China orders more testing for liquid milk, powder

BEIJING - China is ordering all liquid and powdered milk manufactured before Sept. 14 to be taken off the shelves for melamine testing, a news report said Tuesday, the first time Beijing has issued a blanket recall of products since the tainted dairy scandal broke last month.

It is the latest in a series of measures China has taken to allay worries over the quality of Chinese products and restore consumer confidence since four babies died and tens of thousands of children were sickened after drinking tainted milk.

Authorities have blamed dairy suppliers for the crisis, saying they added the industrial chemical melamine to watered-down milk to fool quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein.

Melamine can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening kidney failure.

Citing a notice jointly approved by six government ministries and administrations, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that all milk powder and liquid milk produced before Sept. 14 must be subject to testing nationwide by manufacturers.

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