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Beijing: China promised on Wednesday to ban milk and food products that do not meet newly introduced standards for permissible levels of the chemical melamine in its latest effort to reassure consumers after a widespread tainted dairy scandal.
China's food exports have suffered significantly since milk and dairy products laced with the industrial chemical were linked to the deaths of four Chinese babies and the sickening of more than 54,000 others. More than 30 countries, from Europe to Asia and Africa, have banned, recalled or found contamination in Chinese dairy products.
Under the guidelines announced Wednesday by the Health Ministry, melamine limits considered safe are set at one part per million for infant formula and 2.5 parts per million for liquid milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15% milk.
Wang Xuening, a ministry official, said any items containing higher levels will be "prohibited from sale." He acknowledged that small amounts of melamine can leech from the environment and packaging into milk and other foods, but said that deliberate tainting is explicitly forbidden.
Dairy suppliers have been accused of watering down milk and then adding melamine to make the product appear richer in protein to fool quality control tests. Melamine, used in products including plastics, paint and adhesives, can lead to kidney stones and possibly life-threatening kidney failure.
"Melamine cannot be used as an ingredient or additive in food products," said Wang, deputy director of the ministry's health supervision bureau. "For those who add melamine into food products, their legal responsibility will be investigated."
Chen Junshi, a researcher for China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, characterized the limits as a measure for inspectors. There were no standards in China previously. Levels of melamine discovered in batches of milk powder recently registered as much as 6,196 parts per million.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said last week that its experts have concluded that eating foods that are 2.5 parts per million of melamine would not raise health concerns, even if consumed every day.
Guidelines in Hong Kong and New Zealand also say melamine in food products is considered safe at 2.5 parts per million or less, though Hong Kong has lowered the level for children under 3 and pregnant or nursing women to one part per million.
Deng Haihua, a representative of the Health Ministry's information office, said the number of new cases and the number of children being treated in Chinese hospitals have been "greatly reduced" in October, but he said he was not authorized to give any other updates.
China's Cabinet has acknowledged that the country's dairy industry was "chaotic" and suffered from a grave lack of oversight. It has pledged to monitor milk products from dairies to store shelves.
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