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Major suspect of fake protein powder detained

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-11 08:32

SHIJIAZHUANG: Police in Hebei province have arrested a suspect who produced more than 600 tons of fake protein powder laced with melamine, local authorities said on Friday.

Zhang Yujun, a resident of Hebei's Quzhou county, made the powder with industrial chemical melamine and food additive maltodextrin, from September last year to August this year in a village near Jinan, capital of Shandong province, a Hebei provincial public security department official said.

Zhang was caught in Handan, Hebei.

He learned to produce the fake powder at his dairy farm in Hebei. Using the name Zhang Haitao, he later began making the powder on a large scale in Shandong, the official said.

Melamine, which can lead to urinary tract problems such as kidney stones, was recently found in baby formula produced by Sanlu Group, based in Hebei's capital of Shijiazhuang.

Maltodextrin is produced from starch and used as a food additive. It is said to be easily digestible and absorbed as rapidly as glucose.

Police caught eight other suspects who bought the powder from Zhang in other parts of Hebei. They included food additive vendors, cattle farm owners and fresh milk purchasers.

The authorities have reportedly arrested a total of 36 people in Hebei linked to the scandal involving tainted dairy products.

Xinhua