Mengniu and Yili, two of the dairy giants embroiled in the tainted-milk scandal, have stepped up checks on fresh milk purchases in an attempt to restore consumer confidence.
With the scandal continuing to widen, both companies pledged to continue buying fresh milk that had passed quality tests as concerns mounted over a collapse of the mainland's dairy industry.
Yili has already installed milk-checking facilities worth more than 10 million yuan (HK$11.4 million) and sent nearly 2,000 people to monitor collection stations and a further 500 inspectors to carry out random checks, while Mengniu had sent more than 8,000 people to milk collection stations, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Mengniu was quoted by Caijing magazine as saying it had reported 'suspected problematic milk collection stations' to security authorities.
The more stringent quality checks, introduced after the discovery of melamine in Mengniu and Yili products last week, has led to long queues outside quality-checking facilities. Lots of milk had turned sour after a long wait, the report said.
A driver transporting milk for Yili was quoted as saying that in the past it took only 40 minutes to check each milk carrier - now it took nearly five hours.
