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Milk shake-up continues to jostle

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-03 08:55

Shoppers walk past milk packages with labels claiming the products are free of melamine, in a supermarket in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, yesterday. Milk sales have slumped nationwide amid the ongoing scandal involving dairy products tainted by the chemical, which led to thousands of babies falling ill. [China Daily]

An additional 31 batches of milk powder were found to contain melamine but most products of this kind on the market were safe, the country's food safety watchdog said on Wednesday following a nationwide special check on the chemical.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said it had tested 265 batches of milk powder produced by 154 different companies prior to Sept 14, and found that 31 produced by 20 domestic dairy companies were tainted by the chemical melamine.

The new batches tested were mostly milk powder products for adults.

The melamine content in the Sanlu brand reached 6,196 mg per kg in its so-called high iron and zinc formula, the highest among all the samples.

On Wednesday the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which supervises product quality at the retail level, ordered all tainted products to be pulled off shelves.

The contaminated goods were to be sealed at the site and prevented from re-entering the market, said the SAIC on its website.

Industry and Commerce organs at all levels were asked to post notices including the brand and batch numbers of the tainted milk powder in shopping malls, supermarkets and other dairy markets, in a bid to inform and warn the consumers.

And AQSIQ said yesterday that none of the chemical melamine was found in 418 samples taken from newly-produced liquid milk of the nation's major brands in the most recent inspection.

No problems were discovered in samples from the latest tests of 65 domestic brands nationwide including top-selling brands such as Yili, Mengniu, Sanyuan, Wandashan and Yinqiao, among others, according to the AQSIQ.

Chinese inspectors found the chemical melamine in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide in the middle of last month.

The authorities then ordered a halt to the sale of the tainted products, which included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili and Yashili, among others.

Industry and Commerce offices have been told to post notices in retail outlets that include brands and batch numbers of the tainted milk powder.

Relevant departments have begun an investigation of the companies implicated to find the source of the problem and punish those responsible.

Tian Wenhua, board chairwoman and general manager of Sanlu Dairy, was detained by police for questioning and fired from her posts in the wake of the tainted milk powder scandal.

About13,000 infants nationwide were hospitalized with kidney problems and four were killed after drinking baby formula tainted with melamine, a toxic chemical added to raw milk to falsely increase protein levels.

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