China Launches Emergency Sweep for Poison Milk

Firms accused of recycling tainted milk powder from 2008
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2010 2:07 AM CST
China Launches Emergency Sweep for Poison Milk
A worker checks product lines of milk powder in a factory in Hohhot, China.   (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan, File)

China has ordered an emergency sweep to seek out and destroy milk products tainted with melamine. Officials have ordered a full investigation of the latest milk scandal and promise offenders will be harshly punished, AP reports. Some companies are believed to have reused milk powder recalled after milk tainted with the toxic industrial compound killed at least 6 children and sickened hundreds of thousands in 2008.

The melamine-tainted powder has resurfaced in products like ice cream and condensed milk, according to China's health minister. "Most dairy companies involved in the 2008 milk scandal issued recalls, but none of them said the tainted products were ever destroyed," the chief of a dairy association tells the China Daily. (More tainted milk stories.)

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