Anger as China recalls milk

2008-09-19 12:03

Fran Wang

Beijing - Chinese store shelves were emptied of some of the country's most popular dairy brands on Friday, as shoppers vented their fury amid a snowballing crisis over the poisoning of the nation's milk supplies.

The government ordered a mass recall of dairy products after authorities revealed that an industrial chemical initially reported to be only in milk powder had also been detected in regular milk, yoghurt and ice cream.

"All problem products have been banned from our stores," an executive at Jian-Mart, a popular supermarket chain, told AFP.

Authorities initially blamed the chemical, melamine, for killing four babies and sickening more than 6 000 others, with symptoms including kidney stones, being unable to pass urine, and vomiting.

But there were fears the problem could be much bigger after other dairy products were found to be at risk of contamination.

Only black coffee was being served at some Starbucks outlets after the government identified one of its main suppliers, Mengniu, as having tainted regular milk.

A Starbucks spokesperson in Shanghai and a waiter in one of its Beijing outlets confirmed milk was not on the menu.

Comprehensive national check

"We had to stop serving it today because the milk is being inspected. We have to wait for the results," the waiter told AFP.

Mengniu, Yili and Guangming - three of the biggest brands, consumed by hundreds of millions of Chinese - were named by the government on Thursday night as having melamine in some of their regular milk.

The government agency in charge of product quality supervision on Friday issued detailed findings from a comprehensive national check, showing 24 of the 295 batches it tested from the three dairies were contaminated.

"The manufacturers should of their own accord recall all products where melamine has been detected," the agency said on its website.

Officials at the firms could not be reached for comment.

The recall came after the government announced on Wednesday that the baby milk powder from 22 dairy companies contained traces of melamine.

Melamine is normally used to make plastics but it can also make milk and other food products appear to have a higher protein content than they actually do.

It has become apparent in recent days that people or companies in China have been deliberately watering down the milk to cut costs, then adding in the melamine to boost the protein content and make the product look normal.

'I will sue them if the milk causes any problems for my boy'

Some Chinese press reports said the scam had been going on for years, with China's chaotic and corrupt food safety system unable either to detect or prevent it.

Cathy Wang, a jewellery retailer in Beijing, called for the government to take the toughest action possible against those responsible.

"The criminals deserve to be sentenced to death and there should be a public trial. They are more evil than murderers," said Wang as she sipped on a cup of tea in a coffee shop.

"And the supervisory authorities, they should be punished harshly as well for neglecting their duty."

At a Beijing supermarket, Cui Hongchun, 36, expressed concern and fury over previously buying milk for his eight-year-old son from one of the suspect brands.

"I'm very worried about the milk we bought because it claimed to contain high levels of protein," he said. "I will sue them if the milk causes any problems for my boy."

The government has already announced the arrest of 18 people for their roles in allegedly providing the melamine or mixing it into milk.

- AFP