Minister cites fast expansion as scandal touches soya milk

Loopholes in safety protocols threaten dairy industry

Numerous loopholes in product-safety protocols and company management had widened the tainted-milk scandal that threatens to engulf the mainland's dairy industry, Industry Minister Li Yizhong said.

In a further spreading of the scandal, soya-milk brand Bingquan has been removed from shelves in Guangzhou because of melamine concerns, the Yangcheng Evening News reported. If confirmed, it will be the first soya-milk product to have tested positive for melamine contamination.

Sales of soya-milk products have soared since the tainted-milk scandal broke out about a month ago. Bingquan, based in Guangxi , said the recall was a 'precaution'.

The expansion of the food industry, and the dairy industry in particular, had been too rapid in recent years, and the management of industrial quality had lagged considerably behind, Mr Li told Xinhua yesterday.

In the past few years, the number of medium-sized and larger dairy producers had surged to 743, at an average annual increase of more than 20 per cent.

But he said 'the majority of them' did not have equipment that could test for melamine - an industrial chemical found in the past month in dairy products ranging from baby milk powder to yogurt and chocolate for domestic and international consumption.