100 tons of milk powder returned
By Guan Xiaofeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-24 08:32
Quality supervisors have returned more than 100 tons of American milk powder
after it was found to contain potentially dangerous levels of
nitrate.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine yesterday said 102 tons of milk powder had been returned to the
United States.
The administration said the powder, worth US$200,000, had
not entered the Chinese market.
Following the discovery of excess levels
of nitrate in the milk powder, the administration issued a warning, urging local
quality inspection bodies to step up inspections of imported milk powder to
ensure consumer safety.
Experts warned excessive consumption of
nitrite-tainted foods can cause poisoning and may even result in
death.
The Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau examined
three batches of the milk powder, produced by US company West Farm Inc, on June
7 and June 14. The three batches registered nitrite levels of 2.7mg/kg, 2.8
mg/kg and 4.4mg/kg.
China's national safety limit for nitrates in food
stuffs is 2 mg/kg.
Li Yuanping, the administration's food safety
director, said the milk powder was imported as a raw material for food
production.
In 2004, at least 13 babies died of malnutrition and nearly
200 fell ill after they were fed with a fake milk power made in East China's
Anhui Province.
China has been struggling to control a rise in the
number of food-related health scares in recent years.
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