China Likely to Face More Food Safety Scares in Future: Official

China, which has seen a string of food safety scares in recent years, is likely to experience similar problems in the future due to the country's vast size, a top official was quoted Tuesday as saying.

The comments by senior health ministry official Su Zhi came after authorities seized tonnes of milk powder tainted with melamine, the chemical responsible for the deaths of six babies in 2008, in at least three provinces.

76 Tonnes of Tainted Milk Powder Seized in China
Chinese authorities have seized 76 tonnes of milk powder tainted with the same chemical responsible for the deaths of six babies two years ago, state media said Friday.

"With such a huge territory and population in China, it's hard to avoid all food safety threats and to put all unscrupulous businessmen under scrutiny," Su was quoted by the China Daily as saying at a food safety forum.

Su pledged that the government would investigate every possible breach of food safety regulations and punish those responsible for wrongdoing that could endanger the health of the country's 1.3 billion people.

He refused to say whether the tainted products seized in recent days were leftovers from the 2008 scandal, which caused 300,000 babies to fall ill and rocked the country's dairy industry, the report said.

Researchers Develop New Method to Detect Melamine in Milk
University of Miami assistant professor in the College of Engineering, Na Li and her collaborators have developed a fast, economical and easy method to detect melamine in milk.

Melamine is used to make plastics but has been widely and illegally added to dairy products to give the appearance of higher protein content.

In 2008, the toxic chemical was found in the products of 22 Chinese dairy companies. The discovery led to huge worldwide recalls of Chinese dairy products.

China Yet to Hunt Down 100 Tonnes of 2008's Melamine-Laced Milk: State Media Report
Authorities in China are hunting for nearly 100 tonnes of melamine-laced milk powder left over from 2008, when six babies died from consuming the toxic substance, state media said Monday.

Melamine ingestion can cause kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

A total of 21 people were convicted for their roles in the 2008 scandal, and two were executed.

Packaged Salads, Melamine In Food - Under New Regulation by UN
The issue of food poisoning has been addressed by UN agencies who have imposed restrictions on melamine content in food and stricter guidelines for packaged salads.

China's government has repeatedly said that all tainted products were seized and destroyed after the scandal and that there was no further public health threat, but reports of tainted items have continued to trickle out.

Authorities recently seized 76 tonnes of contaminated milk powder, state media reported last week. Two officials from the dairy company at the centre of the latest find were detained.

Source-AFP