China milk banned

BY GERARD NAVAL

THE Bureau of Food and Drugs yesterday imposed a temporary ban on all milk products from China.

The ban will be in effect until the agency completes laboratory tests to determine the presence of melamine in the dairy products.

BFAD director Leticia Gutierrez said the ban will stay until tests assure products’ safety and fitness for human consumption.

Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia have imposed bans on Chinese dairy products. African governments have also stopped importing Chinese dairy products.

Milk tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical, traced to China’s Sanlu Group has affected some 52,000 Chinese children. The number is expected to rise further, according to the World Health Organization.

BFAD advised consumers against buying infant formula milk from China. It said importation of China-made milk for infants is not legally allowed and any infant milk being sold would likely have been smuggled into the country.

Gutierrez said BFAD is conducting nationwide random inspections on all China-made milk products aside from laboratory tests.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila has instructed all regional and provincial offices to assist the Department of Health in monitoring the presence of the contaminated milk.

Trade undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said she has asked supermarket owners to voluntarily withdraw from shelves imported milk until the BFAD tests are completed.

Maglaya advised consumers to buy only branded milk products.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate health committee, said local establishments which import or use milk from China must voluntarily turn over samples of their products to BFAD for inspection and clearance. – With Dennis Gadil and Irma Isip