In mid January, executives of the Chinese milk company Sanlu were handed life and death sentences for causing the deaths of at least six infants and the illness of more than 300,000, who consumed melamine-tainted formula milk. For many, the guilty verdict was expected although there are questions on the exoneration of Chinese authorities.

But there remains structural issues submerged beneath the seemingly superficial verdict. There is more from the Sanlu scandal beyond a set of lessons for capitalists. It speaks interrelated deprivations that emanate from class, gender, age, and other identities that capitalism has consistently downplays and even denies.

For breastfeeding advocates, the Sanlu scandal has exposed the the disempowering mechanism of globalised consumerism. Inez Fernandez, executive director of Arugaan, a Philippine-based mother support group as well as the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action (WABA) contends, “Women have been cheated of their power to feed. The case only proves that milk is an unnecessary product. The very intent was fraud for profit.”

It has been claimed that Sanlu was alerted as early as December 2007 of infants suffering with kidney complications. By May 2008, the direct link with the chemical, melamine, added to the milk was confirmed but the company continued to distribute its contaminated product on the market. Many believed that the reporting and arrests were purposely delayed due to the Beijing Olympics.

Such inaction was compounded by misinformation that thrives in contexts with aggressive capitalism as well as low media literacy.

Sanlu was touted as a national brand whose quality is at par with imported but far more expensive brands. It also rode on the general propaganda that formula milk can provide the same nutrients that can be found in breast milk. As Charlie Yan Shun, a volunteer of the La Leche League in China revealed, “It turned out that many mothers and mothers-to-be did not quite know the benefits of breastfeeding or the risks of substituting their own milk with formula milk.”

But for Cai Yiping, the low media literacy is not just limited to the uncritical acceptance of pronouncements in advertisements but in the very analyses of the Sanlu scandal in mainstream media.

While news reports have dwelled on the accountability of the company, there was little mention of the class and gender issues involved.

“We need to ask, how come majority of the victims is from the countryside, why grandparents were the ones feeding the babies and so on. The media has not gone into the social structure of poverty, the divide between the urban and rural, the burden of women migrant workers,” she said.

Recalling the “Big Head Baby” milk scandal in 2004, when fake powdered milk proliferated in the market and killed at least 13 babies, Cai added that most casualties happened in the provinces and there is reason to believe that more cases of death and illness were unreported.

“Women migrant workers are not able to bring their children with them. Otherwise they will lose their jobs --- which is also the consequence when they get pregnant. They are also deprived of maternal leaves. So children are left with grandparents, who just buy what they think is good and within their budget,” she explained.

Some Chinese feminists have also pointed out that these breastfeeding campaigns' middle-class orientation. “How can a woman in the province save her milk if she does not have a pump or a refrigerator,” one asked.

While the lid is now closed for Sanlu, a pit of frustration and fear is still open. For one, parents of affected babies are hardly satisfied with the meagre compensation, that includes a one-time small lump sum (2,000 yuan or US $292 and a 18-year medical insurance. The massive marketing campaigns of formula milk producers can effectively close the chapter of Sanlu scandal in the minds of many consumers worldwide until another product recall happens as in the case of global brand Nestle.

As Fernandez put it, “Even an iota of melamine and similar chemicals can endanger life. We are now seeing babies whose future have been stolen and whose families are suffering. In the end, the country suffers because these babies are its future citizens.”

Sources:
Interview with Cai Yiping, Isis International (28 January 2009).
Interview with Inez Fernandez, Arugaan (30 January 2009).
E-mail correspondence with Charlie Yan Shun, La Leche League (28-29 January 2009).
British Broadcasting Corporation (22 April 2004). “China 'fake milk' scandal deepens.” URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3648583.stm Sommerville, Quentin (22 January 2009). “Little comfort in milk scandal verdicts.” URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7845545.stm
Somera, Nina (3 October 2008). “Sanlu Scandal in China: Another Nestle.” URL: http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1117&Itemid=204
Zhu Zhe (31 December 2008). “Compensation to cover medical costs 'until 18'.” URL: _http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-12/31/content_7355604.htm _