China Digital Times

China news tagged with: milk contamination (112)

• China Says Most Tainted Milk Products Recalled

  

  The Chinese Health Ministry has reported that recent tainted milk products have been recalled:

  Earlier this week China declared a new food-safety campaign after melamine-tainted milk products from an earlier scandal showed up repackaged in several places around the country, exposing weaknesses in the country’s promise to stop such problems from happening again.

  “As of now, most of the tainted milk products have been recalled and destroyed, and none has entered the market or been exported,” said a statement posted on the Health Ministry’s Web site… State media reported on Feb. 8 that officials recalled 170 tons of tainted milk powder in the northern region of Ningxia and said almost 100 tons had not yet been found. Two dairies were closed… China ordered tens of thousands of milk products laced with the industrial chemical melamine burned or buried. But the government did not carry out the destruction itself.

  The statement on the ministry Web site said some companies did not fulfill their responsibilities and some hid tainted milk products or fabricated test reports to avoid inspections.

  See also this past CDT post from February on the search for contaminated milk.

  » Read more
  • February 13, 2010 12:39 PM

• Paul Midler: Why China Keeps Poisoning the Milk

  

  An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal looks at quality control in China and the lessons regulators there could learn from Japan’s experience:

  China’s quality challenge has at times been compared to Japan’s efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to transcend a bad reputation for manufacturing low-quality goods. At that time Japan also suffered tragic industrial disasters, like the mercury poisoning in Minamata that left 1,000 people dead. But Japan’s leading companies have since been able to establish strong reputations for quality. Although the automotive recalls currently underway are extensive, design errors and electronic malfunctions are in a different league from China’s instances of willful product manipulation, especially when that manipulation has involved artful efforts at circumventing third-party controls.

  In China, operators display an incredible willingness to place public safety at risk in exchange for only the smallest gains in profit. The dairy industry’s 2008 scandal is instructive. The trouble started when dairy farmers began adulterating milk with water, prompting dairy companies to test protein levels. Milk suppliers next discovered they could trick laboratory equipment into believing protein concentrations were higher by adding a toxic, chemical compound—melamine. Over time, more of the chemical was added, along with more water, and no one knows how little real milk was in the final product by the time scandal broke. We only know the end result: six babies died, 300,000 were sickened and over 50,000 were hospitalized, causing untold grief to Chinese families.

  » Read more
  • February 9, 2010 11:28 AM

• China Searches for 100 Tonnes of Melamine-tainted Milk

  

  Investigators are searching for 100 tons of milk that’s been tainted with melamine and remains on grocery shelves. From BBC:

  Two dairies were shut down at the weekend after they were found to be selling products using the powder, which should have been destroyed.

  The melamine had been added to milk to artificially boost protein levels.

  China Daily said the Ningxia Tiantian dairy was shut down on Saturday after it was found to have processed and repackaged 170 tonnes of milk powder in its products.

  The powder should have been destroyed following the 2008 scandal but had been given to the dairy by another company as debt payment.

  » Read more
  • February 8, 2010 2:15 PM

• China Charges Tainted Milk Scandal Activist (Updated)

  

  As we hear about more melamine contamination in dairy products, an activist who advocated on behalf of victims of the 2008 milk contamination scandal has been indicted. From The Telegraph:

  Mr Zhao, who used to work for China’s Food Quality and Safety Authority, was incensed after his son became sick through drinking milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical that gives young children kidney stones. Around 300,000 infants were poisoned and at least six died.

  In a small, one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Beijing, Mr Zhao started up a website to share information about the symptoms with other victims. Within days, more than 4,000 families signed up and soon the online forums were crammed with discussions about compensation and legal action.

  He quickly became the de facto spokesman and lobbyist for all the victims, organising a trip to Shijiazhuang to see milk company executives go on trial.

  In his indictment, the Chinese police accused Mr Zhao of “viciously spinning” the news of the crisis on the internet and “inciting and assembling people to go to the courtroom in Shijiazhuang [for the trial]“.

  Update: Four people have also been arrested for their role in the most recent melamine scare. AFP reports:

  Three of those arrested in Shaanxi were officials with Lekang Dairy Co, China National Radio said. The company had been blacklisted for involvement in the 2008 scandal, Xinhua said.

  The suspects were identified as Lekang Dairy general manager Zhang Wenxue and the company’s vice general managers Zhu Shuming and Tong Tianhu. The fourth suspect was Ma Shuanglin, a milk powder dealer.

  Ma sold Lekang 10 tonnes of “expired” milk powder in September and October of 2009, China National Radio said.

  It said Ma had purchased the milk powder in April 2008, months before the initial scandal erupted.

  » Read more
  • February 3, 2010 1:44 PM

• China Begins Emergency Check of Dairy Products

  

  China is launching a ten-day emergency inspection campaign of dairy products after goods that had been recalled in the 2008 melamine scare were found back on the shelves. The New York Times reports:

  The government ordered all suspect products to be recalled and destroyed, but some “unscrupulous” companies have taken the recalled products and repackaged them for sale, said Health Minister Chen Zhu during a teleconference call over the weekend, China Daily said.

  Melamine-laced milk powder had resurfaced mostly as an ingredient in processed food like ice cream and condensed milk, the newspaper said.

  Mr. Chen said the recall of tainted dairy products is “an uncompleted task that has to be completed.”

  The latest announcement is likely to undermine further confidence in Chinese food and other products, which have been at the center of prominent safety scandals in recent years.

  » Read more
  • February 2, 2010 2:06 PM

• Melamine Reprise: Who Knew What When?

  

  Signs are now emerging that authorities may have been aware of the recent Shanghai Panda Dairy Co Ltd tainted milk scandal for up to eight months before releasing information to the media. The Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time blog reports:

  Even getting a clear picture from authorities about the Shanghai Panda case has proved elusive. The Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision reportedly led the action against the company. But so far it hasn’t issued any public statement. A quality bureau spokesman directed The Wall Street Journal to the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau for answers. There, an official pointed toward the local Food and Drug Administration, where a spokesman suggested that the Journal telephone back to the quality agency or the municipal government. At the muncipal government’s news office, a spokeswoman said the quality bureau is in charge.

  State media reports raise other questions about the government’s urgency in the case.
  The three Shanghai Panda executives, for instance, have already been prosecuted and are being sued, not normally a simple matter. Also pointing to a drawn-out process, state press reports said several government agencies were involved in an investigation of the company, which was one of the 22 dairies implicated in the 2008 scandal and was temporarily closed then.

  On Tuesday a new twist emerged, as 21st Century Business Herald reported (here in Chinese) that it has documents to suggest industry participants were aware of melamine use by Shanghai Panda as early as April 2009. The same report said that in November, China’s minister of health, Chen Zhu, referred to melamine tainting by the company during an internal meeting of Communist Party officials.

  See also a report from China Daily. Read more about milk contamination in China, via CDT.

  » Read more
  • January 5, 2010 9:04 PM

• China Detains Three In New Toxic Milk Scare (Updated)

  

  A toxic milk scare was thwarted after 3 were detained for selling over 5 tons of milk powder tainted with melamine. From Ben Blanchard for Reuters, via the New York Times:

  Chinese police have detained three people suspected of selling milk powder tainted with melamine, state media said on Thursday, the industrial chemical involved in a massive toxic food scandal last year.

  The three were detained in northwestern Shaanxi province on December 2, before tainted goods reached stores, the official Xinhua news agency said.

  It named the three as Liu Ping, general manager of Shaanxi Jinqiao Diary Company, and two of the firm’s employees and said they were detained for “the suspected crime of producing and selling toxic food.”

  The report, citing police, said they sold 5.25 tons of melamine-laced milk powder to Nanning Yueqian Food Additive Company, based in the southern region of Guangxi.

  Update: See also “Shaanxi dairy repackages melamine-tainted milk powder” from Danwei.

  » Read more
  • December 10, 2009 7:39 PM

• First Lawsuit In China Milk Scandal Delayed

  

  From AFP:

  China’s first civil lawsuit seeking compensation over last year’s tainted milk scandal has been delayed for further investigation, state-run media reported Wednesday.

  A district court in Beijing late last month began hearing a case filed by Ma Xuexin, whose 20-month-old son developed kidney stones after drinking the poisoned milk, the China Daily said.

  The case against now-bankrupt dairy producer Sanlu Group and a Beijing supermarket was delayed after the defendants requested further investigation into the link between the child’s illness and the tainted milk, it said.

  » Read more
  • December 9, 2009 3:32 AM

• China Executes Two for Tainted Milk Scandal

  

  Two people were executed today for their role in milk contamination scandal which killed at least six children last year. From Reuters:

  A total of 21 Sanlu executives and middlemen were tried and sentenced in January by a court in the northern city of Shijiazhuang for their involvement in the case.

  The official Xinhua news agency, citing a court statement, said Zhang Yujun was executed “for the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means,” while Geng Jinping was convicted of producing and selling toxic food.

  It said Zhang produced more than 770 tonnes of melamine-laced protein powder, of which he sold more than 600 tonnes, between July 2007 and August 2008.

  Geng sold more than 900 tonnes of tainted milk, Xinhua added.

  But the woman most widely blamed for the tragedy received a sentence of life in jail.

  
  The BBC interviews people in China for their reactions to the executions:

  It’s a chain of responsibility and many mistakes were made along this chain. I think bigger companies should take more responsibility for their actions, and the government should take more responsibility too.

  I can’t say this couldn’t happen again. We don’t have a very good social environment and I don’t think it’s been handled very well.

  I think the food industry is improving a bit, but there’s still a long way to go. People are more aware of the consequences of damaged food. I do think about those people whose children have suffered.

  » Read more
  • November 24, 2009 10:56 AM

• Zhao Lianhai, Advocate for Sanlu Victims, Held

  

  Zhao Lianhai, administrator of the website “Home for the Kidney Stone Babies” created after the melamine controversy in Fall 2008, was recently arrested. Via Global Times:

  The founder of the organization “Home for the Kidney Stone Babies,” Zhao Lianhai was arrested in Daxing district by the police on Friday night. Li Xuemei, Zhao’s wife, told the Global times that about a dozen police officers from Daxing District Public Security Bureau and Tuanhe substation presented a warrant for Zhao’s arrest.

  When Zhao refused to go with them, as the summons did not clearly state why, the police officers called their superior, who amended the warrant, alleging Zhao was suspected of being involved in the crime of “provoking an incident.”

  Officers took away many items, including two computers, a video recorder, a camera, a USB drive, campaign T-shirts and an address book.

  The arrest occurred just two hours after Zhao and Wang Gang, the father of a baby stricken by Sanlu’s poisoned milk powder , successfully received an official apology from Haidian police.

  Catherine A. Yeung of Under the Jacaranda Tree has translated a petition for his release. Excerpted:

  It is understood that Zhao’s arrest is linked to another incident that took place earlier. The trial of the first compensation claim lodged by the parents of a Kidney Stone Baby was supposed to commence on 10 November 2009. Many people, including the parents of some victims, had worked very hard for over a year in preparation for the trial. However, a day before the trial, the plaintiff’s parent Wang Gang was arrested and roughed up by the Police. Information in relation to the court case was confiscated. As a result, the trial had to be postponed.

  Because of this, Zhao Lianhai has been busy collecting signatures for a letter of protest. It is ashamed that the Beijing Police will treat such a peaceful act of protest as a provocation. The signatures that Zhao has collected from over 500 netizens are now used as evidence against him. His computers, cameras and campaign T-shirts are all confiscated. Who, in their right minds, could have imposed such cruelty on the children and their parents, who are already victims of the worst man-made disaster? The slogan we once used to advocate for the release of another rights activist (“Your Mum asks you to go home for dinner”) is now changed to: “The 2 kids are calling for their Dad to come home for dinner”.

  The Beijing Police had made a serious mistake when they arrested Zhao Lianhai. They are making a bad situation even worse by inflicting more pain on those whose sufferings are already unbearable. So on this bitterly cold winter day we urge all netizens to join us in protest against the detention. We urge you to sign this petition to call for the immediate release of Zhao Lianhai.

  Earlier, in March, Ariana Eunjung Cha wrote about Zhao for the Washington Post:

  When Zhao Lianhai created a Web site for parents of children hurt or killed by contaminated milk, he did not set out to challenge the Communist Party. He did it because his son was sick. The 3-year-old had been diagnosed with kidney stones and Zhao was scared. He needed advice.

  Within days, more than 4,000 families signed up, and soon the discussion evolved from technical questions and answers about medical care to demands for punishment and compensation. It wasn’t long before the 37-year-old former advertising salesman became the de facto spokesman, organizer and lobbyist for thousands of parents across the country whose children had suffered after drinking infant formula or milk that had been illegally doctored with the industrial chemical melamine.

  In a country where every leader must be appointed, approved or otherwise sanctioned by the party, the fact that Zhao has been allowed to operate relatively freely is a testament to the government’s careful approach to those he represents. It is perhaps out of respect for their concerns — or fear of them.

  » Read more
  • November 18, 2009 12:14 AM

• China Tainted Milk Parents Mourn, Seek Support (Updated)

  

  A year after the scandal over contaminated milk broke in China, parents whose children died are being prevented from gathering, AP reports:

  Zhao Lianhai, the father of a sickened child who has rallied other families through a Web site he created, said 11 parents had planned to hold a small commemoration in Beijing on Friday with a dinner, lighting of candles and prayers for the children.

  [...] The commemoration also comes amid efforts by Chinese authorities to curb dissent in the lead-up to the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party’s rule. Police have arrested or detained leading dissidents and are harassing lawyers who defend them. The Oct. 1 celebration will be marked by a military parade.

  Liu Hai, a father whose two children developed kidney stones after taking tainted milk powder, said he was detained by police Wednesday in Kunshan city of Jiangsu province while waiting for a train. The police told him they had to stop him because he was headed to an “illegal gathering,” Liu said by phone while being taken in a county government car to his hometown of Siyang.

  An official at the Kunshan police propaganda department who refused to give his name said he has no information about Liu’s case.

  Update: Reuters reports that last-minute permission was given to parents to hold gathering, under police watch:

  Plainclothes officers on Friday held watch outside the apartment of a father who has spearheaded a campaign by affected parents for more compensation and research, but did not interrupt the gathering of representatives from 11 families.

  Missing were two others from eastern Jiangsu province, who were stopped when they left for Beijing, and told they were attending an illegal gathering, host Zhao Lianhai told Reuters.

  But the Beijing police unexpectedly gave a last-minute permit for a small seminar in a nearby hotel, followed by the lighting of candles and time for reflection on sick and absent children.

  “We have to remember this day, when news about the milk powder came to light; we cannot let it happen again,” Zhao said in the study which has been the nerve centre of his campaign.

  » Read more
  • September 10, 2009 3:15 PM

• China Lawyer Who Fought Unfair Arrest is Arrested (Updated)

  

  The Australian and the Los Angeles Times both report on the work of Xu Zhiyong and his recent arrest. From the L.A. Times:

  Xu’s law firm was one of the few in China willing to represent the parents of the nearly 300,000 children sickened and the six who died last year as a result of dangerous milk additives.

  Since its founding in 2003, the firm, also known as Gongmeng, has not shied away from sensitive topics. It challenged China’s secret detention centers, the so-called black jails, after a 27-year-old graphic designer who was arrested for failing to carry his identification card died in custody. Xu represented an editor of the hard-hitting newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily who was arrested in 2004 on what were widely seen as politically motivated bribery charges.

  This summer, Xu’s firm joined the chorus of voices opposing a requirement that all computers sold in China come preinstalled with software that would filter out pornographic or controversial content.

  But Xu is by no means a dissident, preferring to work within a system he has hoped to improve, not overthrow.

  And from the Australian:

  “I’m prepared for the worst to happen,” the activist Beijing lawyer, 38, told The Australian only days before he was arrested. “I have no fear.”

  He was prepared for such an event after his well-known but politically risky legal-aid group Open Constitution Initiative, also known as Gongmeng, had been shut down on July 17 after a morning raid by Tax Department officials.

  Dr Xu said his aim was to protect the rights of all civilians and especially those who protected the dignity of law and constitution of China.

  Now a growing number of non-government organisations who, like OCI, operate with the assistance of foreign funding are being harassed.

  Journalist Susan Jakes also writes about Xu, whom she has known since 2004, for China Beat.

  Update: The Chinese Law Prof blog has posted more links about this case, including the original sanctioning decision from the State Tax Administration.

  » Read more
  • August 6, 2009 8:42 PM

• Milk Scam Officials Get Fresh Positions

  

  Two officials disciplined for their roles in the milk contamination scandal have been given new posts. From China Daily:

  Bao Junkai, former deputy director general of the food production supervision department of General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) was among the latest eight senior officials fired or demoted for slack supervision with regard to the Sanlu scam, uncovered last September. At least six infants died and almost 300,000 fell ill after consuming tainted milk.

  Liu Daqun, former director of the agricultural department in Hebei province, where the dairy at the center of the contamination was based, is now the mayor and deputy party secretary of Xingtai, a city in Hebei, the Beijing News reported yesterday. Li was also severely reprimanded in March.

  Bao has been appointed the Party secretary and head of AQSIQ’s Anhui provincial bureau since last December, when the milk power scandal was still in focus, the website of Anhui Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine shows.

  » Read more
  • April 9, 2009 6:36 PM

• Grieving Parents Gain Clout In China

  

  Ariana Eunjung Cha reports in the Washington Post:

  When Zhao Lianhai created a Web site for parents of children hurt or killed by contaminated milk, he did not set out to challenge the Communist Party. He did it because his son was sick. The 3-year-old had been diagnosed with kidney stones and Zhao was scared. He needed advice.

  Within days, more than 4,000 families signed up, and soon the discussion evolved from technical questions and answers about medical care to demands for punishment and compensation. It wasn’t long before the 37-year-old former advertising salesman became the de facto spokesman, organizer and lobbyist for thousands of parents across the country whose children had suffered after drinking infant formula or milk that had been illegally doctored with the industrial chemical melamine.

  » Read more
  • March 27, 2009 9:16 PM

• China Milk Scandal Terms Upheld

  

  BBC has an update on the sentences handed down to those held responsible for the contaminated milk crisis:

  State media said a court in Hebei Province rejected the appeal by Tian Wenhua, the former chairwoman of now-defunct Sanlu Group, at the centre of the dairy contamination.

  The 66-year-old was the highest-ranking executive charged over the scandal.

  According to state media, the court also upheld a death sentence against Zhang Yujun, convicted of producing and selling the tainted milk, and a life sentence against Zhang Yanzhang, who acted as a middle man in supplying the toxic product to dairies.

  » Read more
  • March 26, 2009 10:30 AM

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