The obesity problem continues to grow not only in the United States, but across the world. Now, the once-slim Chinese nation is on the fast track to a U.S.-style obesity crisis. China’s Ministry of Health says about 30-percent of all Chinese adults are overweight or obese and the problem is getting worse. Public campaigns to fight obesity are hindered by China’s newfound prosperity.

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The first foreign office of the Food and Drug Administration opened Wednesday in Beijing after a recent string of contaminated Chinese food and drug imports to the United States. The U.S. says it intends to help the Chinese government improve its regulatory systems for exports. The FDA also plans to open offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai in the next few days.

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More Chinese candy contaminated with melamine is showing up in the U.S. – White Rabbit Creamy Candy was found at two stores in New Haven, Connecticut. Tests found traces of the industrial additive, melamine.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning about White Rabbit candy. The candy was distributed in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. The American distributor has ordered a recall, but some of the candy may still be in stores.

The FDA is also warning that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products are being recalled by the Taiwanese company, King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd., because they may contaminated with melamine.

Melamine was first found in powdered infant formula made in China but has now been popping up in dozens of other products. More than 50,000 children in China have gotten sick from formula or other products containing melamine. Four babies have died.

Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants have added it to milk products to make it seem to have a higher protein level.

I wonder what products we’ll see it in next.

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It’s in chocolate, too. The disturbing and frightening melamine mess has made its way to candy bars. British candy maker Cadbury just recalled chocolate made in its Beijing factory after tests show it contains melamine, the industrial chemical that has made tens of thousands of Chinese children sick.

The recalled products were sold in parts of Asia and the Pacific and include Cadbury Dark Chocette, Cadbury Eclairs, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate and Cadbury Hazelnut Praline Chocolate.

Cadbury’s chocolates sold in the United States were not affected, a spokesman for Hershey’s – Cadbury’s U.S. distributor – tells the Associated Press.

Kraft Foods and Mars Next?
Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency says tests have found melamine in some products distributed nationwide, including M&Ms, Snickers bars and Oreos.

Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, and Mars, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers, say they will comply with an Indonesian recall but plan to do their own tests and look into the possibility the tainted products were counterfeits.

Melamine Mess

Melamine was first found in powdered infant formula made in China, but has now been popping up in dozens of other products. More than 50,000 children in China have gotten sick from formula or other products containing melamine. Four babies have died.

Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants have added it to milk products to make it seem to have a higher protein level.

It’s the same chemical from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.

So, is your food safe from melamine? Check out this very thorough and entertaining take on the melamine mess over at Healthhabits.

I hope the next headlines don’t say melamine is in food here in the U.S.

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Obesity is growing quickly in China. A new study from the University of North Carolina finds more than a quarter of the adult population is now overweight or obese, as people add more meat and dairy products to their diet. Of all the developing countries, only Mexico’s rate of adults becoming overweight is growing faster than China’s.

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