China fights new tainted product cases

[ssheppard]

The Chinese government says it has sent unidentified food inspectors to crack down on new cases of milk products tainted with deadly melamine.

Eight teams of inspectors were sent to 16 of China's 34 provinces where these cases have resurfaced, said an official with the National Food Safety Rectification Office, headed by the health minister, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

However, the official, who was not named, did not disclose the total number of inspectors nor their identities, the report said. Any violation of food safety would be severely dealt with, the official said.

It was reported last month contaminated dairy products had resurfaced in many provinces in China in a reminder of the 2008 scandal in which 300,000 children were sickened and at least six of them died. Last November, two people accused in the 2008 scandal were executed.

The recent discovery of similar tainted products indicated the continuing presence of the compound despite the 2008 disaster.

In Wednesday's report, Xinhua quoted authorities that melamine-tainted milk powder that should have been destroyed was still being used. The report said melamine, an industrial compound, can give a false positive in protein tests but causes kidney stones.

"These cases reveal that the toxic milk powder recalled in 2008 was not completely destroyed and is now illegally reused for new products," the official said.

 

[ssheppard]

Your Kids may die after drinking these products...but you can't even raise voice against that....thats China for you...


Chinese tainted milk campaigner accused of provoking social disorder


Chinese police have referred to prosecutors the case of a father who campaigned over toxic baby formula. Zhao Lianhai, whose own child was made ill by the melamine contamination, is accused of trying to provoke social disorder.

The handover to prosecutors comes one day after the government announced a fresh crackdown on tainted milk products.

Zhao was detained in November by police, who say there is "ample evidence" to support a charge of provoking a serious disturbance.

Zhao set up a website for affected families and called for the creation of a national memorial day for victims. At least six babies died and 300,000 were taken ill after drinking products made by Sanlu, a dairy firm that closed as a result. The scare led to product recalls around the world.

"From September 2008 to September 2009, Zhao Lianhai used 'protecting rights' as well as the Sanlu milk powder issue as an excuse to hype and agitate people who did not know the truth to disturb social order ... by shouting slogans and illegal gathering," said the police statement, published on the blog of a lawyer.

The statement also cited Zhao's backing for a young woman who was raped by a guard while in an illegal detention house. Investigators said he had used her case "as a way to hype and agitate many people who did not know the truth and foreign media [to] gather at the [gate of the Beijing public security bureau], disturbing the area's social order."

The statement added that evidence included videos, witness accounts and a confession from Zhao.

Zhao's lawyer Peng Jian said it usually took around a month and a half for prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.

He added: "I cannot predict what the result will be because I heard the case has got a large amount of evidence, which I haven't had a chance to review yet. If he ends up being prosecuted we will defend him as not guilty."

Zhao was detained two hours after he and another father whose baby had been taken ill received an official apology from police in Haidian over their previous detention of the other man.

Yesterday, China announced a 10-day emergency campaign to root out tainted products – at least some of which had been confiscated when the scandal first broke out in late 2008. According to the state news agency Xinhua, they had been repackaged instead of being destroyed.

Melamine is normally used to make plastics and fertilisers. But when added to watered-down or poor quality milk, it appears to boost protein levels – allowing substandard products to pass nutrition tests.

Last month, it emerged that officials in Shanghai waited almost a year before warning the public that a company in the city was producing melamine-laced products.

Chinese tainted milk campaigner accused of provoking social disorder | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[ssheppard]

Tainted milk scandal resurfaces in China

Melamine-tainted milk products have been found on sale in China, more than a year after thousands of children became ill in a huge safety scandal.
Products made by three different firms were found to contain melamine and have now been removed from supermarkets in Guizhou province, officials say.
Melamine can be added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have a higher protein content.
Six children died and some 300,000 became ill from tainted milk in 2008.
If ingested in sufficient quantities, melamine can cause kidney failure and kidney stones.
The companies involved in the latest recall blamed the contamination on milk powder they had bought as a raw material to add to their products, state media reported.
An official involved in the 2008 investigation told China Daily the powder may been part of that recalled batch which was still circulating on the market.
"There were still some leftovers in the dealers' hands that nobody cared about," said Wang Dingmian, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Dairy Association.
Mr Wang said the government's regulation of milk products was too weak and that companies should be required to test every batch they used.
China says 21 people have been convicted over the 2008 scandal, including milk producers, traders and executives of the Sanlu milk company.
In November 2009, two people were executed for making and selling hundreds of tonnes of melamine-tainted milk products

BBC News - Tainted milk scandal resurfaces in China

 

[albwd]

So, is this commercial or political? You know we have also American imports on our shelves as well, don't you, albeit it costs much more.

 

[ssheppard]

More tainted milk products found in China shops

Melamine-laced milk products have been found on sale in China, state media said on Monday, more than a year after the chemical was blamed for six deaths in a huge scandal over contaminated dairy goods.
Authorities in the southwestern province of Guizhou found that products made by three food companies contained illegally high levels of the toxic substance, the China Daily said.
It quoted a former dairy industry official as saying it was likely more tainted goods remained in supermarkets despite a major recall after the 2008 scandal, which highlighted China's persistent product safety problems.
The suspect products in Guizhou have been pulled from stores, the China Daily said, adding that the firms involved blamed milk powder bought from suppliers.
The report illustrated the apparent continued threat from tainted dairy goods long after the 2008 scandal when it was revealed that the industrial chemical -- which can, in large quantities, cause kidney failure and death -- was being abused by food producers.
At that time, melamine was found to have been added to milk to give the appearance of a higher protein content and was blamed for killing six infants and making nearly 300,000 others sick, according to official figures.
The scare led to foodstuffs containing dairy products being taken off shelves around the world. A total of 21 people were reportedly convicted of wrongdoing, with two executed and others sentenced to jail terms.
But other cases have since surfaced.
Earlier this month, the state press revealed that Shanghai Panda Dairy had been shut down again over melamine-tainted milk products. The company had been blacklisted and closed over the 2008 scandal but was allowed to reopen.
Three Chinese executives with the company could face trial as early as next month on charges of making and selling hazardous foods, a spokesman in the Shanghai prosecutors' office has said.
The China Daily said the products found in Guizhou were made in March and April of 2009, months after the government declared an all-clear.
The three companies involved -- in separate locations across north and east China -- were Zibo Lusaier Dairy Company, Tieling Wuzhou Food Company and the Laoting Kaida Refrigeration Plant, it said.d
It said the goods included "popsicles" produced by two of the companies but gave no other specifics.
Staff at the Guizhou provincial health department denied the report when contacted by AFP.
Ling Hu, a spokeswoman with the Guizhou provincial government, said officials there were looking into the allegations but declined further comment.
AFP could not immediately reach officials at the three companies.
The China Daily quoted Wang Dingmian, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Dairy Association in southern China, as suggesting "leftover" tainted dairy goods were likely still circulating despite the earlier recall.
"The problems were not totally solved. From this point, it's inevitable to see new problems popping out," he said.

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Man that is just brutal

 

[no_name]

Not again. It's time they start collecting heads of executives.
Poisoning baby is not funny - China's future depends on them.

 

[applesauce]

Not again. It's time they start collecting heads of executives.
Poisoning baby is not funny - China's future depends on them.

i fully agree with this, we should start trying some of em under the charge of treason