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Milk shake-up continues to jostle

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-03 08:50

An additional 31 batches of milk powder were found to contain melamine but most products of this kind on the market were safe, the country's food safety watchdog said on Wednesday following a nationwide special check on the chemical.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (R) chats with a baby's parents at a supermarket in Beijing, September 26, 2008. [Xinhua]

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said it had tested 265 batches of milk powder produced by 154 different companies prior to Sept 14, and found that 31 produced by 20 domestic dairy companies were tainted by the chemical melamine.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming tastes a cup of yogurt at a supermarket in Beijing, September 26, 2008. [Xinhua]

The new batches tested were mostly milk powder products for adults.

The melamine content in the Sanlu brand reached 6,196 mg per kg in its so-called high iron and zinc formula, the highest among all the samples.

Related readings:  Tests prove newly-produced liquid milk 'melamine free'  Govt vows to beef up dairy supervision  Cadbury candy pulled from shops on melamine concerns China to unify supervision of dairies

On Wednesday the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which supervises product quality at the retail level, ordered all tainted products to be pulled off shelves.

The contaminated goods were to be sealed at the site and prevented from re-entering the market, said the SAIC on its website.

Industry and Commerce organs at all levels were asked to post notices including the brand and batch numbers of the tainted milk powder in shopping malls, supermarkets and other dairy markets, in a bid to inform and warn the consumers.

And AQSIQ said yesterday that none of the chemical melamine was found in 418 samples taken from newly-produced liquid milk of the nation's major brands in the most recent inspection.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson drinks a Beijing-branded yogurt at a press conference in the Chinese capital on Friday September 26, 2008. Mandelson said he was confident of Chinese dairy products despite the recent tainted milk scandal. [Asianewsphoto]

No problems were discovered in samples from the latest tests of 65 domestic brands nationwide including top-selling brands such as Yili, Mengniu, Sanyuan, Wandashan and Yinqiao, among others, according to the AQSIQ.

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