Parents feel the pinch of tainted milk

Then the double whammy of earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, followed by radiation leaks from a nuclear plant. Although my son loved Japanese milk, I was forced to switch to a popular US brand, which I've been stocking whenever I visit Hong Kong or cities in Southeast Asia.

The sales of Fonterra products have reportedly dropped drastically in China because nervous parents are put off by possible damages of DCD residue. They've become more distraught after learning that the dairy giant also provides milk to other international brands, including the one used by my son.

Perhaps it's time to turn to domestic brands now that mighty foreign brands are also losing their shine and Chinese producers have learned their lessons, as some analysts suggest. Recent media reports also say that a string of officials at various levels, who were sacked for their roles in the Sanlu scandal, have been reinstated through various new appointments in the spirit of letting the bygones be bygones.

But it's difficult to change a consumer's attitude once it's formed. Suspicious parents still have low levels of trust in local brands, which have continued to be hit sporadically by tainted products.

Besides a tattered reputation for low quality, high production costs and scarce land supplies have also exacerbated the predicament of Chinese dairy product makers, who are keen to use foreign raw materials or simply produce in plants overseas as a way to win back consumers.

More Chinese parents will continue to buy foreign formula despite the Fonterra fiasco. When you are given only two choices, both bad, you choose the lesser evil.

I will continue to buy milk in Hong Kong and overseas until my son doesn't need it anymore. But the question is, which one I should trust this time.

The writer is editor-at-large of China Daily. E-mail: dr.baiping@gmail.com

(China Daily 02/02/2013 page5)