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DOH downplays concerns over tainted milk powder

A man works at a factory making powdered milk in Inner Mongolia, China, on July 5. China found the industrial chemical melamine in infant formula made by 22 companies in a widening scandal. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday announced its initial findings in the ongoing milk powder scare, saying that only one of the 22 Chinese companies suspected of selling contaminated food products had exported goods to Taiwan.

On Tuesday, China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine reported that a total of 69 products made by 22 companies, including Sanlu, were contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine.

Hsiao Tung-ming (蕭東銘), acting director of the DOH’s Bureau of Safety, said yesterday that only Sanlu products had been imported.

After a cross-departmental meeting at the Executive Yuan, Hsiao said: “The government has prohibited all imports of dairy products from the 22 companies in China.”

Hsiao was referring to a provisional meeting of Cabinet officials called by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) at 9am yesterday morning.

During the meeting, the Cabinet banned the 22 baby milk powder brands from entering Taiwan and demanded that all Chinese dairy products be removed from the market, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said.

“The ban prohibiting businesses from putting Chinese dairy products on the market won’t be lifted until importers of the products provide food safety certificates for the products,” Shih said.

Shih also said Liu had told Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) to prioritize establishing a stricter monitoring system to check the safety of Chinese products during the next round of cross-strait negotiations.

Deputy Health Minister Sung Yen-jen (宋晏仁) said yesterday that 17 companies in Taiwan had imported dairy products from China. The DOH has prohibited sales of these products by all Taiwanese retailers until the companies in question provide documents certifying their products are safe, he said.

“We basically believe that [the products] are not a problem,” Sung said, adding that this measure was just to be on the safe side.

The 17 companies must have their products inspected by the Food Industry Research and Development Institute and obtain documents certifying their safety.

The list of the 17 questionable companies included Nestle, but it was taken off the list when institute findings were reviewed by the DOH yesterday afternoon.

The DOH said it had taken legal action against two companies that refused to cooperate with investigations. Taiway Technology Co still had 221 unaccounted containers of milk powder products, while Wabake had 64.

“Their numbers just don’t match up,” said Hsiao, adding that the DOH had asked the Bureau of Investigation for assistance in this matter.

The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday said it issued a letter to its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, asking it to find out if the milk products sold to Taiwan by several Chinese firms between January and July were contaminated with melamine.

The SEF said it hoped ARATS would help uncover the details of the matter.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING AND SHIH HSIU-CHUAN

Also See: More needs to be done to ensure food safety
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