China launches stringent regulation to ensure food safety

BEIJING - The Chinese central government has called for stringent regulation on the production and marketing of melamine to avoid the use of melamine in the food and feed industry.

Further, a real-name register system should be established to trace all melamine in the market from the wholesalers to the retailers, according to a notice issued by the General Office of the State Council and published on Saturday on the central government's website, www.gov.cn.

The notice instructed administrative agencies to strengthen supervision on overall dairy product safety. Additionally, local governments should send officials, as resident supervisors, to all dairy enterprises to enforce the safety regulations.

The notice also called for a harsh crackdown on illegal dairy production and using melamine in milk products.

A serious melamine milk scandal occurred in China in 2008 when dairy products laced with melamine, a chemical added to milk products to make their protein content appear richer, killed six babies and sickened 300,000 infants.