Very Scary Halloween Candy
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If you’ve been reading the news lately, you know that babies in China have been getting sick and dying due to tainted milk.
Melamine, the cheap compound used to bulk up baby formula in China that has sickened at least 1,200 babies across the country and killed at least two so far. Source: Time Magazine
According to the same article, Melamine was also found in pet food last year:
In 2007, material containing melamine — but labeled as wheat gluten and rice protein — was shipped from Chinese manufacturers to pet food companies in the U.S. and elsewhere. After a Canadian pet food company announced it was voluntarily recalling food that was sickening pets, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fielded thousands of similar complaints across the U.S. Soon after, a myriad of pet foods contaminated with the tainted gluten and protein from China were recalled from the market, but not before thousands of pets had died from renal failure.
Apparently many Chinese producers grind up the melamine and add it to the feed they give to animals, including pigs, cows, and even fish.
For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap additive that looks like protein in tests, even though it does not provide any nutritional benefits, according to melamine scrap traders and agricultural workers here.
“Many companies buy melamine scrap to make animal feed, such as fish feed,” said Ji Denghui, general manager of the Fujian Sanming Dinghui Chemical Company, which sells melamine. “I don’t know if there’s a regulation on it. Probably not. No law or regulation says ‘don’t do it,’ so everyone’s doing it. The laws in China are like that, aren’t they? If there’s no accident, there won’t be any regulation.” Source: New York Times
Now they’re saying it’s not just the milk that is contaminated. It’s also in the eggs:
The discovery of contaminated eggs in Hong Kong was announced Saturday by the Center for Food Safety, a Hong Kong government agency, which said the eggs had been imported from a farm in the city of Dalian, in northeastern China. The center reported that the melamine level was almost double the legal limit for food sold in Hong Kong.
Source: New York Times
Maybe you think the issue of foods contaminated with melamine doesn’t affect you. But it very well might — if you let your children eat candy this Halloween. Many candies are produced in China, and many chocolate candy makers buy their milk from China
So what’s safe for your children this Halloween?
According to an article in the International Herald Tribune, both Hershey and Mars are safe from melamine:
The Hershey Co. said Monday it has never purchased milk ingredients, including powdered milk, from China.
Mars North America said in a statement that its operations in China do not get any ingredients from companies found to be selling melamine-contaminated dairy products. It says the Chinese food-safety agency tested samples of Mars China’s milk powder suppliers and found them to be free of melamine.Mars makes Snickers and M&Ms. Hershey makes Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s brands.
Meanwhile, Cadbury should be avoided. According to the same article:
Cadbury announced Monday that it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates that were found to contain melamine.
However, I am suspicious of Mars, because they do get their milk from China. Also, the South Korean government has recalled Mars products manufactured for sale in that country. Source: The Consumer Warning Network
And according to the Daily Mail, The EU has already banned all products that contain even tiny traces of Chinese milk over the scare.
If you want to be safe, let your children have Hershey’s this Halloween — but avoid all other chocolate candy products.
Photo credits: The Daily Mail and The Imaginary World
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29/10/2008 at 5:48 pm Permalink
Or skip the whole sugar laden, immune suppressing thing and rent a movie and make your own cracker jack in the oven.
29/10/2008 at 5:55 pm Permalink
Oh, great, I’ve already bought 2 boxes of Cadbury chocolate bars to give away for Halloween and have already been digging into them! I’m going to talk to my friend and try to find out exactly what’s been recalled, she works for Cadbury.
29/10/2008 at 6:56 pm Permalink
The Cadbury chocolate has been recalled that is from CANADA, not the US.
“White Rabbit Creamy Candy or Koala’s March Crème filled Cookies because they may contain melamine. (1) And, the Canadian government is warning the public not to consume Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins, which may also have reached the U.S. (2)” We’re talking about .07% of the ‘candy population’ being suspect for small amounts of melamine.
I think this article pulls together things in an alarmist way.
29/10/2008 at 8:53 pm Permalink
What about Nestle? Does anyone know? My husband ate a whole bag of butterfingers!!!!
29/10/2008 at 10:07 pm Permalink
And even Hershey’s has received a lot of negative press for being associated with slave labor. It’s all a mess. I want to hand out homemade popcorn balls this Halloween but worry that parents won’t let their kids eat them since they may be “unsafe.” The irony!
29/10/2008 at 11:43 pm Permalink
I knew being a food snob would come in handy at a certain point. Since I sick to organic, mostly local and or fair trade chocolate, I never even thought about more mainstream brands and where they came from. I assumed they are made in the USA. This is so frightening!
30/10/2008 at 12:18 am Permalink
Katie how do you make cracker jacks?
Sounds yummy. Especially with some homemade cider…
30/10/2008 at 12:21 am Permalink
Hi, Lauren,
Looks like Nestle’s a no go:
“In Taiwan, Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said testing showed small amounts of melamine in milk powder that European food giant Nestle produced in northeastern China.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2008-10-02-nestle-asia-tainted_N.htm
http://www.nestle.com/MediaCenter/PressReleases/AllPressReleases/Nestl%C3%A9_opens_new_milk_factory_in_China.htm
I used to love Butterfingers…
30/10/2008 at 12:24 am Permalink
Kelsey, it is so ironic that people don’t allow homemade food anymore when it’s the industrial food that is dangerous!
30/10/2008 at 12:27 am Permalink
Christine, please do not eat anymore of that Cadbury since you are preggo! Go buy yourself some good quality chocolate like Scharffen Berger or something like that.
Everyone needs a little chocolate now and then. OK, I’ll speak for myself. I need chocolate.
30/10/2008 at 12:30 am Permalink
Carla,
I too, assumed these products were made in the US. But I avoided them (for the most part — except for my penchant for Butterfingers and Pop Tarts and occasionally Cheetos and Ding Dongs) due to my food snobbery.
30/10/2008 at 11:30 am Permalink
I don’t know my Halloween candy isn’t unsafe for other reasons, but there is likely no melamine in my Wonka candy, since I don’t think there’s even any milk in it – I think it’s all sugar based. I’m definitely going to check it out, though. I don’t want to be responsible for a plague in my neighborhood.
I have some kid-plates made out of melamine. I used melamine dinnerware when I was a kid. I sold melamine dinnerware at the Disney Store years ago. It was always touted for being very strong and durable, which it is – I am using a particular Sesame Street bowl for my son which was my bowl when I was his age 30 years ago. So I don’t understand why the Chinese anything-food industry thinks that using this same indestructible crap in FOOD for any living creature is a good idea! So it shows up as protein in test – it’s NOT protein!!!!
30/10/2008 at 11:48 am Permalink
We love Halloween and trick or treating. This year my 6 yr old has agreed to switch her candy received from trick or treating for a bit of safe goodies (Yummy Earth Lollypops & Lake Champlain chocolates – Whole Foods). Its just sad to me that its the world we live in today. We never really eat the cheap candy anyway but she used to get to eat a few from her bag and then the “Halloween fairy” would switch her loot for a small gift. Thank you for your post – I spent a long time researching last night and came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t trust any of the candy from those other companies. I am passing along the word to other moms I know hoping they will make a good choice for their kids as well.
30/10/2008 at 12:12 pm Permalink
It is very easy to say “Skip the whole thing…”. I would guess that poster does not have school age children. I never eat or give my kids these mainstream brands of chocolate. My 5 year old twins have only had them on Halloween and 1 or 2 other occasions. But they are very excited to trick-or-treat. It is a VERY big deal for kids and I feel it would be cruel not to let them participate with every other kid around here.I will still just let them eat a few pieces of Hershey’s and then ditch the rest. At our house, we are giving out organic lollipops and Annie’s organic gummy bunnies.
30/10/2008 at 12:19 pm Permalink
Julie –
TeamBettendorf does have kids. 12 of them!
But they are all homeschooled so perhaps there is not the pressure that most parents face.
Good suggestions on the organic lollies and gummy bunnies — where do you get those?
30/10/2008 at 12:24 pm Permalink
Princess Edamame,
You made me laugh — starting a plague in your neighborhood — LOL!
It’s interesting — the Chinese have no regulations about adding melamine — so everyone does it.
I think we need some regulations in place. You know, there are some folks arguing for no regulations in food production. They think the govt should leave farmers alone.
Some are using this as a reason to vote no on Prop 2.
I totally disagree with this. If we lived in a perfect world where people always do the right thing then we would not need government-enforced regulations, but sadly we do not.
I think a lot of FDA rules and regulations are bad for farmers but I do think there need to be some regulations in place to make sure people do not get poisoned — and to make sure that animals are not tortured.
30/10/2008 at 12:25 pm Permalink
Angela -
I love your idea of the Halloween fairy! That is an excellent idea.
30/10/2008 at 12:29 pm Permalink
“I think a lot of FDA rules and regulations are bad for farmers but I do think there need to be some regulations in place to make sure people do not get poisoned — and to make sure that animals are not tortured.”
I agree. Though I tend to stick to farm raised meats (from the local farmers markets) the rest of the country needs to be protected as well. We don’t eat this way 24/7 as we tend to eat out 2-3 times a week – and though many places around her serve organic meats, they are not farm raised.
I’m kind of stuck knowing which way to go myself.
30/10/2008 at 12:37 pm Permalink
The Halloween Fairy, sometimes called the “Sprite’s Night Fairy” has visited our house, too! Now that our daughter is older, the trick or treating is a big social fun event for her that she does not want to miss, but she is still willing to trade in cheap commercial candy for really good organic dark chocolate! Some of our friends “buy” the commericial candy back from their kids and pay them a cash per pound rate.
Kathy
http://www.aromatherapist.BerryRadical.com
30/10/2008 at 1:11 pm Permalink
Hi, Susan,
Sorry if you think the article is alarmist.
I (and I think most of my readers) tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to industrial food.
They have recalled Cadbury in Canada and also in Great Britain. Of course we are talking about candy that is made in China.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1063950/Cadbury-recall-chocolate-China-fears-contain-contaminated-milk.html
And even though Mars says their candy is safe, I would avoid it because they do admit to using Chinese milk in their products. They say they tested it for melamine — but I think it’s best avoided since Chinese milk is not tested for melamine and there are no restrictions against feeding the animals melamine in China.
30/10/2008 at 1:23 pm Permalink
Here’s another article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/29/AR2008092900782.html
I think the thing that is scary is when you go trick-or-treating, you don’t really know what you’re getting in your bag.
You may be getting American chocolate — but you just don’t know.
This is my big problem with global Industrial food. You just don’t know what you are getting or where it comes from.
It’s one thing for adults who are healthy and can withstand toxins — but it’s another matter when it comes to children.
30/10/2008 at 1:26 pm Permalink
This makes me glad that we wont be around for trick-or-treating this year (going out of town). We don’t have kids but last year we scored on a couple of boxes of Larabars because I couldn’t phantom giving kids something I wouldn’t eat myself.
30/10/2008 at 1:28 pm Permalink
Carla – that is a good idea!
30/10/2008 at 10:04 pm Permalink
The organic Halloween candy was at Whole Foods in the bay area. Yes. They learn a lot at school besides what you would think; not all bad though.
30/10/2008 at 10:27 pm Permalink
OK I’m going to Whole Foods tomorrow to buy candy.
31/10/2008 at 11:19 am Permalink
I talked to my friend that works for Cadbury. We live in Canada. She said that Cadbury Canada does not import milk from China. Cadbury North America is not part of the UK production, or any other country. They have separate production facilities.
I love Halloween, but hate the bags full of candy that the kids are left with when it is all said and done. What we have done is let the kids have their fun by trick-or-treating, and dressing up. We let them eat a few pieces that night, and we keep the candy for a few weeks afterwards. They get to have a few pieces here and there (maybe once per week) and then the rest goes to someone’s workplace to be given to all the freeloaders there. We don’t need it, the kids have had their fun, and Christimas is just around the corner.
I remember as a kid, my parents let us keep all of our candy in our bedrooms. I would literally gorge myself until it was all gone over the next few weeks. Not exactly a good habit for children to learn. I don’t think our children should feel deprived, or feel left out. All little bit is not going to cause any harm. But, a lot will, and they need to learn that.
31/10/2008 at 11:38 am Permalink
Since we are doing the switch after trick or treating (for organic candies) my friend had creative ideas for what to do with the other candy. One is to save it for decorating gingerbread houses that will be decor not to be eaten. The other is what her kids like to do – create a cauldron of mysterious concoctions. They add all the nonchocolate harder candies to a big bowl of water and stir. Which ones melt and how long does it take? What color does it become?
01/11/2008 at 2:08 pm Permalink
I really like those ideas, Angela! My son and I T or T’d for 2!! hours last night with a few of his friends – he ended up with more sweet stuff than I would ever know what to do with! I do allow him some chocolate, but he literally got 3 pounds of candy! Now I know what to do with it all!
10/12/2008 at 3:08 pm Permalink
My daughter is a victim of the dangers of melamine. Shortly after Halloween, and after eating Halloween candy, she became deathly ill, she refused to eat or drink for a week, she lost so much weight, she was just skin and bones. The doctors tried to tell us that it was the flu, but she had NO fever. After a week of not eating, we got worried and took her to the children’s hospital (she had just turned 6 years old in Oct 2008). The hospital thought it was the flu too, until they tested her urine, then they freaked out saying that they couldn’t believe it, but they had found over 20,000 or more kidney crystals in her urine and blood! I was so upset! Turns out, after a long investigation, my daughter consumed contaminated candy that contained melamine.
It’s a scary world now that we live in.
10/12/2008 at 3:27 pm Permalink
Mia, that’s terrible!!!!!
I’m so sorry that happened to your daughter. How is she doing now?
What kind of candy did she eat?
And people said I was being alarmist…
11/12/2008 at 6:55 am Permalink
Hi, we live in Virginia, my daughter ate all sorts of candy that she picked up from trick or treating in our neighborhood, after doing some research it was definately chocolate, but because the candy was gone, we had no way to prove it. My kids only eat the common chocolate candies sold, if I don’t recognize the name, we throw it out, so it was a popular brand, but we never could determine which one it was. I let the CDC and the FDA and my local health department know about her illness. She is still having kidney problems, but she is getting better each day, her appetite is slowly getting better, it’s been a long road. She was 100% healthy, and never a sick day in her 6 years until she at the candy at halloween, things will never be the same for our family now. Our children do not eat anything that contains a milk powder it it, that means chocolate, and milk powder drinks like nestle as well. Here is a link to all the foods that may have melamine in them from the FDA website, this month that put an alert on importing any milk powders from foreign countries, so hopefully the problem will resolve soon, but still there are tons of foods on our shelves that contain milk powders and whey from china, so it’s a scary time right now.
Here: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/melamine.html
11/12/2008 at 7:01 am Permalink
This just happened right before thanksgiving 2008, again, after eating tainted candy. She is still not very well, still recovering from the damage of the drug melamine which she received from that halloween candy. We live in Virginia, and it makes me wonder how many other kids were sent home from school, or by their doctors, saying that they had the “flu” but nobody bothered to test their urine to find out the real culprit after halloween. – I was thinking of sending out letters to all the parents in my neighborhood to see if any of their children had the supposed “flu” after Halloween. Had I listened to my daughter’s pediatrician and assumed that it was the flu, then we never would have found out the real problem. So how many other parents went home, assumed it was the flu and left it at that? There is no treatment for melamine, only time can fix melamine. So I assume that most kids who “had the flu” with no fever after Halloween, had melamine poisoning. That is my position on that.
Mia
11/12/2008 at 7:04 am Permalink
Wow, Mia, this is so horrible. I’m so sorry your family is going through this.
And you are right, there are probably many other kids out there who had the exact same damage to their kidneys — but they don’t even know it.
It just goes to show you that we really cannot trust industrial food. You never know where the ingredients are from and whether they are safe or not.