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China starts national clampdown on tainted milk

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-22 10:30

The Ministry of Agriculture said it has kicked off a nationwide clampdown on tainted feed in Beijing Sunday to cut off the possible contamination sources of the tainted milk that left more than 6,200 babies with kidney stones.

The ministry ordered veterinaries and local agricultural authorities to take resolute measures to prohibit adding the melamine into the cow feed, which might be the main culprit for the contamination incident. The case was still under investigation.

More than 6,200 infants have developed kidney stones after drinking baby formula tainted with the melamine, which makes the protein content of the milk appearing higher than it is actually.

The ministry said quality inspection on the protein feed will be intensified, and all the milk cow feed producers will be scrutinized.

Factories without production license and approval, and those fail to provide product tag will be closed.

Feed found containing melamine should be sealed off and receive innocuous treatment in order to prevent it entering the market, according to the ministry.

Contamination cases should be timely reported and a 24-hour hotline is open for complaints, it said.

Dairy giant Sanlu, based in the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang in north China, was the first company exposed in the scandal.

The melamine was later discovered in baby formula sold by 22 of 109 companies in the country.