China Sets Melamine Limits for Dairy Products

China's Health Ministry has set limits for melamine level allowed in dairy products on Wednesday, albeilt having banned the substance in food products after the tainted milk scandal that sickened tens of thousands broke in mid-September.

The authorities reasoned that the industrial chemical was widely used in making food packages and it might seep through the packaging into dairy products; besides, one part of melamine per million parts of infant formula was safe for consumption.

The Ministry's website published the limits set in a notice, stating that the ceiling melamine level in infant formula was one part per million; while for liquid milk and other powdered milk and dairy products, the limit was 2.5 milligrams per kilogram.

The notice also declared that melamine was neither a raw material for food nor a food addictive, and thus it was banned from being intentionally added into food.

As a chemical, melamine is widely used in manufacturing plastics, paint, bond, and food packages. Available data showed melamine might enter food through natural surrounding and food packages.

Asked why there should be limits set when melamine was already banned in food, the Ministry's food security deputy chief Wang Xuening told a press conference that it was out of consideration of possible permeation from packages.

He added the limits set were based on feedbacks from health and food safety enforcement officials nationwide, after considering the different health impacts on babies and adults. Apart from being a standard in ascertaining qualified dairy products, the limits could also serve as a clue in identifying the source of minimal melamine level in milk.

Disease Control Center's research fellow Chen Junshi explained the new rules were targeted to control intentional adulteration, but as contact with the surrounding might bring a fairly small quantity of melamine to food, it would be unreasonable to require zero melamine in food.

He added very small doses of melamine in food were harmless, and that the new rules were not a yardstick for how much melamine would harm a consumer, but a supervisory standard to fight against purposeful adulteration.

Over the past month in China, melamine-laced infant formula had killed four babies, who developed kidney stones upon consuming the milk, and some 50,000 required medical treatment. Chinese police had detained over 20 suspects related to the scandal, and several Chinese officials were removed from their post for "leadership failure".

Since 22 Chinese companies were exposed to having produced tainted milk in mid-September, the melamine scare had expanded into dairy-based confectionary products such as chocolates, biscuits, and candies.

Among the brands detected with melamine included Oreo, a sandwich cookie manufactured by US-based Kraft Foods; Choco-Pillows, a type of chocolate by China's Oishi; and the British brand Cadbury's chocolate.

As China's leading dairy brands such as Inner Mongolia-based Mengniu and Yili faced spiralling sale of their products following the tainted milk scandal, Beijing-based Sanyuan's market share had surged as its products were found clear of melamine during several rounds of inspections.

The good time for Sanyuan did not long, however. On October 6, the state quality control administration announced that some of its powered milk for industrial use was also found to contain melamine.