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The 2008 Sanlu Milk Scandal

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The 2008 Sanlu milk scandal was the most serious scandal of Chinese food and dairy industry. The Sanlu Group, one of the largest and most trusted dairy producers in China at the time, was accused of deliberately adding a harmful chemical called melamine to its milk powder products. “An estimated 300,000 babies in China were sick from the contaminated milk powder, and the kidney damage led to six fatalities” (Huang 1). The scandal went public in fall, leading to the bankruptcy of Sanlu Group and imprisonment of Sanlu’s head management personal. What’s more, the Sanlu scandal has casted long-last shadow on Chinese dairy industry; contaminated milk powder hurt not only baby’s health, but also people’s trust. “Consumer confidence in Chinese dairy products remains extremely weak. Official media suggests that over half of the Chinese baby formula market is dominated by foreign brands, and in some cities, the share is as high as 80 percent” (Huang 4). How could a national famous brand commit such unforgivable fraud crime in the first place? Debates on Sanlu scandal has never ended. In fact, it is likely that the scandal started in limited scale, and then the problem grows larger and larger, finally reaching a point where these dark secrets could no longer be concealed. At the time before the scandal was uncovered, competitions in Chinese dairy industry was extremely intense, and all of the major firms were trying everything to lower production cost in order to make their products

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