the government budget (and allegedly doing things like intimidating Generals, throwing generals in prison, sending white vans, kidnapping people, etc. etc.), he has (somehow) been secretly controlling the local milk production. Of all the things he has being accused of this is accusation crosses the line between actual villainy and cartoonish villainy.
And you should be careful on who you are quoting from. He says
“Again, what this clearly says is, Chlostridium botulinum has its good side, but has to be watched as unrestricted, unknown consumption can occur through unnoticed contamination.”
While Botulinum toxin (produced by Chlostridium botulinum ) is used in medicine (and to remove wrinkles: botox) this one of the most toxic substances ever known (1 mg will kill be more than enough to kill all of us).
And also in the begging he starts with the arsenic issue in the north central saying that “These publicity campaigns were later shot down by few other academics….”. Either kusal perera haven’t done his homework properly or intentionally lying because a year later the WHO report also indicated that arsenic, cadmium and pesticides were the likely causes for the kidney disease.
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items12/WHO%20final%20report%20on%20CKDu%20SL.pdf
Seeing that 1 milligram of botulism toxin will kill everyone commented on this post and their extended families, level of paranoia is predictable.
And neither fonterra or the NZ government was really forthcoming in disclosing the information. They were more worried about the money and kept making contingency plans.
And my guess is government nor NGO is going to come to our rescue when these kind of public health issues come up (on the other hand why should they? If we don’t care about US, why should they). Its totally up to us to make ourselves herd.
Seeing that 1 milligram of botulism toxin will kill everyone commented on this post and their extended families, level of paranoia is predictable.
And neither fonterra or the NZ government was really forthcoming in disclosing the information. They were more worried about the money and kept making contingency plans.
And my guess is government nor NGO is going to come to our rescue when these kind of public health issues come up (on the other hand why should they? If we don’t care about US, why should they). Its totally up to us to make ourselves heard.
Is situation like DCD, which is not proven to have long term effects (but could have), its better not to make ourselves the proof of long term effects.
I did not say that they have been controlling it, but they certainly would like to add to their portfolio of sugar and maize.
The Ad man is certainly in the inner circle and if it was he calling the press conference I definetly smell a rat.
You are right about the patriotic image. Some of them are straightforward taxes others open opportunities for money making.
There is a new set of businessmen that have grown around MR and developed MR.
Some were around before but they have grown very close and enjoy special favours. Just read through the concessions in the last few budgets; there are strangely convoluted ones that are targeted at specific people-all of them designed to favour a particular business.
sugar as a individual industry is not profitable in SL (unless you produce Molasses aka main ingredient in Rum) and maize is not produced by large producer/s.
While ad man is in the inner circle and he may be hoping to go in to the milk/ milk powder business, that does not really mean that he is following someones “orders”. He may have his own agenda.
Am sure there are businessman around MR and are enjoying perks from him. Whether they are actually developing MR or themselves is another matter. But my guess is that those guys are going to survive fine after MR. I mean its like Harry J. Does anyone know what his political ideology is or whether he supports a political party?
Found another likely crony
http://csenewsupdates.blogspot.com/2011/08/pelwatte-dairies-invests-rs-500-m-more.html
On maize the farming is small scale but the trade is controlled by a few cronies. Local production is currently around 200,000mt just work out how much Rs.10 on thsi works out to, every year.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/10/28/fea10.asp
Sugar will be similarly profitable with duty protection. They have slapped Rs.20 per kg in cesses already and dumped at least 900m in subsidies already. Local production is about 30,000mt, consumption around 500,000mt. Same economics as above.
http://www.sugaronline.com/home/website_contents/view/1211498
Just watch the taxes being slapped on to improve the bottom line:
http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=16543
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_12A/Jun21_1340223172CH.php
and the subsidies
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/sri-lanka-expropriated-sugar-firms-begin-to-hit-tax-payers/486571697
Also some background info here
http://www.agridept.gov.lk/index.php/en/crop-recommendations/1026
Cultivation was pretty low in the 1990’s, it was uneconomic and quality was poor. Duties changed the game and drove up prices, profits all of which explain why chicken prices are sky high.
Hahahaha yes it is.
Don’t agree. Regardless of whether or not it is scare mongering for some political gain – the fact remains that powdered milk is made by processing left over milk after the production of fresh milk, cheese and whatever else – added to it preservatives. No one in the first world drinks powdered milk, nuff’ said.
Let consumers decide what they want. No need for Governments to decide what is good or not.
Well then this is a good opportunity to remind people of what they are consuming. So what if some businesses gain from this.. that’s business.. The rest is just free PR thanks to mess up in NZ.
Taking quotes from 2 points you have raised
“And the debate about local vs foreign milk is not really about being patriotic. In foreign milk powders they usually remove the butter fat (that’s the usual process) and replace (that’s not usual) it with something like vegetable oil (previously it was pig or cow fat).”
“Local producers don’t do that”
How can you say foreign companies does it while local companies doesn’t do it?
What’s your proof to validate your claim?