China issues new warning over milk powder

China’s top food safety office has issued a warning about unsafe milk powder, two years after fake milk formula led to the deaths of at least 13 babies.

Several categories of milk products, including milk for the elderly, were found to have “almost no protein”, the state-run Beijing News said, quoting the State Food and Drug Administration.

“The potential for danger is very high,” the newspaper said, naming one brand and two companies involved in the manufacture.

An official at the administration confirmed it had issued a warning and said it had not received any complaints from consumers so far.

“I have no more information to offer. Please read the emergency notice on our Web site,” she said. The site could not be opened on Thursday.

Billions of dollars worth of counterfeit and substandard goods, from fake liquor to luxury handbags, are produced every year in China.

In 2004, a major health scandal erupted when China revealed that at least 13 babies died from malnutrition in the country’s impoverished eastern province of Anhui after being fed fake baby milk.

Provided by ArmMed Media
Revision date: July 3, 2011
Last revised: by Dave R. Roger, M.D.