Chinese tainted milk destroyed

With more deaths being linked to tainted milk, officials from China Mengniu Dairy Company are not taking any risks and have told reporters that the has destroyed a batch of milk found to have elevated levels of a cancer-causing substance aflatoxin.

The company said none of its products currently being sold was affected and that it will implement tougher safety checks going forward. Recently, the company has blamed spoiled cow food for the contamination.

“At present, all products available in the market within and outside China, including Hong Kong, have passed relevant standards,” Mengniu said in a statement on its website.

However, despite the assurances, shares of Mengniu, China‘s biggest dairy company fell 21% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Analysts though say that the impact was likely to be temporary, as the company had destroyed the products before they reached the market.

Stricter company checks are likely to become more prevalent in the near future, especially if government officials truly follow up with more frequent and intense examinations of consumer goods within China.

(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com