Two Chinese Executives Executed Over Tainted Milk Scandal

Milk and milk-based baby food formulas all around the world were recalled last year when it became obvious Chinese suppliers of the milk were contaminating it with a toxic industrial chemical to artificially boost the protein content of the products.  Many babies died.  Hundreds of thousands more suffered kidney stones and kidney failure.  Today, Chinese court officials say two executives have been executed over their role in the tainted milk scandal.

Thus far, nineteen individuals have earned prison terms for their participation in the scandal and Geng Jinping and Zhang Yujun have now been executed.  Geng was manager of a milk production facility that sold milk tainted with melamine to the now-bankrupt Sanlu Group.  Zhang was charged with endangering public safety by dangerous means for his role in selling more than 862 US tons of tainted milk powder.

Nitrogen-rich melamine is a chemical used to make fertilizer, flame retardants, wood adhesives, ceiling tiles, and a wide array plastic products.  It causes kidney damage when ingested.  When melamine-tainted substances are tested for protein content, the protein content appears higher than it actually is, thanks to the melamine.  The rationale behind the melamine-laced protein "boost" is dilution.  Chinese milk producers routinely diluted liquid milk to increase volume.  By water-logging the milk this way, its natural protein content was diluted, too.

Sanlu sold more than 1,000 US tons of the tainted milk, knowing it was contaminated with the toxic chemical.  Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's general manager at the time of the poisonings, pled guilty last January and received a sentence of life in prison.  Another Sanlu executive, Wang Yuliang, attempted, but failed, to commit suicide by jumping from a tall building; he received a 15-year prison sentence.

In her defense, Tian says it was not the milk producers' fault the tainted milk poisoned so many babies.  She said, instead, that it was the lax system of regulations and standards within the Chinese government that caused the problem.

Last December, the Chinese government ordered 22 companies to pay fines totaling $161 million US to the families of the babies sickened by these toxic products.  Hundreds of those families have appealed that decision, saying the intended monetary compensation is far too low to justify the damage done to their families.

Readers, what are your thoughts?  Who's the guilty party here - the milk producers or the Chinese government?