New toxic milk powder scandal hits China

Samples of milk powder found in northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai provinces had levels of the chemical melamine up to 500 times the permitted limit, and suspected tainted powder also turned up in the country's northeast, said a report from the Xinhua news agency on Friday.

As well seizing 38 tons of milk powder found with 500 times the limit, police in Qinghai seized 26 tons of dairy powder with lower amounts of melamine and 12 tons of finished products, an official in the Qinghai quality watchdog told Reuters. He would not give his name and did not specify the products.

The exposure of tainted milk products in a poor and remote parts of China's northwest has underscored the persistence of food safety problems that have alarmed consumers and sparked criminal scandals that led to executions and official sackings.

Two years ago, at least least six children died and nearly 300,000 children fell ill from drinking powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial compound added to fool inspectors by giving misleadingly high results in protein tests.

Faced with outrage from consumers and anguished parents and an international outcry, Beijing blamed officials in north China's Hebei province for covering up the problem dairy products, sold mainly by Hebei's now bankrupt Sanlu Group, which was partly owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.

China executed two people last November for their role in the scandal.

The latest report did not mention any deaths or illnesses blamed on the latest batches of toxic dairy products; Kazinform cites The Arab News.

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