Made-In-China

Last Thursday, WY told me that he and his team of classmates had to present their project work in class the following day. In order to make an impactful presentation, they planned to have a pack of candies with them and have the candies 'tossed' at the audience at the conclusion of their presentation.

Wow, I thought that was quite a refreshing idea! Not bad, these kids - it is great that they can even plan such a thing to conclude their presentation.

So, when WY asked me over the phone if I could get him a pack of sweets on my way home from work, I readily agreed. The only thing, though, was that there was absolutely no time for me to make a trip to the NTUC or other supermarket to buy the candies suitable for this 'tossing' purpose.

Eventually, I decided that we would stop by the Bomb Shelter shop on our way home. I should be able to find something suitable there.

But alas, when we got there, I quickly realised that the selection of sweets the Bomb Shelter shop keeps is very limited. They had the usual sticks of Polo mints and boxes of Fisherman's Friends, Chlorets, TicTac etc. But they didn't have anything like individually-wrapped Mentos (which was what I had in mind) or something light-weight enough and suitable for 'tossing'!

After looking through the shelves for several minutes and checking with the lady boss manning the cashier's till, I finally saw a few packs of candies suitable for WY's use! The individually-wrapped sweets looked something like XL-size panadols (ha?!) but were firm and yellow. The wrappers showed the picture of a cow and said that they were candies made of milk.

After hesitating for a few moments (because this was a new product which I had never seen till then), I decided that it would be good enough for the presentation purpose. So, I paid the incredulously-low price of $1.95 for one packet and proceeded home, gleeful that I managed to get some suitable candies afterall, despite the super-short notice WY had given me.

WY brought the candies to school the next morning, all ready to 'toss' the candies to the classmates when he and his team concluded their presentation as planned.

That morning, at about 11:30am, I logged on to the STI. To my shock, I saw a 'Latest News' report on how 20+ Filipino children fell ill after eating some China-made milk candies! And I vaguely remembered that the milk candies which I had bought for WY were stated to be 'Products of PRC'!!

I was overcome by a sudden wave of panic, and I immediately picked up the phone to call the school. Luckily, WY's form teacher promptly answered the call at her extension (usually it is very difficult to get teachers on the phone).

When I asked if WY's team had made their presentation that morning, the teacher said, "Yes, they just did. WY and his team did a fantastic job!" 'Uh-oh," I thought.

So I explained to the teacher how I had come to read this news article about the food-poisoning caused to some Filipino children by China-made milk candies, and how I am concerned that those which I had got for WY were also milk candies made in China. Finally, the teacher agreed to help retrieve the candies from the class even though she herself had tasted these exact milk candies previously and found them to be ok. I also requested her to explain to the class that I would get some 'replacement' candies for the children.

Later that day, through various contacts and checking on some websites, it became clearer that the 'guilty' milk candies involved in the Filippino children's food poisoning case were indeed different from those which WY had brought to class. Phew,it was such a relief!

Nonetheless, I went to the NTUC during my lunch hour and spent a good quarter hour searching through its confectionery shelves. Fortunately, Hari Raya Puasa is just round the corner, so the array of sweets and chocolates available has increased tremendously.

I examined almost all the sweets and chocolates available on the shelves, and to my dismay, most of them were made in China. (How to trust China food products these days, ah?!)

Eventually, I chose 4 packs of Chupa Chup lollipops of assorted flavours (I never knew they had flavours like Yoghurt and Extra Creamy?!). That worked out to be a total of 40 pops for the class. This should be a good treat for the kids, I thought to myself, after they had had to 'give up' the candies which they had received from WY and his team.

Just in case you wonder if the lollipops were China-made..... no, they were made in Spain.

Anyway, WY brought these to class and when he gave them out, his classmates were thrilled to receive a lollipop each (in place of a sweet)! So WY said everyone was so happy, and some of the children even asked for the teacher's permission to eat the lollipops there and then in class!

Lesson of the day for me, therefore, is this: Never buy China-made food products for the children anymore.

In fact, the all-scary report on how our favourite 大白兔奶糖 have been recently found to be glazed with carcinogenic formaldehyde is making me think (more than) twice about getting it for the coming CNY as we normally do without fail.