Dairy firms accused of setting low standards
A standard which would have imposed strict limits on the amount of bacteriafashion jewellery in raw milk was changed at the last minute after it had been hijacked by dairy manufacturers, it was claimed yesterday.
Experts and officials had agreed that baseline bacteria count in raw milk should be 500,000 cells per milliliter, but it was increased to 2 million, Wei Ronglu, an official with the Dairy Association of Western China told People's Daily.
The Ministry of Health also lowered the minimum standard for protein content to 2.8 percent from the proposed 2.95 when the standard was published in March last year, said Wei, who has taken part in formulating the National Dairy Standard on four occasions. "I have no idea till now on when and why some key indexes that were discussed repeatedly were overthrown," Wei said.
The new standard has come under fire from both consumers and the media, as the maximum safety limit for bacteria in raw milk was 20 times higher fashion jewelry wholesalethan in Europe and the United States.
The standards were actually drafted by some domestic dairy manufacturers, Zeng Shouying, another expert who has taken part in formulating China's dairy standards since 1962, told the newspaper.
"China Mengniu Dairy drafted the standard for pasteurized milk, the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd drafted the standard for raw milk, while the Bright Dairy did that for yogurt, according to an internal file," Zeng told the paper.
Wei said he asked about the reason for the changes, and was told they were "the result of coordination among various parts."
In an official response, government authorities said they set a "loose standard" for fear a stricter one would squeeze small and medium-sized dairies out of business.
However, experts say the lower standards would only damage product quality, setting back the progress of China's dairy industry. Wang Dingmian, director of the Guangdong Provincial Dairy Association, called the standard "a shame on the whole industry."
In December 2008, the Ministry of Health decided to make a new standard and require everywholesale crystal jewelry dairy producer to apply for a new license as the country bid to shore up an industry badly affected by a baby milk melamine scandal.
Nearly half of China's 1,176 dairies were ordered to cease production after failing to obtain new licenses required by the country's quality inspection agency.
The melamine scandal, which was blamed for the deaths of at least six children and which sickened about 300,000 others, shook consumer confidence in China's dairy industryfashion earrings and also hurt major players, including China Mengniu Dairy and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd.
