The New Nation - Internet Edition

BERNAMA, Beijing

China said it will cooperate with food quality inspectors of other nations to resolve the crisis over tainted milk that has led countries, including Malaysia, to ban China-made dairy products.

What began as a melamine-tainted infant formula scandal that killed at least four babies on the mainland has blown into an intensive scrutiny of all China-sourced dairy food after the industrial chemical was also discovered in liquid milk produced by even the country's top producers. "We fully understand the countries' concerns. The relevant Chinese authorities are ready to work with the food safety authorities of these countries to properly handle the issue," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference on Tuesday.

She said the dairy companies implicated must recall their products and that China was conducting a thorough investigation.

Chinese milk products, including infant formula, candy, yoghurt and ice cream have been banned or recalled in several Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, and the Philippines. Two Chinese dairy manufacturers had also recalled baby milk power exported to Yemen, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Burundi and Gabon.

Nearly 53,000 across China had suffered from drinking Sanlu brand milk powder.

Almost 13,000 other babies remain in hospital with kidney stone problems with 104 in serious condition according to the Health Ministry. Melamine is rich in nitrogen and when mixed into milk can make the protein level appear higher than what it actually is.

Public outrage has been fuelled by a government investigation that found that Sanlu Group, based in Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province, and 43 per cent owned by New Zealand dairy giant, Fonterra, knew there were problems with its milk powder as far back as December 2007.

It reported the case to the Shijiazhuang authorities only on Aug 2 this year and the local government itself delayed alerting the government until Sept 9.

The MFA spokeswoman refuted suggestions that there was a cover-up to avoid embarrassment to Beijing's hosting of the Olympic Games from Aug 8 to 24.

Jiang said the quality watchdog, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), immediately launched investigations on Sept 9, the very day the New Zealand government contacted the Chinese government. "The Chinese government took a highly responsible attitude and made immediate major arrangements and moved very fast to take a series of measures to deal with the case," she added.

Two children in Hong Kong have been reported sick with kidney stone after drinking China-made milk, the first known cases outside the mainland.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who surveyed the situation at a Beijing children's hospital over the weekend, had promised a shake-up of the multi-billion dollar dairy industry and the government had vowed severed punishment for those responsible.

On Monday, AQSIQ chief Li Changjiang resigned amid the scandal, the latest embarrassment in a string of incidents over the safety and quality of China-made food and non-food products.