Episode 336: Poisoned Baby Formula TURNED 300k Kids Into “BIG HEAD BABIES”

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“Could you please help me? I need money for my baby.”

Something strange was happening in the small city of Fuyang, China. There was an influx of families begging for help on the street. All of them said something was very wrong with their child. The baby had a mystery illness and needed help.

When passerbys would bend down to take a closer look - they realized that the 5 month old infant had the head size of a “full size watermelon.”

This was not a genetic condition nor was there an explanation.

The truth would lead to over 20 arrests and 2 death penalty sentences.

And the eerie feeling that - there must be something in the water there.

Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com

Sanlu's Headquarters in Shijiazhuang, circa. November 2008

Sanlu Group presenting their donation to the Wenchuan Earthquake aid

A bag of Sanlu milk powder

Packets of melamine powder

A packet of children’s milk powder Mr. Wang had purchased on November 30, 2007

Newspaper clipping of Jian Guang Zhou’s article titled “14 Infants in Gansu Suspected to Have Inflicted Kidney Disease for Taking Sanlu Formula”, September 2008

Newspaper with the headline: San Lu Admits to Milk Powder Contamination, 2008

Image of a boy who was known as a “Big Head Baby” after drinking interior milk products

The confirmation letter that Wang signed with Sanlu on May 31st, 2008

Alleged PR solution letter, allegedly written by Beijing Teller International Advertising Co.

In the aftermath of the toxic milk scandal, a mother and a father hold their babies as they wait for treatment at a children’s hospital in Beijing

Hospital with a sign that read “Problematic Milk Powder Pediatric Kidney Stone”

Hospital with a temporary paper sign that says “Sanlu Milk Powder Special Clinic”

Guo Li’s drawing of him holding his daughter’s hand

Authorities inspecting San Lu milk powder in a supermarket

Authorities inspecting San Lu milk powder in a supermarket

Chairman Tian on the day of the trial, 2008

Four former executives of the Sanlu Group, the major dairy at the center of China's tainted milk scandal, from left, Tian Wenhua, Wang Yuliang, Hang Zhiqi and Wu Jusheng, on trial at the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang, December 31, 2008

The Geng family milk station, with the words, “Be an honest person and do things properly” written in bold blue words on the wall

A poster at Shenzhen and Hong Kong borders says “Departing with excessive powdered formula COMMITS AN OFFENCE”

Sanlu infant milk powder in Sweden’s Disgusting Food Museum

Dad’s interview

Commercial of Sanlu and Fonterra children’s milk powder

SOURCES:

https://m.chunyuyisheng.com/m/article/13173/

https://www.dzwww.com/xinwen/guoneixinwen/200812/t20081211_4176331.htm

https://w.dzwww.com/p/102766.html

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https://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/22/china.tainted.milk/

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/yanzhonghuang/2014/07/16/the-2008-milk-scandal-revisited/?sh=774e4b804105

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/24/china-executes-milk-scandal-pair

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/10/09/the-story-behind-chinas-tainted-milk-scandal

https://qz.com/1323471/ten-years-after-chinas-melamine-laced-infant-milk-tragedy-deep-distrust-remains

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/22/china-baby-milk-scandal-death-sentence

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinas-lethal-milk-scandal-reverberates-a-decade-later

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7720404.stm

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/parents-chinas-milk-scandal-criticize-payout-flna1c9444094

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https://news.youth.cn/sh/201704/t20170421_9541226_3.htm

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/trials-in-china-s-tainted-milk-scandal-begin-compensation-announced-1.702126

Chinese Mothers on Breastfeeding vs Formula

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4438655/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508856/

2004 Anhui Big Head Babies

https://www.gov.cn/yjgl/2005-08/09/content_21396.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/21/china.jonathanwatts

General Anesthesia for Children

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/anesthesia-brain.html

2007 Pet Food Melamine Contamination:

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/recalls-withdrawals/melamine-pet-food-recall-frequently-asked-questions

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-04-fi-petfood4-story.html

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-melamine

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-melamine#takeaway

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5137HC/

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/kidney-infections-symptoms-and-treatments

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-21628147

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https://www.ft.com/content/ad1078b0-cdc4-3d21-8918-588f1de2c283

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6073729/ 

https://web.archive.org/web/20080915050304/http://cache.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/free/1/1262272.shtml 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-urine-color-means
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https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-07-06/162615881691.shtml
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https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/asia/27milk.html

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https://web.archive.org/web/20131026103319/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB122332462058208791 

https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2014/06/20/Fonterra-never-checked-Sanlu-s-products-in-China-melamine-scare-Study by Malcolm Moore. Flickr

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/10/09/the-story-behind-chinas-tainted-milk-scandal by Peter Parks. AFP, Getty Images

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-melamine#safety 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40550-015-0017-z

"Melamine – an industry staple” by Stephen Chen (18 September 2008) South China Morning Post.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/kidney-stones/symptoms-causes/syc-20355755
https://www.seattlechildrens.org/conditions/a-z/crying-baby-before-3-months-old/
https://www.stoppingcolic.com/distinguishing-between-hunger-and-pain-in-your-baby.htm
https://news.cctv.com/society/20090115/107648.shtml 

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/417460273 

https://theinitium.com/article/20180810-mainland-melamine-guoli

https://www.163.com/dy/article/HIRFE2SJ05522XPA.html

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/milk-04282022124713.html

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https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.0900949

https://www.vinmec.com/en/news/health-news/pediatrics/how-much-does-a-3-year-old-boy-weigh/

https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/child-growth/child-growth-standards/indicators/weight-for-age/wfa-girls-0-5-percentiles.pdf?sfvrsn=1a008a84_11

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https://theinitium.com/article/20180726-mainland-melamine-ten-year-mother

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/30/business/china-health-care-doctors.html

https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/2008年中国奶制品污染事件

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanlu_Group#Ownership_and_business

https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/田文华

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27336588/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5882021/

https://www.webmd.com/brain/what-you-should-know-about-macrocephaly

https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1259370

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-concept-of-losing-face-so-strong-in-Chinese-culture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonterra

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/10/09/the-story-behind-chinas-tainted-milk-scandal

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pet-food-firm-fears-more-animals-may-die-from-tainted-products-1.640727

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/tainted-pet-food-poisoned-1-in-6-animals-in-test-fda-1.633068

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls

http://www.dpxq.gov.cn/hdjl/ywzsk/flzx/content/post_10951131.html

Production Note:

Rotten Mango has not done original reporting on this case. The stories are based on existing material (listed in show notes).

The RM team works hard to make sure everything you’re listening to is as accurate as possible and we try to use multiple sources to verify the facts. Creative liberties may be taken in certain cases during the presentation of the case. Please email us at rottenmangop@gmail.com if you have any questions!