CHINA WILL WORK WITH COUNTRIES TO RESOLVE TAINTED MILK ISSUE

BEIJING, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- China said it will cooperate with food
quality inspectors of other nations to resolve the crisis over tainted milk that has led countries, including Malaysia, to ban China-made dairy products.

What began as a melamine-tainted infant formula scandal that killed at
least four babies on the mainland has blown into an intensive scrutiny of all China-sourced dairy food after the industrial chemical was also discovered in
liquid milk produced by even the country's top producers.

"We fully understand the countries' concerns. The relevant Chinese
authorities are ready to work with the food safety authorities of these
countries to properly handle the issue," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
told a regular news conference on Tuesday.

She said the dairy companies implicated must recall their products and that
China was conducting a thorough investigation.

Chinese milk products, including infant formula, candy, yoghurt and ice
cream have been banned or recalled in several Asian countries including
Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, and the
Philippines.

Two Chinese dairy manufacturers had also recalled baby milk power exported
to Yemen, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Burundi and Gabon.

Nearly 53,000 across China had suffered from drinking Sanlu brand milk
powder. Almost 13,000 other babies remain in hospital with kidney stone problems
with 104 in serious condition according to the Health Ministry.

Melamine is rich in nitrogen and when mixed into milk can make the protein
level appear higher than what it actually is.

Public outrage has been fuelled by a government investigation that found
that Sanlu Group, based in Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province, and
43 per cent owned by New Zealand dairy giant, Fonterra, knew there were problems
with its milk powder as far back as December 2007.

It reported the case to the Shijiazhuang authorities only on Aug 2 this
year
and the local government itself delayed alerting the government until Sept
9.

The MFA spokeswoman refuted suggestions that there was a cover-up to avoid
embarrassment to Beijing's hosting of the Olympic Games from Aug 8 to
24.

Jiang said the quality watchdog, the State Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), immediately launched
investigations on Sept 9, the very day the New Zealand government contacted the
Chinese government.

"The Chinese government took a highly responsible attitude and made
immediate major arrangements and moved very fast to take a series of measures to
deal with the case," she added.

Two children in Hong Kong have been reported sick with kidney stone after
drinking China-made milk, the first known cases outside the mainland.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who surveyed the situation at a Beijing children's
hospital over the weekend, had promised a shake-up of the multi-billion dollar
dairy industry and the government had vowed severed punishment for those
responsible.

On Monday, AQSIQ chief Li Changjiang resigned amid the scandal, the latest
embarrassment in a string of incidents over the safety and quality of China-made
food and non-food products.
-- BERNAMA