China bans more milk products tainted with melamine

BEIJING - Milk products of three dairies were banned from Chinese markets after health officials found them contaminated with melamine, a chemical which caused the deaths of six children and illness of 300,000 across the country in 2008.

Three companies have been found selling milk products tainted with melamine and their products manufactured between March and April 2009 have been ordered off shelves by the health department in Guizhou province, China Daily reported quoting local media.

Investigations have been ordered into the three batches of products manufactured by Shandong Zibo Lusaier Dairy Company Ltd, Liaoning Tieling Wuzhou Food Company Ltd and Laoting Kaida Refrigeration Plant at Tangshan, Hebei province, an official said.

The National Business Daily reported that melamine-tainted products were found and banned in Sichuan province and Jiangsu province last December.

Wang Dingmian, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Dairy Association, said the tainted milk products were recalled after the 2008 scandal but somehow few products made their way back into the market.

In September 2008, melamine was found in the products of 22 dairy firms across the country. The industrial chemical causes kidney stones and kidney failure among children.

“After the 2008 scandal, most tainted milk products were recalled. However, there were still some leftovers in the dealers’ hands that nobody cared about. The problems were not totally solved. From this point, it’s inevitable to see new problems popping out,” he said Sunday.

The three companies, however, attributed the melamine contamination to the milk powder used by them as raw material.

“The companies were just shirking their responsibilities. The companies should have been required to test each and every batch of milk powder they bought,” Wang said.