What is melamine? Why they use it in milk powder?
By curious888
@curious888 (1212)
Malaysia
1 response
@sutanhartanto (4122)
• Indonesia
6 Oct 08
according to wikipedia, melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine.[2] It has been reported that cyromazine can also be converted to melamine in plants .
they use it in milk powder to increase the protein content in milk. the more protein contained in milk, the more "quality" the milk. it means the price also raises.
Melamine is sometimes illegally added to food products in order to increase the apparent protein content. Standard tests such as the Kjeldahl and Dumas tests estimate protein levels by measuring the nitrogen content, so they can be misled by adding nitrogen-rich compounds such as melamine. [11]
so, it's clear that it's just about money. the milk trader want to get profit as much as possible by any ways, despite the fact that what they are doing harms people health or even life.
@curious888 (1212)
• Malaysia
6 Oct 08
Thanks for your quick response and useful informations !
Happy posting !