Survivor leads China’s milk industry
On Oct. 9 the government published a norm defining the contents of melamine acceptable in dairy products. Different from earlier accounts, which declared safe milk as melamine free. Now officials with the National Center for Health Supervision and Inspection said small amounts of melamine could get into the milk via the environment or packaging materials. A small amount of melamine might be tolerated. But deliberately adding the chemical to milk was prohibited and would be punished.
Products with melamine contents exceeding the set limits, 1 mg/kg for baby formula and 2.5 mg/kg for liquid milk and other general-purpose formula or powder, would suggest deliberate human addition. The norm was supported by the World Health Organization and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, they said.
According to a China Daily report, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in early October that 2.5 mg of melamine per kg would not cause health problems, but added that any infant formula sold to the United States must be free of melamine.
An ensuing emergency notice issued by the same Chinese authority ruled that products dated before Sept. 14 in production, if they met the above norm and pasted with the label stating “Passed test on melamine content limit”, were permitted sales on the market. And standard-conforming dairy goods produced after the above date might be sold without the label.
According to a Xinhua report, up to Sept. 23 a total of 1,644 groups of quality check experts were assigned to factories across the country to help ensure dairy food safety. The group to Sanyuan initially consisted of four people. Two stayed on, working on shifts like staff workers, Wang Dan said.
Before the scandal, China had given reputable brands test exemption, which in turn bolstered the brands’ images. Companies like Sanlu clearly failed that trust. The melamine scandal prompted the government to terminate the practice in the food industry.
“Food is very important. It’s not like, say, a refrigerator. If we bought a wrong brand, the machine won’t harm us. But food can,” Wang Dan said. She hoped consumers would not be manipulated by ads or other media.
“Testing is not all about ensuring safe milk products,” Wang Dan said. Ethical conduct must be promoted as a corporate culture. “Otherwise other problems that tests cannot detect may occur,” she said.
Zhang Jingfang, who had worked in Sanyuan testing products for 17 years, said the concept of honest operation was deep rooted in every Sanyuan employee. “We would rather suffer a loss than make profits through cheating,” she said.
Tags: dairy, industry, milk