Kuwait Bans Melmac
Today on the front page of the Kuwait Times is the announcement of a ban by the Ministry of Commerce on selling any goods containing melamine, stating it was “based on information received from the Customs Department and office of the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and has to do with melamine containing urea formaldehyde, which is banned” because it is “believed to be harmful to health.”
I was so curious, I had to Google “Melamine kitchenware + danger” because, to the best of my knowledge, Kuwait is now the only country in the entire world to ban melamine.
Melamine appeared in dog and cat food, and is believed to have been the cause of some early poisonings in the US, but as far as I can see, that came from insecticides, not from eating off melmac.
On the same front page is an article about hundreds of camels dropping dead in Saudi Arabia, also believed poisoned by a insecticide contaminated feed. Is there some relationship?
It isn’t an issue in our house; we don’t have melamine. But I have this irrational fondness for Melmac, because there used to be a show called Alf, about an alien that lived with an American family, and he was from the planet Melmac, which always cracked me up. I can’t imagine the generations of Americans – and others – who have eaten off Melmac dishes without any serious effects. How can this be? Is Melmac now formulated differently from before? Are Melmac plate users going to succumb to some serious problems because they ate off Melmac plates?
And why is Kuwait the only country in the world banning Melmac?
Two reasons:
1. stupidity immersed in ignorance
2. We love banning stuff
What IS Melmac? I never heard of it.
Eileen
Dedicated Elementary Teacher Overseas (in the Middle East)
elementaryteacher.wordpress.com
well, Alf also ate cats, so in a way, Melmac kills cats…….!!!
ShoSho – LOOOOOOLLLLLLLL! I’m just wondering, though, if there is any scientific evidence that shows that eating off Melmac is bad for you?
Eileen, Melmac is an inexpensive brand of plastic dishes kind of stuff. Not the disposable kind, an every day kind. It is lightweight, and somehow, I think of it as mostly beige, but I am sure it also came in aqua and pink. Very inexpensive stuff.
EXZombie – No! Alf would LIKE to eat cats if he could catch them, but I don’t think he ever caught one! Or at least not in any program I saw. Oh, it just brings back so many laughs – like Alf and the huge phone bill. What a disaster! He was so funny!
Scientists here are bored. They haven’t taken that contact lens solution of the shelves yet.
But decided to harass poor Alf..I love that lil thing! I’d gladly feed him some Mouse & Gabriella fillets anytime!
R! Hush! If your poor little kitties hear you say that, they might get depressed!
R! Hush! If your poor little kitties hear you say that, they might get depressed!
Note to Elijah – I found two of your comments in SPAM – I am so sorry! I was shocked, I don’t know why WordPress sent you there. And then, when I de-spammed you, WordPress deleted all the comments and did not de-spam yours. Please try again!
😦 i didnt know what was wrong, thought u gave up on me *sniffs*
I only said how much I loved Alf ans the way he always wanted to eat that cat 🙂
OH lol i just remembered it was about melamine, ya a friend of mine was saying that they said only cheap melamine is harmful, but I don’t know whether that’s true or not.
YAY i wasn’t spammed 🙂
Elijah – this time you got through with no problem! I don’t know what was going on, habeebti! I even de-spammed you, but it never appeared in comments and it disappeared from spam. But sometimes things just go a little wonky, you know?
Are you still teaching or did school stop for August and when do you start back again?
I was on vacation for 3 weeks, went to Italy 🙂
Back now but classes start tomorrow, not school though, I teach at an oil company, grown ups, yep those silly things that go on in class are said by fully grown men! 😀
Oh yeh! the guys with all the wives! Elijah, are they good students, or do they kind of blow off the English lessons?
In the US, there are some religious sects that the men believe it is wrong to take instruction from a woman. Do you ever run into anything like that?
[…] Intlxpatr talks about another ban in Kuwait – and this time the victim is melamine. “Today on the front page of the Kuwait Times is the announcement of a ban by the Ministry of Commerce on selling any goods containing melamine, stating it was “based on information received from the Customs Department and office of the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and has to do with melamine containing urea formaldehyde, which is banned” because it is ‘believed to be harmful to health,” he writes. […]
Pingback by Global Voices Online » Kuwait: Is Summer Over? | September 2, 2007 |
Naaa they love me 🙂 They even go to the big boss and request that I teach them.
I know how to deal with them religious/non religious. I have ones that I haven’t taught that come to chat with me 🙂
[…] المدون Intlxpatr عن حظر من نوع آخر في الكويت وهذه المرة الضحية هي أواني […]
Pingback by Global Voices بالعربية » الأرشيف » الكويت: هل انتهى الصيف؟ | September 3, 2007 |
Woooo Hoooooo, Elijah! I am guessing that they are very very lucky to have you for a teacher, and they are smart enough to know it!
[…] Intlxpatr talks about another ban in Kuwait – and this time the victim is melamine. “Today on the front page of the Kuwait Times is the announcement of a ban by the Ministry of Commerce on selling any goods containing melamine, stating it was “based on information received from the Customs Department and office of the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and has to do with melamine containing urea formaldehyde, which is banned” because it is ‘believed to be harmful to health,” he writes. […]
Pingback by Kuwait: Is Summer Over? : Fair or Unfair | September 15, 2007 |