Melamine contamination of dairy products in China – public health impact on citizens of the European Union

D Coulombier; C Heppner; S Fabiansson; A Tarantola; A Cochet; P Kreidl; R Reintjes

doi:10.2807/ese.13.40.18998-en

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Melamine contamination of dairy products in China – public health impact on citizens of the European Union
D Coulombier¹ , C Heppner² , S Fabiansson³ , A Tarantola⁴ , A Cochet⁵ , P Kreidl¹ , R Reintjes⁶
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Affiliations: ¹ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden ² Contaminants Unit, European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy ³ Data Collection and Exposure Unit, European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy ⁴ International and Tropical Department, Institut de Veille Sanitaire (French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, InVS), St Maurice, France ⁵ Environmental Health Department, Institut de Veille Sanitaire (French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, InVS), St Maurice, France ⁶ Emerging Risks Unit, European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy

Correspondence:
D Coulombier
denis.coulombier ecdc.europa.eu
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Citation style for this article: Coulombier D, Heppner C, Fabiansson S, Tarantola A, Cochet A, Kreidl P, Reintjes R. Melamine contamination of dairy products in China – public health impact on citizens of the European Union. Euro Surveill. 2008;13(40):pii=18998. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.13.40.18998-en Received: 01 Oct 2008

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Abstract

On 10 September 2008, ProMED issued a request for information concerning 14 cases of kidney stones in infants hospitalised in Gansu province, China, in the previous two months [1]. On 21 September, Chinese authorities reported 39,965 cases of kidney stones in infants, including three deaths related to the consumption of melamine-contaminated powdered infant formula. On that day, 12,892 of them were hospitalised, 104 with severe illness. Most of these cases (82%) affected children under two years of age.