/ 17 September 2008

China cracks down on dairy following baby deaths

All dairy producers across China will be tested following a scandal over a chemical placed in milk powder that has killed three babies and sickened thousands, authorities said on Wednesday.

The head of China’s quality watchdog said the tests will be conducted on all dairy products to determine if they contain melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastics and glues, and not just on infant milk powder.

”We will finish the melamine-focused testing on dairy products at all dairy producers as soon as possible and release the results in a timely manner,” Li Changjiang told reporters.

Li gave little indication of what kind of dairy products aside from the milk powder may have been contaminated.

However, he later confirmed that melamine had been found in a yoghurt ice-bar made by Yili, one of China’s biggest dairy producers, that was sold in the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong supermarket chains on Tuesday recalled the Yili Natural Choice Yoghurt Ice-bar and Li said authorities will investigate how melamine got into that product.

Health Minister Chen Zhu told the same press conference that three babies died and 6 244 fell ill after drinking milk powder containing melamine.

Melamine is being blamed for causing kidney stones in the affected babies, a condition that is rare in infants but which causes a range of health risks.

Twenty-two milk producers in China, including the two biggest, have been found to have had tainted products, according to Li.

The scandal is the latest to rock China’s food industry, which has been tarnished recently by a series of health scares over dangerous products, some of which have been exported. — Sapa-AFP