Food fraud: for those who grew up on White Rabbit, a shock awaits.
To most people in the west, White Rabbit sweets are unknown. But to many of us familiar with the Orient, the news that they are the latest casualty in the Chinese milk scandal has the kind of effect that news that Smarties are poisonous would have in the UK, if such a thing would ever happen - it's a major cultural blow.
The incredible story of the poisoned Chinese milk continues to cause more human misery.
The discovery that an industrial chemical has been added to milk not just once but at several stages in the production process (of course, no one tells the next link in the chain that they have cheated) means that there is now almost an epidemic of poisoned babies and sick adults.
The scale of the problem is staggering: in Singapore, Dutch Lady dairies has found that milk products from China that passed tests fail when retested in Singapore. Cadbury's has recalled products made across Asia if they contain Chinese milk. Baby milk products have been taken off shelves across the region. In New Zealand, a dairy company found out about the problems and reported them to NZ diplomats but nothing happened for a month.
Then over the weekend came the most startling news of all: White Rabbit sweets have also been found to contain the chemical, and have been withdrawn from sale.
It impossible to overstate the importance in Oriental markets of White Rabbit sweets. Today, in a room of senior compliance people, failing banks were old news. "Did you hear about White Rabbit?" asked one, incredulously. "It's awful," said another.
As the news broke that the bank that had been rumoured to be in trouble all weekend was Fortis, the fate of a small white sweet was of such significance that everyone nodded in agreement.
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