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lizzybennetI've been thinking a lot about Melamine lately and wondering just how much of it I ingested when we lived in China. The boys' language tutor used to bring them White Rabbit candies as a reward for doing good with their lessons. It's a very yummy candy, sort of like a vanilla Tootsie roll with the consistancy of a Now and Later. I even brought some home to my family to give them a taste of Chinese candy.
When we first moved to Nanjing, my friend Mariannette's child was still on formula. Her first day there she went to Walmart and purchased the imported American brand of formula that her child was accustomed to. It just so happened on that evening that a news crew was at the store and they wanted to interview her on why she chose the much more expensive imported formlua over the Chinese formula. She stated it was because her son was used to this brand and she didn't want to mess up his digestion, etc. She didn't say that she didn't trust the Chinese formula, but that was also a factor. She'd heard of cases in the past, as had I, when Chinese formula didn't have enough nutrients in it to fortify the baby as needed. They simply do not have enough guidelines over there for such things. I spoke to her recently and she told me how very glad she is that she never used Chinese formula while we lived there. How scary to realize what a potential disaster it could have been.
The whole thing just drives home to me, yet again, how clueless and how blessed we were while we lived there. We were safe, with no major medical mishaps the whole time we were there. We didn't get poisoned from lead paint on toys or kidney failure from melamine infused candy. But it's not like we went out of our way to avoid such things. We bought toys from street vendors that were most likey made it that vendors living room. We tried all sorts of new and exciting Chinese candy.
And you know what? I can't wait to go back to China one day and do it all again! But this time, no White Rabbits.
When we first moved to Nanjing, my friend Mariannette's child was still on formula. Her first day there she went to Walmart and purchased the imported American brand of formula that her child was accustomed to. It just so happened on that evening that a news crew was at the store and they wanted to interview her on why she chose the much more expensive imported formlua over the Chinese formula. She stated it was because her son was used to this brand and she didn't want to mess up his digestion, etc. She didn't say that she didn't trust the Chinese formula, but that was also a factor. She'd heard of cases in the past, as had I, when Chinese formula didn't have enough nutrients in it to fortify the baby as needed. They simply do not have enough guidelines over there for such things. I spoke to her recently and she told me how very glad she is that she never used Chinese formula while we lived there. How scary to realize what a potential disaster it could have been.
The whole thing just drives home to me, yet again, how clueless and how blessed we were while we lived there. We were safe, with no major medical mishaps the whole time we were there. We didn't get poisoned from lead paint on toys or kidney failure from melamine infused candy. But it's not like we went out of our way to avoid such things. We bought toys from street vendors that were most likey made it that vendors living room. We tried all sorts of new and exciting Chinese candy.
And you know what? I can't wait to go back to China one day and do it all again! But this time, no White Rabbits.
Bursting Bubbles
Date: 2008-10-09 08:02 pm (UTC)