Chinese Ice Cream Maker Shut Down for Melamine Contamination

Melamine-tainted milk products are showing up again in China. Contaminated ice cream turned up in Liaoning Province.
Chinese Ice Cream Maker Shut Down for Melamine Contamination
2/16/2010
Updated:
2/21/2010
Melamine-tainted milk products are showing up again in China. Recently, ice cream laced with the industrial chemical was discovered in Liaoning Province.

The Liaoning Province Health Bureau published the news online that high levels of Melamine were found by the provincial Quality Control Department in ice cream produced by Liaoning Yachao Food Corporation. Authorities shut down manufacturing and ordered the company to recall their products. Yachao Food is under investigation, and 5.75 tons of poisoned milk formula was confiscated.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that is used as a coating in plastics and filters, and as a fire retardant. It can also be used to water down milk to increase volume and profit.

When an Epoch Times reporter called Yachao, they were told that the staff had been temporarily off. The employee refused to answer questions directly about melamine, but said that a “small amount of product and it has been destroyed.”

“We do not sell products now. Do not place an order. We will not deliver anything now. Do not ask about anything else,” said the employee.

Officials questioned about the latest discovery tried to pass the buck.

The city Food Safety Control Bureau said that, “Ice cream manufacturing and quality control of milk products are not within our responsibility. You need to ask Liaoning Province Health Bureau.”

Mr. Hong, head of the provincial Food Safety Control Department, said that those responsible will be punished.

“The real source of the milk powder and this whole incident of high level Melamine in milk powder need to be further investigated. After everything is investigated, those responsible will be punished.”

Repackaging for Profit


The major problem in China is the difficulty of discovering the whereabouts of the Melamine contaminated milk products.

During the initial scandal which broke in 2008, the Chinese regime admitted that six babies died and about 300,000 others fell sick after drinking melamine-tainted milk. One year later, some companies took the tainted milk that was not destroyed and repackaged or reprocessed for healthy profits.

According to a People’s Net report, in November 2009, the Jinqiao Diary Company in Shaanxi repackaged and sold 5.25 tons of tainted milk powder. The repackaged milk was sealed and sent off to the company warehouse. It was not destroyed.

China’s official media reported that two companies, Lekang Corporation and Tiantian Corporation, used 170 tons of Melamine contaminated milk powder in 2008 to make three types of milk powder. Lekang Company mixed the Melamine laced milk powder with regular milk powder then sold it to candy manufacturers. Only 72 tons of the milk powder was ever tracked down, which means that the remaining 98 tons of milk powder are still on the market.

Read the original Chinese article.