i miss milk

Oh dear.

Last week when I called Taiwan to talk to some of my relatives, my Aunt Regina got on the phone and started talking about the China milk scandal. "I'm so mad at China right now, Kim," she told me (as if I were a part of China now, haha). "I haven't had fresh milk in weeks!"

Neither have I. Tainted milk powder has killed four babies in China and has made over 50,000 others sick. According to the New York Times, "Producers trying to cut costs often dilute milk with water, which lowers the nutritional content. But the addition of melamine, which is high in nitrogen, helps the milk appear to meet nutrition standards by artificially raising its protein count." Since most reports were saying that it was only milk powder that was laced with melamine, I finally decided to venture out to the Carrefour down the street and peruse the milk aisle...carefully. Other people were buying milk, so I thought it must be ok. I was craving mashed potatoes. I was craving hot chocolate (Betty and Tina are taking care of that, though, whew!) And I was craving my favorite breakfast food: milk and cereal.

Well, my good friend Ms. Toro asked me about this milk business, so it prompted me to check up a little more on the latest news. Sadly, fresh milk isn't really off the hook either! And now Cadbury in England is also recalling chocolate with tainted milk. Kidney stones? No thanks. I was supposed to buy an imported brand, but I wasn't really paying attention.

So. Before I was afraid to drink the water. And now I'm afraid to drink the milk :(