Typhoon Hagupit came to Hongkong last week. Fortunately the number 8 Typhoon signal was lowered early in the morning so the Wednesday could go ahead more or less normally. However this news was overshadowed by the expanding contaminated milk scandal. Everything from milk powder to white rabbit sweets are affected and have been recalled. Even those little Teddy Bear biscuits are affected.

It is so sad that the ones most affected by this are the most innocent ones. How sad that there are tens of thousands of children suffering because of this scandal. Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, added to milk to make it appear richer in protein. It is an unimaginable thing but so very real.

The basic reason for adding the chemical is reasonably obvious – greed. I’m guessing that there is a requirement to meet a certain protein level for sale, or perhaps higher protein levels can fetch a higher price. But it comes down to basic greed. I guess we all have an element of greed in us. It just depends how strong that is. It is basic human nature to want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. That’s normal and good. The difference is the extent we will go to to achieve that. Would we be willing to risk harming others to benefit ourselves?

This is essentially why we have governmental and NGO oversights. To make sure the needs and welfare of the public are not harmed. Without that oversight there is a chance that the greed of others will overcome the need to look after the welfare of our fellow man. 

Governmental oversight and regulation is essential in ensuring we can have a food supply system that is safe and reliable. Unfortunately it is painfully obvious that the regulatory system in China is inadequate for the job.

As a company we have made the decision not to carry any goods from China. We made this decision a long time ago.

We carry organic food products. That is, food products that are required to meet, not only the quality standards of conventional food but also additional organic certification standards. For us, we are pleased to say that organic food must comply with this additional layer of inspection and we believe it provides you and us extra protection against contaminated food and other similar cases. We strongly support the idea of organic food and believe it can bring real benefits to consumers, producers and the Earth itself.

For the record, none of our products contain milk or milk by-products from China.

Be safe. Eat safe.

Simeon.