New milk tests clean - China
2008-10-05 19:39
Beijing - China - mired in a health scandal
over contaminated dairy products at home and abroad - said new
tests had revealed no melamine in liquid milk on the home
market.
It was the second time in days China has tried to repair
confidence in its dairy products, saying also on Thursday the
latest chemical tests had come back clean.
China's quality supervision authority had sent more than
5 000 inspectors to carry out "round-the-clock scrutiny" at
dairy factories to restore consumer confidence, Xinhua news
agency said on Sunday.
Thousands of children in China have fallen ill and four have
died after drinking melamine-laced milk.
The dairy scare,
China's latest in a long line of food safety problems, also
prompted mounting recalls and warnings abroad.
Samples of 609 batches of liquid milk - as opposed to powdered milk - from 27 cities across China were found free of melamine,
the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced.
Powdered milk
The test was the sixth in China after the tainted milk
powder scandal erupted last month.
A total of 2 093 batches of
liquid milk under 115 brands, among other dairy products, had
been checked since then, Xinhua news agency said, citing the
AQSIQ.
There was no clean bill of health, though, for powdered
milk.
The food safety watchdog said on Wednesday that 31 more
batches had tested positive for melamine, which has been added
to cheat nutrition tests.
The Ministry of Agriculture said on Saturday it had developed an
emergency rescue plan with the Ministry of Finance to give
special subsidies to dairy farmers who have suffered from
shrinking demand.
AQSIQ director Wang Yong told Xinhua that the government
would "strive to ensure" all dairy products were melamine-free.
"Food safety concerns not only the health of the public, but
also the life of business," Wang was quoted as saying.